Tzetzes' Allegories of the Iliad and Psellos' Allegories

For Cadmus, having come from Egypt to Greece,
taught Linus in the letters of the Phoenicians;
and Linus taught, the student of Cadmus, 70

Orpheus and Heracles, and indeed also Pronapides;
Heracles kills Linus the teacher,
and Orpheus becomes the teacher of Musaeus;
and this Pronapides teaches Homer.
And now, Homer, having learned all of Pronapides' [teachings], 75

needing to learn even more, departed for Egypt,
and there then he harvested the flower of all wisdom;
and having become wise to the highest degree, beyond human nature,
he wrote thirteen memorial books:
Margites and the Aiga [Goat], and the Battle of the mice, 80

and the Battle of the Epigoni; he also writes the Thebaid,
the Oechalia, the Cercopes, and the Hymns to the gods,
and the Seven-against-Thebes original: "Hepta Epaktios", and the Epikinklides,
and many Epigrams along with the Nymphic Hymns,
and the Odyssey itself along with the Iliad. 85

But also learn from me the time of Homer first,
and his death; then you shall clearly hear
the meaning and the subject matter of the entire Iliad.
Those who vainly wish to write historical books

(70) A without 'and'.
(71) Burg. without 'and'. The same, 'and indeed'.
(73) A, 'becomes Pronapides'. Burg., 'he becomes teacher of M.'.
(75) C, 'of Pron.' with 'ta' superscript.
(78) A B C, 'highly'.
(79) B, 'thrice and'. Burg., 'of memorials'.
(79-85) Bentley cited these six verses in his 'Epistle to Mill', p. 54. Regarding the various poems mentioned here, see Fabricius's 'Bibliotheca Harlesiana', book 1, c. 2. — Burg., 'writes the battle'. A, Cercopa. B, Cercopes. C, Burg., Cercopes. B, 'the [hymns] to the gods'. A, 'the [hymns] to the gods'. C, Burg. and Bentl., 'to the gods'. — A B C and Burg. agree on 'the Seven-against-Thebes', which Bentley also found, with the variation 'the'. To Fabricius and Bentley regarding this corrupted passage, add Gaisford to Proclus's 'Chrestomathia', p. 70, and the new Thesaurus, 'Heptapaktios'. A, 'Epikinklidas'. B C and Burg., 'Epikinklidas'.
(87) Burg., 'death of him', in wrong order.
(89) In A, the first two words have almost vanished.

A woodcut illustration depicts a scholar or scribe at a desk, likely intended to represent the poet Homer or a compiler of the text.