Canon alexandrine

The Canon alexandrine is a compilation carried out by Aristophane de Byzance and Aristarque de Samothrace at the beginning of third century BC. It aims to select the Greek authors most remarkable by the purity of their language, at one time when, according to the grammairiens alexandrines, the Greek language is threatened.

In fact, the Canon helped to preserve the classic authors whom it contains but, by an perverse effect, also plunged in the lapse of memory the authors who do not appear in it, qualified minors, and who would however have presented much interest for us.

The Canon influence still much the training of the old Greek at present. For example, the young hellenists always learn the traditional art of public speaking in compilations from speech of the “Orateurs attics”, list extracted the Canon .

The Canon is made up as follows: