Ancient literary criticism is not the least studied subject of classical studies. The author of a new book on the topic cannot take it for granted that the field will unconditionally welcome the results of his efforts. So why this book?

A general overview of extant scholarship on ancient literary criticism recognises three major areas of interest. Scholars (i) explore the origins of ancient literary criticism (e.g. in Aristophanes or Plato) or (ii) they interpret the relevant ‘technical’ treatises (Aristotle's Poetics, Ps.Longinus' On the Sublime, Ps.Demetrius' On Style, etc.) or specific parts of them, or (iii) they provide collections (sometimes annotated and/or translated) of relevant passages from the texts of categories (i) and/or (ii). Conversely, literary criticism in the scholia is an underworked topic. Given that there is an undeniable interest in ancient literary criticism, this lack of attention is surprising and, as this book attempts to demonstrate, not justified. For the scholia are apt to put into perspective and supplement the evidence that can be gathered from the treatises. Both scholia and treatises have their respective merits and limitations, and much can be gained if one allows one type of source to throw light on the other and vice versa.

An important strength of treatises (as compared with the scholia) is their systematic approach. The selection of topics is premeditated and follows a meaningful order. The single phenomenon is given a definition and usually illustrated with an example.