Biographical Information

Arethas of Caesarea, scholar and politician, archbishop of Caesarea (from 902), born in Patras in the middle of the ninth century, died between 932 and 944. Together with Photios and Leo the Mathematician he represents what would later be called the ‘‘first Byzantine Renaissance’’ (Lemerle 1971). Arethas was preoccupied with the compilation of lexicons and the preservation of classical works. He copied, commented, and lectured on the texts of ancient philosophers (Aristotle, Porphyry) and played an important role in the transmission of the philosophical traditions of antiquity into Byzantium. He annotated the margins of classical texts with numerous scholia (many of which are preserved), and copied and commented on several other texts (the nearly complete surviving manuscripts of Euclid’s Elements, Pollux, Clement of Alexandria, Aelius Aristides, Athenaeus, Athenagoras, Dio Chrysostom, Epictetus, Hesychius, Julian, Marcus Aurelius, Pausanias, Strabo). He played an important role as a commissioner of philosophical manuscripts of Plato (Oxon. Bodl. Clarke ms.39, Vatic. gr. 1, Paris. gr. 1807) and Aristotle (Vatic. Urb. 35), which are among the most valuable testimonies to Plato’s and Aristotle’s texts (Wilson 1983). Arethas commented on works by Aristotle (Categories) and Porphyry (Isagoge), and he wrote critical notes on logic, ontology, and psychology. Arethas is also thought as one of the most scholarly theologians of the Church and an important compiler of the oldest extant Greek commentary on the Apocalypse (based primarily on that of Andrew of Caesarea). After 902, he turned toward various theological topics (his defense against the accusations of paganism). He wrote exegetical works, letters, homilies, and pamphlets. Arethas paved the way for the revival of Byzantine rhetoric, he rejected the ideal of plain speech, and followed Hermogenes of Tarsus in the belief that obscurity can at times be a virtue. Thus, his language is adorned with proverbs, quotations, allusions, and poetic lines. Among the ancient authors, Plato, Aristotle, and Homer are most often mentioned in Arethas’ works.