The automatic detection of the indirect tradition of Plato's Timaeus and the importance of the tool ‘CitationGraph’ for research

Abstract

Sub-project 4.2 deals with, first, the detection of textual congruencies in ancient texts and second, the determination of those congruencies that can be considered as being the origin or continuation of traditions. We have focussed in particular on references to one of the most influential texts of the time, which was Plato's Timaeus. The goal is to provide the complete indirect tradition of a Platonic work spanning a considerable period. The technical and philological considerations in determining a special type of text passage are briefly described in this paper. This special type of text passage can be found automatically
and is considered indirect tradition. The results of this manner of proceeding for an analysis of the Timaeus and other texts are then demonstrated. One example for working with the "CitationGraph" is shown in some detail.