Abstract
This article outlines the state of the art in the field of ancient scholarship, the changes that have occurred and the results that have been achieved in recent decades, the paths along which these studies have advanced and must still advance. Three subjects are specifically addressed: 1) what role did Aristotle and the Peripatos play in the birth of Alexandrian philology, and what influence did they exert on the intellectual turning point signified by the birth of philology? 2) what kind of questions should we address on the products and results of the ancients’ critical and exegetical activity, what answers should we expect, and what is their significance for our research? 3) what is the value and the historical-cultural role of the critical and philological activity of the Alexandrians, and on what is it based?
