Graphical Apparatus
Notes
A graphical apparatus is still a novelty among the editions of ancient literature. In the case of the Great Stemma, careful comparison of the extant layouts is of greater importance to reconstructing an ur-archetype than the collation of a text which has few surprises on offer.[*]Ken Saito's work to reconstruct the diagrams of Euclid without anachronism by plotting the chief witnesses is among exemplary diagrammatic editing projects, as is Reviel Netz's Works of Archimedes.
Each page of this apparatus consists of:
- Dimensional information about the section;
- Plots from the capital manuscripts, using colors mostly retained throughout this apparatus;
- The hypothetical reconstruction, in shades of grey:
- A commentary treating key considerations in arriving at the hypotheses.
The capital manuscripts for the purpose of graphical reconstruction are P (blue) and Ro (clay-colored), and as these mostly provide the chosen reading, they are usually the points of departure for any comparison. Lesser witnesses are adduced only where they may add to our understanding of the Great Stemma author's intention. The commentary attached to each section draws attention to the clues, explores the docking notation and occasionally, as in the case of the Horrites, extends to the transmission of the work and difficulties thrown up by the later recensions.
This edition's reconstructions are based on several cardinal assumptions:
- The four fila constitute a kind of external skeleton and are an authentic element from the ur-form, since they are exactly described in the Liber Genealogus.
- The timeline is a non-scalar representation of time's flow keyed to the genealogical material. The Levites and the Judges mark meanders in this otherwise left-to-right horizontal sequence.
- The sub-stemmata are informative, but are not the prime material in the chart.
- The ur-type was arranged in grid-like fashion and limited to a height of ten rows, forcing an inflection in some of the longer vertical chains of roundels. The reconstructed dimensions of every group can thus be confidently given here in roundels wide and roundels tall.
The superficial resemblance of the stemmata to a modern family tree is misleading. The connectors between the roundels vary in their connotations according to context. Roundels do sometimes dock onto other roundels in ramifying patterns, but they can also dock together to form chains, both vertical (pendants) and horizontal (necklaces). When roundels dock to a bar, this may either signify a harem or the fact that a line of descendants exists through divine guidance. The following tabulation of the patterns used is taken from my book Mind's Eye, where the issue is discussed in detail:[*]Piggin, Jean-Baptiste. Mind's Eye. Auckland: Cernimus, 2018.
| Docking form | Relationship Type | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Ramification | Patriarchs’ and matriarchs’ children | Rachel’s sons |
| Pendant chain | Nether descendants, grouped | Rachel’s great-grandchildren |
| Necklace | Dynastic | Descendants of Cain |
| Queue | Passage of historical time | Seven phases after Ibzan’s judgeship |
| Bar-docked (filum) | Divinely guided procreation | Fila from Adam to Christ |
| Bar-docked (harem) | Polygamy | David’s wives |
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The Great Stemma: A Graphic History in
the Fifth Century by Jean-Baptiste Piggin is licensed under a Creative Commons
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