László Perendy: Tatianus Grammaticus? Tatian's inconsistent attitude towards the experts on Greek grammar

Chapter 26 of the Oratio is completely dedicated to the criticism of the grammarians. They are called the first contaminators of true wisdom, who opened hostilities even between the letters of the alphabet. This statement may allude to a satirical work of Lucian, theConsonants in Court. Tatian posits that signs are not connected to the denotata in a natural way, which may refer to one of the works of Sextus Empiricus, Against the Grammarians. He mentions a problem which is both philosophical and grammatical: ‘Tell me, why do you divide up time (…)? How can the future become past, if the present exists?’ A fragment from Apollonius Dyscolus shows that also grammarians discussed similar problems. So Tatian seems to be well informed about some of the main issues discussed by contemporary grammarians. However, from his Address to the Greeksit is obvious that in spite of his critical attitude to Hellenic culture he is not able to break away from the linguistic and literary conventions of his times. But why does he think that the technicalities of their occupation can do so much harm to people who strive to acquire real wisdom, accepting the existence of one true God? I wish to find out the causes of Tatian’s hostility towards grammarians, but I will also demonstrate that even the theological content of his polemical essay can be better understood if we keep in mind that during his training in Greek paideia he got well acquainted with some problems of Greek grammar.