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The article treats the presence of stars in terrestrial landscapes, in opposition to the Underworld and in connection to the topos of katabasis, above all in order to pursue in more depth a textual problem in the fabula Orphei of Vergil’s Georgics (4,509 astris / antris). The philological question is approached both on the basis of context and in relation to the descent into Hades of Aeneas, as well as in diachronic comparison with the earlier Homeric katabasis of Odysseus and the later otherworldly voyage of Dante in the Commedia. This internal and intertextual investigation reveals multiple functions of the celestial bodies in similar stories, as well as analogies between Homer, Vergil and Dante, linked by interests in nature and astronomy and by reciprocal influences. In fact, the Greek model and the Italian emulator seem to help clarify the contested passage in the Vergilian katabasis of Orpheus, while the Latin poet and Dante (who also share echoes of Apollonius Rhodius) rework a celestial detail already present in the νέκυια of Homer. Finally, both these classical authors, as well as Ovid, are subtly present at the ends of the three parts of the Commedia, each of which closes with the suggestive and symbolic image of “stars”, which evokes and renews an ancient tradition.

Si discute del primo Ricettario di Giovanni Meli come documento della cultura scientifica sette / ottocentesca a Palermo, esaminando anche questioni filologiche sul latino scientifico del tempo, che avranno importanza per i fini ecdotici.

In the pamphlet On Salaried Posts in Great Houses Lucian of Samosata analyzes the problem of the impossible relationship between misthos, ‘money’, and paideia, ‘culture’ and ‘teaching’. Money is an indispensable asset for the necessities of life. But starting with Socrates and the Sophists it becomes problematic. In Lucian’s satire the attack is directed at philosophers and the marketing of culture in the Roman Empire at the time of the Second Sophistic.

The article analyzes an unpublished Latin translation of Proclus’ Excerpta Chaldaica, preserved in two manuscripts (Allacci CXXV and XLVII) at the Vallicelliana Library, in Rome. The palaeographical analysis shows that ms. Allacci CXXV is in the hand of Lucas Holstenius (1596-1661). In the eighteenth century, Holstenius’ holograph was copied into ms. Allacci XLVII, and the translation, which Holstenius left unfinished, was completed and partly revised. The article presents the critical edition of the text, preceded by a study of the translation and of the Greek models employed by Holstenius and by the anonymous translator that later completed his translation.

Analisi della voce selma (σέλμα, τό).

Saggio introduttivo, traduzione e commento degli Adelphoe di Terenzio Introductory essay, translation and commentary of Terence's Adelphoe

Analisi della voce korymbos (κόρυμβος, ὁ).

Analisi della voce skalmos (σκαλμός, ὁ).

Analisi della voce baris (βᾶρις, ἡ).

The article examines the models of the Electra-Clitemestra-Aegisthus scene in Act V of Seneca’s Agamemnon: Sophocles’ Electra, Livius Andronicus’ Aegisthus, Accius’s Clutemestra and Pacuvius’ Dulorestes.

Recensione del volume di Maria Giovanna Sandri, che raccoglie i superstiti trattati greci su barbarismo e solecismo.

Recensione dell'edizione critica dei Menaechmi a cura di Giorgia Bandini

After a short account about the state of the research on Pseudo-Hegemonius Adversus Haereses, the author focuses on the present condition of the text and makes his considerations on the genesis of the booklet as the result of a translation, here and there quite literal, from probably one Greek source, perhaps from a heresiological synthesis in Greek that was not preserved. From that point of view, some decisions taken by former editors are perhaps worth to be reconsidered, such as a conjecture that seems to become superfluous.

This paper discusses problems of staging, address and word order in Greek tragedy to shed light on a controversial passage in Sophocles: Aj. 339-343. Ajax’s cry within, ἰὼ παῖ παῖ (339), has been alternatively taken to refer to Eurysaces (as suggested by Tecmessa) or to Teucer (whom Ajax mentions at 342-343). The paper argues for Teucer and responds to three arguments against this view: (1) παῖ is not only acceptable, but also effective to address one’s sibling; (2) the word order of 342, Τεῦκρον καλῶ, strictly implies ‘It’s Teucer I’m calling’ (not just: ‘I call on Teucer’), hence it cannot mark the move to a new addressee; (3) it is hardly possible for Ajax not to hear Tecmessa’s 340-341: short interactions across the skēnē door may occur, and the parallel scene at Euripides, Medea 1270a-1278 suggests that Ajax most likely hears Tecmessa’s words and corrects her wrong guess.

Publication of the first volume of Giovanni Meli's medical recipe book kept at the Municipal Library of Palermo. Their author (1740-1815) was a multifaceted intellectual: a famous poet, but also an eclectic philosopher, doctor and first professor of Chemistry at the University of Palermo.

This paper focuses on some quotations of Pseudo-Psellus’ treatise on music. Three quotations are provided and discussed: the well-known one by Manuel Bryennius, and two others by Joannes Zonaras and Michael Italicus. The Byzantine tendency to preserve pagan contents within Christian categories, together with the unique presence of this text in the overview of the ancient theoretical tradition, may be the main reasons for its wide circulation in the Byzantine world.