Why is digamma (aka stigma) skipped in the numbering of the books of EN and Metaphysics, given that it is used in that of Plato’s Republic?
Let me add a related question to the original post: why are the Stephanus Numbers in Plato’s dialogues further divided into α, β, ξ, δ, ε? In other words, why ξ instead of γ?
I don’t know the answer to Tugodum’s question, but your question is easy. You are reading on Perseus. In their XML document, they have “a” “b” “c” “d” “e”, and their display code treats it like betacode a=α, b=β, c=ξ, d=δ, e=ε. This has been a problem for years without being fixed.
Thanks, that clarifies things.
On a related note, I find it quite odd that there are differences in language between Plato and Aristotle, considering they were (almost) contemporaries. For example, if I remember correctly, Aristotle writes γίνομαι where Plato would have written γίγνομαι.
The books of Plato’s Republic were simply numbered 1-10 in accordance with the standard numbering system, whereby alpha is 1 and stigma is 6, interposed between epsilon 5 and zeta 7. Its form (approximately ς or ϛ) is a reduction of the original digamma (approximately ϝ), and its use as a numeral is a fossilized hangover from when digamma was a functional letter in the language (which it continued to be in some dialects). As such it remained in everyday use throughout antiquity: ι = 10 (not 9), ια = 11, κ = 20, etc., i.e. decimal based. (This replaced the terribly awkward archaic acrophonic system found in early inscriptions, perpetuated in Latin.)
The books of the EN and other Aristotelian works, on the other hand, adopt a straightforward alphabetical system: Α Β Γ Δ Ε Ζ Η Θ Ι Κ Λ etc. = 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 etc. No stigma, no decimalization. This too was traditional. The books (ραψωδιαι) both of the Iliad and of the Odyssey were labelled Α-Ω accordingly (it’s misleading to think in terms of 24 books); the symbolism of alpha-to-omega must have determined the strange and artificial partitioning of each poem. There’s a papyrus letter in which IIRC a woman says that her son is reading Z, meaning bk. 6 of the Iliad. And in verse texts, e.g. tragedy, the system was also used for counting off numbers of lines in hundreds: A = 100, Z = 600, etc. (That’s how we know that Stesichorus’ poems were well over a thousand lines long.) The system only works for relatively small numbers.
(As to the spelling of γι(γ)νομαι, there’s no knowing which form either Plato or Aristotle would have used, had either of them penned their own texts. it’s more a question of pronunciation, and it seems that plain ν gradually became the dominant form..)
Thanks, Michael! Very informative, as usual.