Origins
None of the works on which the scholia in Venetus A are based survives. As a result, the task of tracing their contents to their sources is extraordinarily difficult and obscure. The study of the Iliadic scholia is a significant ongoing research topic in Homeric scholarship.
The A scholia, for which Venetus A is by far the most important source, derive from the so-called "VMK" (Viermännerkommentar, "four-man commentary"), named for the four ancient scholars Aristonicus, Didymus, Herodian, and Nicanor. The main source for the A scholia was probably a compilation of their work, rather than each of the four men's work individually. Because all four of these scholars worked in the tradition of the Alexandrian scholar Aristarchus, much of the A scholia can be traced back to Aristarchus himself.
The relationship between the A scholia and other branches of the Iliadic scholia, however, is much more debatable and confused. A text which does not survive, known as "ApH" for its authors "Apion and Herodorus", is key to all reconstructions of this relationship. Eustathius in his own commentary on the Iliad frequently refers to "Apion and Herodorus" as a source, and a comparison between them shows that the relationship between "ApH" and the A scholia is a close one.
Two stemmata or "family trees" for Venetus A may be summarised from the work of van der Valk and Erbse respectively:
| Van der Valk's reconstruction of the sources for Venetus A; bold text indicates texts that survive | Erbse's reconstruction of the sources for Venetus A; bold text indicates texts that survive |
Of the two, Erbse's viewpoint tends to be the more highly regarded.
Another important source that feeds into A is a group of scholia on mythographical and allegorical topics, derived from Porphyry's Homeric Questions. The current standard edition of the Iliad's scholia, that of Erbse, omits these scholia.
On the origins of the Proclean Chrestomathy which is partially preserved in Venetus A, see also Epic Cycle, Eutychius Proclus.
Read more about this topic: Venetus A
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