The Greek Anthology from Meleager to Planudes [Hardcover]

TheGreek Anthologyis one of the great books of European literature, a garden containing the flowers and weeds of 1500 years of Greek epigram. Cameron's study adds a wealth of new information about its growth over an even longer period, from the earliest papyrus anthologies down to the 1606 rediscovery of thePalatine Anthology (AP), our principal source for the entire history of Greek epigram, from Simonides to the Byzantine age. It was a Byzantine schoolmaster, Constantine Cephalas, who excerpted all the major ancient collections around 900. His work is reconstructed from a closer analysis ofAP(ca 940) and the various later collections. Following a number of neglected clues, Cameron identifies the compiler ofAPas Constantine the Rhodian, and solves the mystery of the wanderings ofAPduring the renaissance, showing that it once belonged to Sir Thomas More.

This is a book of extraordinary learning....[Cameron] has shirked no problem, and time after time illuminates the context of Cephalas' composition that have been only mysteries till now....no one interested in the textual history of the AP or APl can afford to ignore the conclusions of this book. There is at the moment no other remotely similar guide to the text....this is the standard against which all future work will be measured. --Bryn Mawr Classical Review

This work of great erudition will serve for many years as the book to which students will turn to learn about the origins of the Palatine anthology and its relationships with other epigram collections coming to us from Byzantine compilers....Cameron's thorough and reasonable treatment of innumerable problems and misinterpretations put our understanding of the nature, dating, and transmission of Palatine anthology on a firmer foundation than it has ever enjoyed before. --Religious Studies Review

A study of the evolution of the Greek Anthology from its beginnings to tlC+