Cometas

Cometas Scholasticus (Greek: Κομητᾶς Σχολαστικός; fl. c. mid 9th century AD), also known by the epithet Chartularius (Χαρτουλάριος, "record-keeper"), was a Byzantine grammarian (γραμματικός) and epigrammatist.^[1]

In AD 857, during the reign of Michael III, Cometas was made Professor of Grammar by Bardas at the new school in the Magnaura founded by Leo the Mathematician.^[2][3] His literary output included epigrams, of which six are extant in the Greek Anthology,^[4] and a revised text or recension of the Homeric epics, now lost, but proudly referenced in three of the epigrams.^[5] Cometas speaks of having "punctuated and polished" the corrupt texts and removed the "filth" (σαπρίαν) which had accrued to them over time.^[6][7]

• The Greek Anthology I, III, V (Loeb Classical Library) translated by W. R. Paton (London: Heinemann, 1916)
• Baldwin, Barry. "The Homeric Scholarship of Cometas." Hermes, vol. 113, no. 1, 1985, pp. 127–128. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/4476422. Accessed 12 Aug. 2021.
• "Cometas", William Smith (ed.) Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Vol. I (London, 1870)