Hesiod Unveiled: The 'Other Poet' among the Exegetes
This dissertation traces the exegetical traditions to the corpus of epic poetry attributed to Hesiod across eight hundred years. Beginning at the Library of Alexandria, it examines how philological techniques, allegoresis, and education intertwine to interpret the Other Poet, the second pillar of the Hellenic canon after Homer. It provides the first diachronic account of his interpretation in numerous intellectual traditions, accompanied by close examination of the physical artifacts of exegesis like papyri and scholia, including new transcriptions of unpublished material. Its third and fourth chapters show the discourse developing between Christians and polytheists in late antiquity over the stakes of exegesis of canonical poetry. Arguing for the convergence of their practices, like ascribing inspired wisdom to texts and exegetes alike, it describes the tumultuous intellectual atmosphere whose reading of the canons, both polytheist and Christian, would lead to the educative traditions of the Byzantine Middle Ages.
Hesiod, exegesis, paideia, papyrus, allegory, Neoplatonism, late antiquity, Library of Alexandria, grammarians, Stoicism
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