Interpolation

Book section : Chapter

‘Interpolation’ describes the interference of scribes and readers with the content of texts. Though the term is particularly used for the addition of extraneous material, this chapter brings out other forms of direct interference that deserve attention: expurgation of words or narratives for religious and moral reasons, and alterations of word order to promote patterns of rhythm and accentuation favoured in later periods. Texts thought defective in grammar or metre were often supplemented. Explanatory material such as glosses and titles added in one copy intruded into the text of the next; so did passages noted down as parallels, as well as embellishments created by readers either as alternatives to the original or pointed additions. Material from later revivals has infected the text of many plays. The limits of interpolation are hard to define in texts that have grown through accretion such as Homer and Pliny’s Natural Histories.

Authors: Heyworth, SJ

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Host title: The Oxford Handbook of Greek and Latin Textual Criticism
• Pages: 374–385
• Chapter number: 31
• Publication date: 2026-04-03
• DOI: 10.1093/9780191841392.003.0032
• EISBN: 9780191841392
• ISBN-10: 0198738129
• ISBN-13: 9780198738121
• Language: English
• Keywords: interpolation; amanuenses; annotation; correction; expurgation; fabrication; gloss; metre; paratext; supplementation
• Subtype: Chapter