Eustratios of Nicaea on thunder and lightning
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Anne-Laurence Caudano
Abstract
Scholarship has attributed to Eustratios of Nicaea (c. 1050-c. 1120) a treatise on thunder and lightning, which discussed other cosmological, geographical and meteorological matters as well. The text was edited by Paola Polesso- Schiavon in 1965-1966, on the basis of two manuscripts (Parisinus gr. 1612 and Marcianus gr. III-4). Two other manuscripts (Laurentianus Mediceus Plut. VII.35 and British Library Add. 34060) show that the bishop was the author of the section on thunder and lightning only. Whereas Eustratios focused on these phenomena exclusively, his explanations were considerably more thorough than suggested in the original edition. The resulting text, written at the request of a patron, probably Maria of Alania, is strongly grounded in the Aristotelian tradition and didactic. Aristotle’s meteorological theory behind thunder and lightning is explained simply, and illustrated with many examples, some of them also borrowed from John Lydos’ Liber de ostensis. Beside a discussion of the authorship and the manuscript tradition, a commentary and an edition of the text are provided.
© 2013 by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co.
Articles in the same Issue
- Titelei
- Maximus Confessor’s polemics against Tritheism and his Trinitarian teaching
- Eustratios of Nicaea on thunder and lightning
- Ausgewählte Lesefrüchte zur byzantinischen Lexikographie
- The Serres Icon of Saints Theodores
- Anselm of Havelberg’s use of authorities in his account of the Filioque
- Scoli metrici a Pindaro in Terra d’Otranto: il Laurentianus Plut. LXXII, 14 ed il Vaticanus gr. 1019
- The Sacred Arsenal and the manuscripts Monac. gr. 229 and Paris. gr. 1301
- Die Datierung und die Funktion einer Kleinbronze mit paganen und christlichen Merkmalen
- Syriac sources for Byzantinists: an introduction and overview
- Δηλώσω σοι γὰρ τὰς αὐτοῦ πράξεις (DAG1.13) / A note on the order of clitic pronouns and particles in the Grottaferrata Digenis Akritis
- Ein wiederentdecktes Argyrobull des Despotes Theodoros Palaiologos
- Was Michael Attaleiates present at the battle of Mantzikert?
- II. ABTEILUNG
- III. ABTEILUNG. Bibliographische Notizen und Mitteilungen
- Totentafel
- Autoren- und Herausgeberverzeichnis zur Bibliographie Band 105, Heft 1 und 2
Articles in the same Issue
- Titelei
- Maximus Confessor’s polemics against Tritheism and his Trinitarian teaching
- Eustratios of Nicaea on thunder and lightning
- Ausgewählte Lesefrüchte zur byzantinischen Lexikographie
- The Serres Icon of Saints Theodores
- Anselm of Havelberg’s use of authorities in his account of the Filioque
- Scoli metrici a Pindaro in Terra d’Otranto: il Laurentianus Plut. LXXII, 14 ed il Vaticanus gr. 1019
- The Sacred Arsenal and the manuscripts Monac. gr. 229 and Paris. gr. 1301
- Die Datierung und die Funktion einer Kleinbronze mit paganen und christlichen Merkmalen
- Syriac sources for Byzantinists: an introduction and overview
- Δηλώσω σοι γὰρ τὰς αὐτοῦ πράξεις (DAG1.13) / A note on the order of clitic pronouns and particles in the Grottaferrata Digenis Akritis
- Ein wiederentdecktes Argyrobull des Despotes Theodoros Palaiologos
- Was Michael Attaleiates present at the battle of Mantzikert?
- II. ABTEILUNG
- III. ABTEILUNG. Bibliographische Notizen und Mitteilungen
- Totentafel
- Autoren- und Herausgeberverzeichnis zur Bibliographie Band 105, Heft 1 und 2
