John Tzetzes and the Heritage of Hephaistion: Transmission, Critique, and Innovation in Byzantine Treatises on Metrics

Greek metrical treatises initially emerged as appendices to Hephaistion’s Encheiridion (notably Scholia A and B and Choeroboscus’ commentary) before evolving into independent texts. Over time, they supplanted Hephaistion’s work. Among twenty treatises, The Clearest Instructions on All Types of Verse Meters, commonly referred to as Carmen de metris, by John Tzetzes, holds prominence. However, this didactic poem remains largely unexplored and previous research on it are incomplete and unsatisfactory. The insights into the transmission and didactic structuring of Hephaistion’s material prior to Demetrius Triclinius’ rediscovery has remained an outstanding challenge. This paper examines the textual use of Hephaistion’s work and its exegesis by Tzetzes. Of particular interest are the sections in which Tzetzes, drawing on his deeper readings explicitly accuses Hephaistion of falsehood, revealing his critical engagement with his sources. The study will also explore how Tzetzes and other authors of metrical treatises (such the Anonymus Ambrosianus) engaged with the broader exegetical corpus, including figures such as Dionysius Thrax, Choeroboscus, and the Scholia A and B. Elements absent in these sources appear in the scholia recentiora on tragedies and Aristophanes, suggesting an intermediary tradition, now lost, yet seemingly reflected in Tzetzes’ Carmen. Alongside his critical stance, this poem offers valuable insights into the scholarly landscape of the twelfth century and the ways in which Byzantine grammarians approached classical authority.