Abstract
As for the philosophical and scientific texts are concerned, we can observe three periods of the translation activity from Greek into Syriac: the first (second–fifth century) is characterized by the interest in popular philosophy of ethical content and gnomic form; in the second, (sixth century) the translations focus on the Aristotelian logic and physics; the third one (seventh–ninth century) is still focused on Aristotle but is marked by a change in the translation style, from a more periphrastic to a more literal one. Short information about the key figures (Sergius of Resh‘aynā, Athanasius of Baladh, James of Edessa, George of the Arabs, and Ḥunayn b. Isḥaq) is given.
As it is impossible to outline a complete overview of the Syriac translation activity throughout the centuries, we will limit ourselves to the philosophical texts and to some scientific literature, excluding the biblical, patristic, or narrative texts.
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Fiori, E. (2011). Translations from Greek into Syriac. In: Lagerlund, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Medieval Philosophy. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9729-4_502
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