AESCHYLUS,
Agamemnon. Edited with a Commentary by E. Fraenkel. Vol. I. Prolegomena, Text, Translation. Vol. II. Commentary on 1-1055. Vol. III. Commentary on 1056-1673. Appendices. Index.
Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1950. 3 vols. XVI,195;VIII,480;V,481-850p. Cloth. Some pencil markings and annotations. Notae Arnottensis.
'An edition, on a unprecedented scale, of the greatest of Greek tragedies by one of the most distinguished of living scholars is an important event. The scale of the commentary, which runs to over 800 pages, has indeed evoked some adverse criticism. And yet, if Fraenkel occasionally labours the obvious or raps the knuckles of his predecessors, in general his notes are models of exposition or controversy. There are two reasons, apart from the complexity of the problems, which account for the length. Much space is devoted to expounding, often with quotation, the views of earlier scholars. (...) A summing-up of this kind is both appropriate and valuable. (...) Secondly, Fraenkel includes in his commentary a mass of lexicographical and other material whose relevance is not confined to the problems he is discussing; and he is led into detailed examination of passages in other works and authors. The edition is thus a storehouse of information about Greek linguistic usage and comment upon Greek literature, especially tragic poetry, and those who are working in any related field will be well advised to consult the excellent indexes. (...) It is a very cautious text. (...) In the commentary Fraenkel shows himself formidably equipped for a formidable task. To a many-sides linguistic scholarship he adds acuteness of judgement and a genuine, if not infallible, sense of poetry and drama. (...). It remains to express the warmest admiration and gratitude for a notable contribution to the study of Aeschylus, a monument of scholarship of which our generation may well be proud.' (R.P. WINNINGTON-INGRAM in The Classical Review (1951, pp.147-48). From the library of the late Prof. W. Geoffrey Arnott.
€ 465.00
(Antiquarian)