Eustathius

Eustathius, a celebrated Greek commentator on Homer and the geographer Dionysius, was born at Constantinople. He was at first a monk, then a deacon and teacher of rhetoric in his native city; he was Archbishop of Thessalonica from 1160, and of Myra from 1174, and died at an advanced age some time posterior to 1185. Eustathius was profoundly versed in the ancient classic authors, and a man of prodigious acquirements; and the value of his quotations is heightened by the consideration that most of the works from which he extracts are no longer extant. His most important work is his commentary on Homer (1st ed. Rome, 1542-50), a rich mine of knowledge. Of a similar character is his commentary on Dionysius, first printed by Robert Stephens (Paris, 1547). Of his commentary on Pindar, only the Proœmium has come down to us (ed. by Schneidewin, Göttingen, 1837); a part of his theological and historical treatises, letters, &c. was published by Tafel in 1832.