HERODOTUS boek VIII, Green and Yellow, ed. A.M. Bowie, NIEUW

Een hardback in de ‘nieuwe' CGLC-serie voor de prijs van de paperback. Deze uitgave staat in de catalogus voor meer dan 100 euro.

De 'nieuwe' hardbacks zijn gebonden in donkergroen linnen (buckram) en worden uitgegeven zonder de vroeger kenmerkende 'Green and Yellow’-dustjacket. Inhoudelijk is er aan deze Cambridge-commentaren gelukkig niets veranderd en zijn ze nog even goed en betrouwbaar als in de oude vormgeving (die overigens bij de paperback-edities wel is gehandhaafd).

Titelbeschrijving
Herodotus, Histories Book VIII  (Historiae VIII / Histories 8)
[Cambridge Greek and Latin Classics (CGLC)]
edited with a commentary by A.M. Bowie (m.m.v. Stephanie West).  
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007
xvi + 258 pp., 3 maps, ocl. (gebonden/hardback)
NIEUW (uitgeversprijs meer dan € 100,-)

Inhoud/Contents:
Uitgebreide inleiding / Introduction (pp. 1-35)
Griekse tekst / Greek text (pp. 37-86) - met zeer bescheiden app.crit./ with very modest apparatus.
Commentaar / Commentary (pp. 87-238).
Het boek wordt afgesloten met een
Bibliografie / Bibliography (pp. 239-253) en
2 Indices / Indexes: 1. Greek (pp. 254) 2. General (pp. 254-258)

Zoek in Boekwinkeltjes op CGLC voor mijn andere ‘Green and Yellows’ / You can find my other ‘Green and Yellows’ by searching in Boekwinkeltjes on CGLC.

Donald Lateiner is in BMCR 2008.07.34 zeer lovend over dit commentaar op Historiae 8:

"The commentary, following the good example of Flower and Marincola, includes useful introductions to sections (e.g., 98-99: “The Persian Messenger System”), elucidations of specific words and phrases, the occasional translation, and references to further recent articles and books. Bowie provides a welcome innovation by occasionally inserting notes on broader topics of recurring interest in Herodotos’ text. He introduces these with bold-faced type, e.g., Persians and foreign religion, Women who ruled in their own right, and Beauty and size (ad 54, 68.1, and 113.3). (…) Bowie presents a good bibliography, a brief (…) Greek index, and another for general subjects.
A comparison of four commentaries’ treatment of 8.8, a discrete unit on Skyllias the Diver, may assist the BMCR readership. Shuckburgh provides 1 page with 11 lemmata; his text is corrupt, but he helps with such things at why automolesein is a future infinitive. Powell provides 1.25 pages with 13 lemmata; his text is much better and he well explains inferential ara and the emendation es tote. Masaracchia provides 1 page with 7 lemmata, commenting adequately on Herodotos’ attitude towards the incredible legends reported to him. Bowie provides 1.5 pages with 12 lemmata, fuller and with good reasons for the perfect imperative apodedechtho. (I noted a rare typographical error in the Greek at 8.1; generally the Greek typesetting appears to be careful.)

We heartily recommend this volume as an introduction to Herodotos’ Greek and methods of presentation. Bowie’s strengths include extensive information on Near Eastern institutions and the Achaemenid Empire as well as Greek misunderstandings of them. He offers less on Greek politics and details of military engagement than on questions of syntax. He is alive to Herodotean ironies, and helpfully notes entrances and exits of characters from the ongoing action (e.g. Xerxes and Themistokles at 120 and 125.2)."