The Byzantine Reception of Aristotle’s Parva naturalia (and the Zoological Works) in Eleventh- and Twelfth-Century Byzantium: An Overview

Abstract

The treatises known as Parva naturalia play quite an important role in Byzantine culture and education. Contrary to what happened in late antiquity, the most important Byzantine commentators devoted great attention to these texts. This probably reflects the Byzantine understanding of Aristotle’s natural philosophy as a reliable account of nature and physiology. More importantly, since there are no late-antique commentaries on the Parva naturalia, the Byzantine commentators were eager to excerpt from all sort of available material that could be helpful for composing an exegesis on these Aristotelian treatises. The way they assembled this material is of greatest interest and justifies a thorough study of the Byzantine commentary tradition.