The Greek Anthology: from Meleager to Planudes

The Greek Anthology is one of the great books of European literature, "a garden containing the flowers and weeds of 1500 years of Greek epigram." Cameron's study adds a wealth of new information about its growth over an even longer period, from the earliest papyrus anthologies down to the 1606 rediscovery of the Palatine Anthology (AP), our principal source for the entire history of Greek epigram, from Simonides to the Byzantine age. It was a Byzantine schoolmaster, Constantine Cephalas, who excerpted all the major ancient collections around 900. His work is reconstructed from a closer analysis of AP (ca 940) and the various later collections. Following a number of neglected clues, Cameron identifies the compiler of AP as Constantine the Rhodian, and solves the mystery of the wanderings of AP during the renaissance, showing that it once belonged to Sir Thomas More.