P Language and Literature > PA Classical philologyĬollege of Arts > School of Humanities > ClassicsĬopyright of this thesis is held by the author.Sculptor Elizabeth King and clockmaker W. Hero of Alexandria, mechanics, ancient engineering, ancient technology, automata, automata-making, automation, mobile automaton, stationary automaton, Περὶ αὐτομάτων, Περὶ στατῶν αὐτομάτων, Philo of Byzantium. Appendix (4) includes manuscript diagrams and reconstruction drawings of the mobile automaton. However, it also addresses stylistic, interpretive and reconstructive issues, without failing to consider the oldest manuscript diagrams.įollowing the commentary are six appendixes: (1) a concordance of editions (2) addenda et corrigenda to Schmidt’s edition (3) three stemmata codicum (4) illustrations (5) a review of Masià (2015) (6) an index of technical terms. The commentary is mainly philological and text-critical in nature. The elucidation of the manuscript sigla and abbreviations used in the apparatus criticus precedes the text. To maximise readability, the layout of the English translation mirrors the layout of the Greek text. The text, apparatus criticus and translation form the centre of the thesis. Part Six addresses the principles of the edition. Internal inconsistencies are best explained as the result of incomplete authorial editing. Finally, discussion turns to the status of the text. A stylistic comparison with the Pneumatica sheds new light on Hero’s degree of originality, removing suspicions of interpolation. Attention is then paid to the purpose and intended audience of the treatise, followed by an exploration of Hero’s relationship with his sources. This, in turn, allows for consideration of the performative context of Hero’s automata. This is followed by a critical description of the contents of the treatise and by a discussion of the historical, literary and cultural background. It starts with an overview of the structure of the text, with remarks on previous editorial practices. Greater uncertainty surrounds the heading of BOOK TWO, Περὶ στατῶν αὐτομάτων (On Stationary Automata), which may have been derived from Hero’s source, Philo of Byzantium (third-century BCE). Part Four mainly discusses the various forms of the title of the treatise, which is reconstructed as Περὶ αὐτομάτων (On Automata). Part Three assesses the manuscript tradition, including a stemmatic analysis of a large number of manuscripts. Part Two evaluates previous editions and translations, and summarises the main novelties of this study. Part One discusses the ‘Heronian question’, with particular attention to the chronology of the Automata and the Pneumatica. The introduction provides a context for an informed reading of the text. The opening section gives a summary of some of the conventions and abbreviations used in the thesis, and is followed by a list of figures. The preface summarises the significance, aims and limitations of the work. It provides the first commentary on BOOK ONE, dealing with the construction of a mobile, as opposed to a stationary, automaton. This thesis is a critical edition, with introduction, translation and partial commentary, of the Automata, a two-book mechanical treatise written by Hero of Alexandria (first century CE).
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |