Not only for the ancient world is the study of Athenaues relevant. Thus Athenaeus can be related to other authors like Plutarch and Lucian with regard to methods and content. Athenaeus’s methods of analysis can be compared with similar works of the same period, earlier or later than him, which enriches and expands our knowledge about the methodological procedure of those works. The symposial themes, the permanent focus on erudition, and the often playful tone reflected through the twenty-nine guests of the Roman host Larensis belongs to the Second Sophistic. New perspectives consider Athenaeus in his historical and intellectual context. This constitutes important progress especially for the mentioned literary genres of ancient Greek comedy and historiography. Research work enquiring into the function of these fifteen books and the literary methods used for them opens new questions and perspectives on the quoted texts. Even though this traditional area remains valuable for scholarship, the development of literary studies and their new focus on texts has also influenced the examination of Athenaeus. Therefore Athenaeus was and is still an important author for those working on critical editions of fragmentary texts, especially of ancient Greek comedy and historiography. Of a lot of them we would not have any text without him.
During the 19th and the great part of the 20th century, scholarship was mainly interested in Athenaeus as a source for the many authors he quotes in his work.
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