Michael of Ephesus on Contemplation, Pleasure and Happiness: A Byzantine Commentary on Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics X.
Final Report Abstract
This project has succeeded in providing the first-ever translation into a modern language of the earliest surviving commentary on Book 10 of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics. This commentary was composed by Michael of Ephesus in the 12th century A.D., and it is a commentary that has much to offer but that until very recently has been unjustly neglected. This project aims to correct this by making it accessible to a wider readership. The translation (into English) will be based on text edited by G. Heylbut in the Commentaria in Aristotelem Graeca series (volume 20, Berlin: 1892) and is set to be published in the renowned Ancient Commentators on Aristotle series. The main output of this project was the translation itself (56,413 words) with extensive notes (626 notes totalling 25,115 words). One of the main obstacles encountered in producing this translation was that the state of Heylbut’s edition proved to be unsatisfactory in many places. This forced us to look repeatedly at the manuscripts – in particular at Vat. gr. 269, which does not adequately figure into Heylbut’s edition – as well as to Grosseteste’s Latin translation. Although this did not lead to many major changes, Vat. gr. 269 often improves upon Heylbut’s text in minor ways both in cases where he indicates problems with the text and at places where he gives no indication that improvements are necessary. Moreover, this project made possible what will have been the first conference ever dedicated exclusively to Michael of Ephesus, which took place on 29-30 September 2016, which not only promoted a very fruitful exchange of ideas on all sides but also set in motion the publication of the first edited volume dedicated to Michael of Ephesus, consisting of essays authored by a select group of international scholars. Finally, this project shed valuable light on diverse aspects of Michael’s activity as a commentator and philosopher, e.g., regarding his debts to previous thinkers such as Alexander of Aphrodisias as well as to Plotinus and other Neoplatonic philosophers.
Publications
- Michael of Ephesus : On Aristotle Nicomachean Ethics 10 with Themistius: On virtue. Ancient Commentaries on Aristotle Series. Bloomsbury Academic Press 2019, 276 S.
Julia Trompeter and James Wilberding (eds.)
(See online at https://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781350085107)
