Subproject 4.2.: The reception history of Plato's texts in the Ancient world

Project director: Prof. Dr. K. Sier
Institute of Classical Philology and Comparative Studies, University of Leipzig

„Users of this or any edition are warned that the textual variants presented by citations from Plato in later literature have not yet been as fully investigated as is desirable”. This shortcoming, characterized by Kenneth Dover (Plato Symposium, Cambridge, 1980, VII) is still existent and is unlikely to be corrected quickly with the help of traditional techniques of research. Although the determination of the indirect Platonic tradition, i.e. the collection of quotes and ‘literal paraphrases’ of platonic locations in subsequent literature, is a vital condition to the understanding of the text's history and generation, this has to accompany the thorough processing of the direct handwritten tradition which has been re-encountered in recent decades. But the opposition, subtended to such an endeavour by Plato's inadequately strong influence on ancient literature, is indeed substantial and we are still far from the realization of what actually should be understood. The case of the Politeia as the only dialogue of which something like a complete compilation of the secondary tradition has at all been attempted so far, is symptomatic. As impressive as the list of testimonials might be the work G.J. Boter created on 86 narrowly printed pages (The Textual Tradition of Plato’s Republic, Leiden 1989, 290-376); S.R. Slings, the editor of the new Oxford Text (2003), claims to have found 'not so rare' (non ita raro) evidence that Boter overlooked and the idea that another editor would find further relevant evidence for the constitutio textus which were also overlooked by Slings seems not far-fetched. What is valid for the Politeia, is to an even higher degree valid for the remaining Œuvre of Plato, especially for works as influential as Timaios, Symposion, Phaidon or Gorgias, the systematic collection and analysis of the testimonials of which constitutes a true desideratum of research. An appliance of text-mining-procedures (TMP) turns the Platonic works into a corpus of reference for all post-Platonic Greek literature possibly up to the Byzantine age and opens up new Possibilities, promising a solution to a problem as old as it is urgent.

Of course we don't read Plato in the first place to pursue textual criticism and the traces of his aftermath interest us particularly regarding the aspects of philosophical and arts and humanities' history. The TMP will provide us with a thesaurus which will on one hand put the pursuit of philosophical traditions and filiations on a new basis and on the other hand allow the research of the modi of which Plato and Platonism became the probably most influential factor beyond actual philosophy in ancient Paideia (education). wird.

Regarding technical aspects the second goal is the more ambitious. The writings of Plutarch e.g. are full of platonic reminiscences, but at the same time aimed at the educated, who doesn’t need literal accordance to recognize references, but possibly appreciates just the variation, the differing choice of words and the re-combination of given elements. For the recognition of these relations, which run so to speak “below the surface” of the text, the TMP has to be conceptually equipped in a way, that in the process of research synonyms, adjacent terms and equivalent or combinable elements have to be considered in the Corpus Platonicum itself. With the help of the instruments, developed in the work packages 3.3-8, especially work package 3.8 (calculation of a text-profile) it is intended to acquire criteria for the search and analysis for indirect citation and non-literal paraphrases, in which is alluded to platonic writings.
For work package 5.1 and 5.2 the publication of an annotated corpus of “evidence for ancient reception of plato” is intended.

Subproject 4.2 provides a pendant to 4.1 (atthidographs). Despite the seemingly contrarian starting position – in one case the TMP will encounter a tradition with a fragmentaric character, in the other an “embarras de richesse” – the methodic approach to the available material of the corpora of texts will be the same in both cases. The institute of ancient history and the institute of ancient greek of the University of Leipzig intend to achieve a synergetic effect by interdisciplinary exchange from this common interest.