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Variations on a Theme
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Variations on a Theme
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Variations on a Theme
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Book Chapter
Variations on a Theme
2016
Overview
It is impossible to say for certain whether Isidore actually read Pliny's Natural History at fijirst hand. As anyone who has ever considered the question of Isidore's (or indeed Pliny's) sources knows only too well, it can be almost impossible to tell what the authors of encyclopaedic and compilatory works such as the Natural History or the Etymologies, reliant as they were on multiple secondary sources, used directly and which at one or more removes. Material deriving ultimately from Pliny permeates the entire Etymologies; whether it was sourced at fijirst hand or derived from an intermediary is impossible to say for certain.
1
All we can be sure of is a pervasive Plinian flavour or echo to much of Isidore's material. Threads of thought, recognizable from a reading of Pliny, recur in the books of the Etymologies. This chapter will examine one such thread, human anomaly. The aim is not primarily to locate inspiration from Pliny in Isidore but to consider how each treated an idea of central importance to their respective worldviews.
