Anthologies and Anthologists 109uncial to minuscule. Kometas might be slightly exaggerating, but as any
modern editor knows, the problem of punctuation can indeed be troublesome,
for it necessarily presupposes that one fully understands the text one is editing.
Homeric Greek is not always easy to understand and Kometas is therefore
likely to have made use of ancient commentaries or marginal scholia whenever
he stumbled upon a difficult passage in Homer. Kometas’ edition is not pre-
served, but in AP XV, 40 he quotes five lines from Homer in full, among which
Il. 2. 87 (v. 35) with the reading 3din1zn, “corrected” in all modern editions of
the AP to ädin1zn, although the breathing was recommended by the great
Homeric scholar Aristarchus^81. However, there are serious reasons to question
Kometas’ claim that he produced a reliable edition of Homer, for AP XV, 40
“is perhaps the single most unmetrical poem in the Anthology”. Kometas has
no feel for the hexameter and commits really awful prosodic errors – “poor
qualifications for a ‘restorer’ of the text of Homer”^82. Against AP XV, 37 and
40 Constantine the Rhodian scribbled in the margin a few satirical verses
criticizing Kometas for his lack of poetical skills^83. The following is a good
specimen of Constantine’s talent to abuse: “Kometas, you were another Ther-
sites. So, how did you dare to impersonate Achilles, you wretch? To hell with
these products of an unpoetical mind! Off to the gallows, off to the pillory with
these verses full of the rottenness of dung!”. Constantine the Rhodian obvious-
ly objected to Kometas’ claim to be an expert in Homer given the poor quality
of his hexameters. But the histrionic metaphor in the second verse (\Acill6zß
pröszpon eœs6dyß) appears to indicate that there was yet another aspect to
Kometas that Constantine found extremely offensive: his false pretence. In the
view of Constantine, Kometas is putting on a mask in AP XV, 40. The poem
simply lacks sincerity.
To understand Constantine’s angry reaction, it suffices to take a closer look
at AP XV, 40. It is a fifty-seven-line poem on the Raising of Lazarus. It
paraphrases in Homeric Greek chapter 11 of the Gospel according to John;
however, the author does not simply retell the biblical story, but expands on
the theme^84. Kometas needs many verses to express what the Bible says in a
few words. For instance, he turns the simple sentence: k7rie, eœ Íß ¢de oJk 4n moy
äp6qanen Ö ädelóöß (11: 21 and 32) into two highly elaborate verses: eœ g2r t!de
(^81) See the commentary ad locum in: The Iliad, ed. W. LEAF. London 1900–1902 (repr.
Amsterdam 1971).
(^82) CAMERON 1993: 309.
(^83) Ed. BECKBY 1957–58: IV, 288 and 292 (at AP XV, 37 and 40). See F.M. PONTANI, in:
Studi in onore di Aristide Colonna. Perugia 1982, 247–253, and CAMERON 1993: 309–310.
(^84) See M. CAPRARA, Koinzn5a 24 (2000) 245–260, who argues that Kometas was familiar
with Nonnos’ Paraphrase of the Gospel according to John and owed his inspiration to this
classic example of biblical paraphrase in verse.