Apollo By Clackson Summary

In this book review, I will be discussing Sarah J. Clackson’s Coptic and Greek Texts Relating to the Hermopolite Monastery of Apa Apollo. In essence, this book is a compilation of an exposition on the titular primary sources and location, a presentation of the discussed primary texts in both its original script (and a translated version in English), and detailed commentary.
Clackson begins with some background information in the section Discussion. Here, she provides some context for the reader by discussing what was currently known about the monastery of Apa Apollo, its significance, from where she gathered her primary sources (text fragments) of study, her key findings from the texts, as well as their physical and linguistic technicalities. The end of the section also features a comparison table, displaying further analysis. Her second section, The Texts, is where are the sixty-six text excerpts are presented, categorized into eleven sections for reference. Included with each entry is Clackson’s preliminary report on the physical condition of the text. This often includes, but is not limited to: an approximate date of creation, the size of the fragment and from Clackson retrieved the material from, its preservation quality, its original language, and
This information tells the reader that the author’s goal is not only to share and teach about Coptic primary sources; she also aims to help herself by documenting her findings and evidence for her personal research. Realizing this means that the reading knows to expect a high level of specificity in her analyses. For example, two of her appendixes are lists containing which texts explicitly mention the region of “Titkois” and its monastery of “Abba Apollos”. Other similar kinds of content can be found throughout her Discussion section as