Aristotle on the Meaning of τάλαντον‎ in Iliad 23

Abstract

Unlike most of the chapters in this volume, the present chapter is focused on a set of related Homeric scholia that have received a fair amount of attention. They contain Aristotle’s solution to a problem concerning the value of a talent in Iliad 23, specifically: Why does Achilles give the greatest prize (two talents of gold) to the fourth-place contestant in the chariot race? But though these texts have received scholarly attention, their presentation—in editions of the scholia and in the collections of the fragments of Aristotle—is not always clear or complete, and the discussion of this material not always or entirely satisfactory. So this is a fresh look at the available evidence, going back to the manuscripts themselves.