Ronchey, S. “Philological-Historical Introduction.” Eustathii exegesis in canonem iambicum de Pentecoste, Eds. P. Cesaretti, S. Ronchey. Berlin-New York: De Gruyter, 2013. 187*-313*.

This volume offers the first critical edition of the vast Commentary on the Pentecostal iambic canon (traditionally ascribed to St. John the Damascene) composed by Eustathius, Archbishop of Thessalonica. The attribution of the hymn to the Damascene was, in principle, called into question by Eustathius himself who eventually suggested that Damascene’s paternity be accepted only out of ecclesiastical obedience.
The Commentary is probably the last text Eustathius wrote. It can be regarded as thesumma of his working method, style of exposition, scholarly interests and literary tastes. Moreover, it can be read as the first Byzantine attempt to create a fusion between a working method originating in the exegesis of classical texts and modes of theological interpretation connected in turn to liturgical experience and pastoral practice.  
The edition of the text is accompanied by three apparatuses, a complete range of indices and exhaustive Prolegomena where the editors shed light on the Commentary as such – its genesis and date, audience, discussion of traditional attribution, and sources – and the history of its manuscript tradition, with a special focus on the Constantinopolitan didaskaleion of Prodromos-Petra.