08-04-2016, 12:03 PM
Thanks for the clarification, and for making this a new thread.
I think I understand your position more clearly now.
A few follow up questions and comments:
If the Voynich were a copy of a Byzantine manuscript: are you saying it was enciphered in Hellenistic times, or that the copyist decided to encipher it the 15th century? Or that it is not a cipher but just unreadable because the scribe poorly copied the original Greek?
Also:
I can only agree with the quote you featured, but it only pertains to texts. It does not apply to illustrations at all. As I said in my original post on the other thread, educated medieval Europeans would have been familiar with many ancient Greek and hellenistic texts. But this does not apply to the imagery: although we can often find text repeated word for word from a Hellenistic source in many European medieval manuscripts, the illustrations will show considerable variation.
For example, go have a look at medieval depictions of Jason and the Argonauts: the postures, clothing, the ship and weapons etc vary greatly, reflecting local and contemporary trends, and do not conserve stylistic tradition from the old Greek sources at all.
I think I understand your position more clearly now.
A few follow up questions and comments:
If the Voynich were a copy of a Byzantine manuscript: are you saying it was enciphered in Hellenistic times, or that the copyist decided to encipher it the 15th century? Or that it is not a cipher but just unreadable because the scribe poorly copied the original Greek?
Also:
I can only agree with the quote you featured, but it only pertains to texts. It does not apply to illustrations at all. As I said in my original post on the other thread, educated medieval Europeans would have been familiar with many ancient Greek and hellenistic texts. But this does not apply to the imagery: although we can often find text repeated word for word from a Hellenistic source in many European medieval manuscripts, the illustrations will show considerable variation.
For example, go have a look at medieval depictions of Jason and the Argonauts: the postures, clothing, the ship and weapons etc vary greatly, reflecting local and contemporary trends, and do not conserve stylistic tradition from the old Greek sources at all.