EUSTATHIUS, archbishop of Thessalonica, and commentator on Homer, flourished at Constantinople in the twelfth century. Before his promotion to the see of Thessalonica, he was master of requests and master of orators, two ecclesiastical offices, the latter of which (namely, that of the orators or rhetores) had for its object to expound the sacred writings to the people. It was during this first part of his public career that he wrote his commentaries on Homer and on Dionysius Periegetes. His remarks on Dionysius have been frequently printed along with the text of that author, and Politi has given a Latin translation of them, Geneva, 1741, in 8vo. But these, however useful and deserving of commendation, are in no degree comparable to the Commentaries on the Iliad and Odyssey, which embody an immense treasure of literary and grammatical erudition, chiefly extracted and compiled from preceding scholiasts and commentators, as Apion, Herodorns, Demosthenes of Thrace, Porphyry, and some others, the ad ditions made to their observations by Eustathius himself being neither very considerable nor very important. To these Commentaries, as well as to his Annotations on Dionysius, the learned commentator has given the modest title of Parecbolae or Extracts; desirous, no doubt, that those who might neglect to read his preface should learn from the title alone the nature of his work, and thus be prevented from attributing a disproportionate share of merit to the compiler. The commentaries of Eustathius on the Iliad were printed for the first time at Rome, 1542-1560 in four vols. folio, including the beautiful table of Devaris. But as this edition is exceedingly scarce and high-priced, that of Bale, printed by Froben, 1559-1560, in three vols. folio, which is the next in point of authority, may be advantageously consulted by scholars, in default of the former. It must not be confounded, however, with an Abridgment of Eustathius, of which Hadrian de Jonghes was editor, and which appeared at Bale, from the press of the same Froben, 1558, in one volume. Claude Capperonier, who had promised a new Greek and Latin edition of the Commentaries of Eustathius, died without having published any part of it; but Politi, whom we have already named, undertook this great work, of which he published at Florence, 1730-1735, three vols. folio, containing the first five books of the Iliad. It is to be regretted, however, that Politi took the trouble to translate into Latin a work which is only suitable to those who are deeply versed in the Greek language, and for whom the aid of a translation is superfluous; and it was probably this useless addition which caused the interruption of the enterprize. With reference to the extracts from the Commentaries of Eustathius which Müller and Clarke have given in their respective editions of the Iliad, it is only necessary to mention here, that these have, in each case, been made upon a principle of selection adapted to the peculiar nature and object of the undertaking. It is of more importance to observe, that at the period when Eustathius lived original literature had almost disappeared, and that consequently this vast and important compilation secured to him an immense reputation. Intended at first for the bishopric of Myra in Lycia, he was soon afterwards appointed archbishop of Thessalonica, and in the exercise of his high functions displayed a dignified and respectable character. The year of his death is unknown; but he was alive in 1194, and it may be conjectured that he died after 1198, at a very advanced age. Eustathius appears, from his Notes on the Canons of Joannes Damascenus, to have composed several works besides those which we have already mentioned; particularly a Commentary on Pindar, which is almost entirely lost; Homilies, Discourses, Remarks on the Canons of St John of Damascus, and Letters which are preserved in different libraries. Manutius has also inserted in the Gardens of Adonis a little treatise of Eustathius on the dialects of Homer, but this tract is merely an insignificant extract from the grammatical observations contained in that Life of Homer which some attribute to Plutarch, and others to Dionysius of Halicarnassus. *