Page 193 - דברי יפת לאתר

ABSTRACT

The Words of Japheth is an anthology of writings, newly translated into
Hebrew, which were composed by Greek intellectuals in ancient Palestine.
The book is meant to be a companion volume to The Tents of Japheth
written by Joseph Geiger and published by Yad Ben-Zvi in 2012. In his
learned book Geiger surveys Greek intellectuals living in Palestine from
the time of Alexander the Great until the Muslim conquest, presenting,
for the very first time, a broad and detailed picture of Greek cultural
life in Palestine during that period. Geiger discusses and evaluates the
contributions of some two hundred Greek-speaking intellectuals in various
fields – education, rhetoric, law, philosophy, science, history, literature, and
more – and places them within the wider context of cultural activity in the
Greek-speaking world. His book also includes a prosopography of these
ancient Palestinian intellectuals, outlining their lives and writings.

The Greek cultural figures described in The Tents of Japheth composed a
vast body of work, in poetry and prose, but virtually none of their writings
have been translated into Hebrew. The Words of Japheth, a collection of
Hebrew translations of pieces written by these Greek (and several Roman)
intellectuals, is a first attempt to remedy that situation. The contributors to
this volume – friends, colleagues and students of Yossi Geiger – thought
that such an anthology would be the most suitable way to mark the eightieth
birthday of an outstanding classical scholar and connoisseur of the Hebrew
language.

The various contributors to The Words of Japheth chose the texts they
translated according to their individual inclinations and expertise, and
while the anthology does not aim to be representative or comprehensive,
it does include a wide variety of authors and genres. Each of the entries
in the book opens with a brief introduction to the ancient author and the
specific text which has been chosen, and includes a reference to the original
Greek (or Latin) edition used. This is followed by a translation of the text

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