THE SUDA

          THE SUDA, THE BYZANTINE ENCYCLOPEDIA WRITTEN IN 1100

 

The Suda, a massive work written by a Byzantine scholar around 1100 is one of the world’s first encyclopedias and lexicons.  

 

Created as both a syllabary of the Greek language and an overview of the then known world it is a criterion in the scholarship of the Medieval period.  It was formerly attributed to an author called Sudas or Suidas.

 

It was an encyclopedic lexicon written in Greek, with 30.000 entries, many drawings from ancient sources and often derived from medieval Christian sources.

 

The derivation of the word “Suda” is from the Byzantine word “Souda”,  which means fortress or stronghold, according to the philology of the period.

 

Today it is considered a rich source of ancient and Byzantine history and life.  Priceless biographical sketches of political, ecclesiastical and literary figures of the Byzantine period  up to 10^th century are included in this massive work, while many are considered condensations of the works of Hesychius of Miletus as the author himself affirms.

 

Other sources used in the Souda were the encyclopedia of Constantine VII Porphyrogenes, for the figures in ancient history, excerpts written by John of Antioch, about Roman history and the chronicle of “Hamartolus”, by Georgios Monachos for the Byzantine Age.

 

The lexicon draws scholia to the classics of the greatest Greek writers, like Homer, Aristophanes, Thucydides, Sophocles, and others.  Later the works of Polybius, Josephus, the chronicon Pascale, and George Hamartolus were used as sources.

 

Some scholars believe that the Suda an invaluable repository of literary history is more important than the lexicographical collection.

Here are the images of the Byzantine emperor mentioned below:

Sadly, little is known about the author, who was named “Suidas” in a note.  He probably lived in the 2^nd half of the 10^th century, because of the death of Emperor John 1^st Tsimiskis and his successor Basil II and Constantine VIII are mentioned in and entry under “Adam”, which is appended with a brief chronology of the word.

 

The work deals with biblical as well as pagan subjects from which it is believed that the author was a Christian.

The great English writer, Alexander Pope mentioned in his writings:

                                     “For Attic please of Plato let them seek

                                      I poach in Sudas for unlicensed Greek”

 

The Suda has been edited and published several times from the 14^th century to 1971.  A modern version that is available worldwide, a result of a labour of love by international scholars is called “Suda online” completed in July 2014.   

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