Lessico
Manuel Philes
Manuel Philes (c. 1275 - 1345), of Ephesus, Byzantine poet. At an early age he removed to Constantinople, where he was the pupil of Georgius Pachymeres, in whose honour he composed a memorial poem. Philes appears to have travelled extensively, and his writings contain much information concerning the imperial court and distinguished Byzantines. Having offended one of the emperors by indiscreet remarks published in a chronography, he was thrown into prison and only released after an abject apology.
Philes is
the counterpart of Theodorus Prodromus in the time of the Comneni; his
character, as shown in his poems, is that of a begging poet, always pleading
poverty, and ready to descend to the grossest flattery to obtain the favorable
notice of the great. With one unimportant exception, his productions are in
verse, the greater part in dodecasyllabic iambic trimeters
, the
remainder in the fifteen-syllable "political" measure.
Philes was
the author of poems on a great variety of subjects: on the characteristics of
animals, chiefly based upon Aelian and
Oppian, a
didactic poem of some 2000 lines, dedicated to Michael IX Palaiologos; on the
elephant; on plants; a necrological poem, probably written on the death of one
of the sons of the imperial house; a panegyric on John VI Kantakouzenos, in
the form of a dialogue; a conversation between a man and his soul; on
ecclesiastical subjects, such as church festivals, Christian beliefs, the
saints and fathers of the church; on works of art, perhaps the most valuable
of all his pieces for their bearing on Byzantine iconography, since the writer
had before him the works he describes, and also the most successful from a
literary point of view; occasional poems, many of which are simply begging
letters in verse.
Editions
The natural history poems in F Lehrs and F Dubner, Poetae bucolici et didactici (Didot series, 1846); Manuelis Philae Carmina inedita, ed. A Martini (1900); Manuelis Philae Carmina ed. E Miller (1855-1857). See also Karl Krumbacher, Geschichte der byzantinischen Litteratur (1897).
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
Carmina varia de naturali historia
F. Dübner and F.S. Lehrs, Poetae bucolici et didactici, Paris: Didot, 1862: 3-68.
Word Count:
17,845
Pars 1: De proprietate animalium: pp. 3-48
Pars 2: Expositio de elephante: pp. 49-56
Pars 3: De plantis: pp. 57-64
Pars 4: In vermem qui serica fingit: pp. 65-66
Pars 5: De verme serico: p. 67
Pars 6: De vulturibus: p. 68
www.tlg.uci.edu
Poem on the properties of animals
Philes Manuel - De animalium proprietate, ex prima editione Arsenii et libro Oxoniensi restitutus a Joanne Cornelio de Pauw, cum ejusdem animadversionibus et versione Latina Gregorii Bersmanni. Accedunt et eodem libro Oxoniensi non pauca hactenus inedita.
Utrecht, Guilielmus Stouw, 1730. 4to. With title printed in red and black; Greek and Latin text on facing pages. Modern red-brown half morocco, spine gilt.
Orders and Information € 450
(16), 347, (4) pp. Wood, p. 518; V. d. AA VI, p. 43; Biogr. Universelle XV, 143.
The best edition of this poem by Manuel Philes (ca. 1275-1340) on the properties of animals, with comments by Pauw and the Latin translation by Bersmannus. The text deals mainly with birds and mammals and has for the greater part been extracted from Aelianus De Natura Animalium. Library stamp on verso of the title.
www.asherbooks.com
