Texts
Explanationes in Bucolica Vergilii (Philargyrius)
Incoming data
The catalogue entry for this text has not been published as yet. Until then, a selection of data is made available below.
Latin commentary on Virgil’s Eclogae, al. Bucolica, attributed to one Iunius Philargyrius and dedicated to Valentinianus, possibly referring to Valentinian III (r. 425-455). Its transmission owes something to Irish scholarly interest of the seventh or eighth century. Two recensions (explanationes or expositiones) of the text are preserved, Explanatio I and the shorter Explanatio II (or Brevis expositio), which include Old Irish glosses, accounts of the life of Virgil and other material not originally part of the commentary. Recension I may have been compiled or at least written down by one Fatosus, if that much can be inferred from its colophon.
Manuscript witnesses
Text
ff. 1r–14v (Explanatio I), 14v–22v (Explanatio II, with preface).
MS
Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, MS Plut. 45.14
rubric: In nomine di summi in bvcolica pauca ordinantur incl. Glosses on Philargyrius, Vita Vergilii (Philargyriana I) Recension known as Explanatio I. Incl. a proemium on ff. 1r-2r, which is an account of the life of Virgil (Vita Philargyrii I) derived from that of Donatus. The Explanatio proper starts on f. 2r. Concl. Explanatio Iunii Filargirii grammatici explicit, followed by a colophon by Fatosus, beg. Deus mecum per omnia ego sum in gloria.
in section: f. 1r–
MS
Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, MS Plut. 45.14
incipit: Uirgilius Maro in pago qui Andes dicitur incl. Glosses on Philargyrius, Vita Vergilii (Philargyriana II) Recension known as Explanatio II. Like the previous recension, it opens with a life of Virgil (Vita Philargyrii II).
in section: f. 14v–
Text
ff. 1r–12r (Explanatio I), 12r–18v (Explanatio II).
MS
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS lat. 7960
incipit: In nomine summi in bucolica pauca ordinantur fona incl. Glosses on Philargyrius, Vita Vergilii (Philargyriana I) Recension known as Explanatio I. After the concluding words Explanatio Iunii Filargirii grammatici explicit (f. 11v.i), there is a colophon (f. 12r) by one Fatosus, beg. Deus mecum per omnia ego sum in gloria.
in section: f. 1r–
MS
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS lat. 7960
incipit: Virgilius Maro in pago qui Andes dicitur incl. Glosses on Philargyrius, Vita Vergilii (Philargyriana II) Recension known as Explanatio II.
in section: f. 12r–
MS
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS lat. 11308
rubric: In nomine di summi in bocolica pauca ordinantur fona incl. Glosses on Philargyrius, Vita Vergilii (Philargyriana I) Recension known as Explanatio I. After concluding Explanatio Iunii Filargirii grammatici explicit, the text includes a colophon by Fatosus, beg. Deus mecum per omnia, ego sum in gloria.
in section: f. 14r–
Text
ff. 1r–14r (Explanatio II), 14r–41v (Explanatio I).
MS
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS lat. 11308
rubric: Uirgilio Maro in pago qui Andes dicitur incl. Glosses on Philargyrius, Vita Vergilii (Philargyriana II) Recension known as Explanatio II.
in section: f. 1r–
Sources
Primary sources Text editions and/or modern translations – in whole or in part – along with publications containing additions and corrections, if known. Diplomatic editions, facsimiles and digital image reproductions of the manuscripts are not always listed here but may be found in entries for the relevant manuscripts. For historical purposes, early editions, transcriptions and translations are not excluded, even if their reliability does not meet modern standards.
[ed.] Hagen, Hermann, and Georg Thilo, Servii grammatici: qui feruntur in Vergilii carmina commentarii, 3 vols, vol. 3.2: Appendix Serviana: ceteros praeter Servium et scholia Bernensia Vergilii commentatores continens, Leipzig, 1902.
Secondary sources (select)
Miles, Brent, Heroic saga and classical epic in medieval Ireland, Studies in Celtic History, 30, Woodbridge: Boydell & Brewer, 2011.
abstract:
The puzzle of Ireland's role in the preservation of classical learning into the middle ages has always excited scholars, but the evidence from the island's vernacular literature - as opposed to that in Latin - for the study of pagan epic has largely escaped notice. In this book the author breaks new ground by examining the Irish texts alongside the Latin evidence for the study of classical epic in medieval Ireland, surveying the corpus of Irish texts based on histories and poetry from antiquity, in particular Togail Troi, the Irish history of the Fall of Troy. He argues that Irish scholars' study of Virgil and Statius in particular left a profound imprint on the native heroic literature, especially the Irish prose epic Táin Bó Cúailnge (“The Cattle-Raid of Cooley”).
Lambert, Pierre-Yves, “Les gloses celtiques aux commentaires de Virgile”, Études Celtiques 23 (1986): 81–128.
Persée – Études Celtiques, vol. 23, 1986: <link>
