PROLEGOMENA

say that Homer was a contemporary of Hesiod,
[having been] tested at the tomb of Amphidamas.
But these men were ignorant that there were many Homers,
Homer the Byzantine, son of Andromachus,
and Homer the Phocian, son of Euphron.
Even if they erred somewhat, one must be sympathetic,
just as [one is to] those who later said he was [a contemporary] of Hesiod.
For they say that Hesiod and Homer both existed
during the reign of Arxippus;
but Hesiod [was] at the beginning of the reign,
and Homer [was] toward the end of the rule of Arxippus,
who held [power] for thirty-five years together
of the rule of Athens. But these men are ignorant
of which Homer existed in the times of Arxippus.
But according to us, Homer [was] four hundred years
before Hesiod. And observe me, and learn.
Homer existed during the two campaigns,
the Theban and the Trojan; you know [this] from Pronapides,

(90) Scholia in C, "The supposed time when Homer was, from the deception of the homonymy of the Homers; and how many Homeric poets."
(91) A, 'the tomb'. Bg., 'having been tested'. There remains an ancient account of that contest between Homer and Hesiod, which I have already cited more than once.
(92) Bg., 'many Homers', with a longer hemistich.
(93) One discusses the age of Homer and Hesiod eruditely in the Prolegomena to Hesiod, p. 15. See also about the various Homers in 'Bibliotheca Graeca', vol. 1, p. 566.
(95) A B, 'thus we must sympathize'. C, Bg., 'to this one must be sympathetic'.
(96) Scholia in C: "Another time when Homer was, this one also from the deception of the homonymy of the Homers."
(97) See Tzetzes' 'Prolegomena to Hesiod', p. 14. Arxippus, by others Archippus, was the perpetual Archon of the Athenians.
(99) A, 'the beginning'.
(100) B, 'before the end'. Bg., 'rule of Arxippus'.
(101) A, Bg., 'times'.
(102) A, 'are still ignorant'.
(105-107) A B, 'earlier'. Scholia in C and partly in Anecdota Oxoniensia, vol. 3, p. 376: "The true time when Homer was. That is to say, from the time of Pronapides, the teacher of Homer; for Pronapides was third from Cadmus, and Homer was fourth, that is, flourishing during Laius and Oedipus up to the Trojan [war] and later." — "That he was during the two campaigns; for the Sicilian Diodorus narrates the [story] concerning Pronapides." See Diodorus Siculus 3, 66. — A B, 'armies'. B, 'campaigns', and so Tzetzes in Chiliad 12, 185, comparing the passage, and 13, 645.