Eustathius

(Εὐστάθιος). (1) An archbishop of Thessalonica, who flourished in the twelfth century under the emperors Manuel, Alexius, and Andronicus Comnenus. He is celebrated for his erudition as a grammarian, and is especially known as a commentator on Homer and Dionysius the geographer. It is evident, however, that in the former of these commentaries (Παρεκβολαί) he is largely indebted to the Deipnosophistae of Athenaeus. The commentary of Eustathius was united to the edition of Homer which appeared at Rome (1542-50) in 3 vols., and was reprinted at Basle (1560), also in 3 vols. The best edition is the Leipzig one of 1825-30, 6 vols., by G. Stallbaum; for that of Politus, undertaken in 1730, with a Latin version, was never finished. The three volumes of it which appeared at Florence (1730-35) extend only to the end of the fifth book of the Iliad. Müller and Baumgarten-Crusius have performed a valuable service for the student, in publishing extracts from Eustathius along with the text of the Iliad and Odyssey. The commentary on Dionysius is less valuable, from the scanty nature, most probably, of the materials employed. A commentary on Pindar is lost, with the exception of the Prooemium, which has been edited by Schneidewin (Göttingen, 1837). Some letters of the archbishop are to be found in the public libraries of Europe, of which a part was edited by Tafel in 1832. Eustathius died about the year 1194.

(2) A native of Egypt, called by some Eumathius, and styled in one manuscript Πρωτονοβιλίσσιμος καὶ μέγας χαρτοφύλαξ, “Protonobilissimus and great archivist.” He was the author of a romance, entitled, Τὸ καθ' Ὑσμίνην καὶ Ὑσμινίαν Δρᾶμα, “Hysminé and Hysminias.” It is a lifeless performance. The work has been twice published—first at Paris (1618), with the version, and under the care, of Gaulmin, and again by Teucher (Leipzig, 1792). This last contains merely the text and the version of Gaulmin, without either preface or notes.

(3) An ancient jurist, called Eustathius Romānus, who wrote a work called Ὑπόμνημα and another (Περὶ Ὑποβόλου). The so-called Practica is not his.