Search

[German version] A. Greek (Ἀντώνιος; Antṓnios). [German version] [1] Thallus Epigrammatic poet, 2nd half of the 1st cent. BC Epigrammatic poet from Miletus (according to [2] he had received Roman citizenship, through the patronage of Antonia Minor) lived in the 2nd half of the 1st cent. BC (in Anth. Pal. 6,235 the birth of a Καῖσαρ [ Kaîsar] is celebrated, who is to be equated with either C. Julius Caesar, the grandson of Augustus, or with Germanicus). His five epigrams, which derive from the ‘Garland’ of Philippus, are certainly conventional in their…

[German version] I. Greek There is no Greek term that accurately translates the modern concept of ‘novella’ and there is nothing in extant Greek literature comparable to the work of medieval novella-writers or to modern collections of short-stories (coming closest to it are perhaps the  Tóxaris of Lucian [1] and the Historia lausiaca of Palladius, while works like the Narrationes amatoriae attributed to Plutarch might better be classified as mythography). Even if no ancient source explicitly attests it, the opinio communis, subscribing to the hypothesis of E. Rohde [1], tak…

(Χαρίτων; Charítōn). [German version] A. Life We have no direct information about the author of the earliest complete surviving novel, beyond that given by him at the beginning of the book; there he presents himself as secretary to the orator Athenagoras, originating from Aphrodisias in Caria. It has been conjectured that all these details, including the name Chariton, were invented in order to establish a symbolic link to the theme of love and to the setting (on the Syracusan Athenagoras cf. Thuc. 6…

[German version] (Εὐήμερος; Euḗmeros) of Messene (it is unknown to which Messene this refers; some testimonials attest to other cities of birth). Of his work, the Ἱερὰ ἀναγραφή ( Sacra historia), the résumé in the ‘Historical Library’ of  Diodorus [18] Siculus (5,41-46 and 6,1) and various testimonies and fragments have been passed down to us. E. pretended to have gone on a number of trips on behalf of King Cassander (305-297 BC). He told particularly of his visit to an archipelago: on the biggest island, Panchaea, he saw a …

[German version] (Ἰαμβοῦλος; Iamboûlos). In his library of world history (2,55-60),  Diodorus [18] Siculus mentions a merchant I., who, while on a voyage in Arabia, was carried off to a blissful island by Ethiopians, who thereby practised a purification ritual that was more than 20 generations old. The description of the island (which might be Sri Lanka) contains all the characteristics of an ancient utopia: an ideal climate, unusual fertility and a communist social structure. There are paradoxical…

[German version] [1] Author of 'Daphnis and Chloe' (Λόγγος; Lóngos). We have no information about the person who wrote the most famous Greek novel, ‘Daphnis and Chloe’: the name L. in the MSS is typically Roman and frequently attested on Lesbos, the island where the action of the novel takes place, but Roman names were very common among Greeks in the Imperial period. Also as far as the dating of the work is concerned, we only have few indications which leave room for doubt. The refinement of the tale con…

[German version] (Χιόνη; Chiónē). A Greek novel, usually thus named after the putative female protagonist; three fragments survive, known to us only from Wilcken's summary transcription of a Coptic palimpsest, the so-called Codex Thebanus, which was subsequently lost. The meagre fragments are difficult to interpret, but seem to show Chione as protagonist, courted by many suitors and then forced into marriage against her will; with her lover, she considers how she can end her life. Clear similarities to the  Chariton novel (also contained in the Cod. Thebanus) lead to the supposit…

[German version] Name given to a Greek novel of which only two fragments are extant; one has yet to be published [3]; in the other (PSI 981, 2nd cent. AD) the female protagonist, C., enters the tent of an Eubiotos; her grief appears to have been caused by news of the fate of an Erasinus. C. thus reaches for her sword but, with prudent foresight, Eubiotos had already taken it away when he stood next to her. The name Eubiotos and the reference to the Sauromatae suggest a link with Lucian's ‘Toxaris [4]. Fusillo, Massimo (L'Aquila) Galli, Lucia (Florence) Bibliography First edition: 1 M. Norsa, PSI…

[German version] By convention, the title ‘Parthenope romance’ or ‘Romance of Metiochus and Parthenope’ is given to a Greek prose narrative known from a number of papyrus fragments (PBerol. 21179 + 7927 + 9588, palaeographically dated to the 2nd cent. AD; further evidence may be provided by PBodl. 2175 and POxy. 435). The love story of Metiochus and Parthenope and Parthenope's wanderings (also the inspiration for a pantomimus, see Lucian, De saltatione 2; 54) can be reconstructed with the aid of some later adaptations (the Coptic story of the martyrdom of St. Barta…

[German version] Conventional title for a Greek prose work, known to us from a number of papyrus fragments (POxy. 1826, end of the 3rd or beginning of the 4th century AD; POxy. 2466 and 3319, 3rd century AD). The main character was Sesonchosis (Sesostris); the legend ascribed to him acts of pharaohs of various dynasties. The narrative exhibits analogies to the Ninus Romance, but the style of the fragments places it close to the New Testament and Apocryphal acts of the Apostles (New Testament Apocrypha). Novel Fusillo, Massimo (L'Aquila) Bibliography S. A. Stephens, J. J. Winkler (ed.)…

[German version] The discovery of the first fragments of the so-called ‘ Ninus Romance’ (NR) and their publication in 1893 by U. Wilcken mark a turning-point in the study of ancient narrative literature. The NR was the first of a large number of other Greek novels recovered from Egyptian papyri. Its early dating (not later than the 1st cent. AD) led to the rejection of  E. Rohde's thesis, widely accepted at that time, that the flowering of the Greek novel was connected with the Second Sophistic (2nd cent. AD) [1]. As well as fragments A and B of the PBerolinensis 6926 (ed. Wilcken), …

(Ἀχιλλεὺς Τάτιος; Achilleùs Tátios). [German version] [1] Of Alexandria of Alexandria, 2nd cent. AD Fusillo, Massimo (L'Aquila) [German version] A. Life As well as the novel ‘Leucippe and Cleitophon’ (in eight books), he wrote a treatise on the sphere of heaven, a treatise on etymology and a polygraphic work. According to the Suda lexicon (α 4695 Adler) he is said to have converted to Christianity -- a fiction like that circulating about  Heliodorus. It notes that on the whole his style is similar to that of other authors of romantic novels [1. 1710]. Fusillo, Massimo (L'Aquila) …

(Ἀριστείδης; Aristeídēs). [German version] [1] Athenian politician and srategos (beginning of the 5th cent. BC) Of Athens, son of Lysimachus. He was one of the most prominent politicians and strategoi of Athens at the time of the Persian Wars. In the battle of Marathon, he probably served as a strategos. In 489/488 BC, he was the eponymous archon (Plut. Aristides 1,2, cf. IG I3 1031). In 482 BC, he was ostrazised ( Ostraka) (Hdt. 8,79; Aristot. Ath. Pol. 22,7; Plut. Aristides 7,1 ff.). His rivalry with  Themistocles, documented already in Herodotus (8,79), …

(Λούκιος; Loúkios) [German version] [1] L. Kathegetes Author of pharmacological texts, 1st cent. AD Author of pharmacological texts, active in the middle to the end of the 1st cent. AD. Galen (De compositione medicamentum secundum genera 13,295 K.), quoting from Andromachus [5] the Younger, records a remedy against diarrhoea by L. of Tarsus, a city with a long pharmacological tradition (cf. also 13,292 K., where the name of the city is not mentioned). He is almost certainly to be identified with the more fa…

(Ξενοφῶν; Xenophôn). [German version] [1] Of Athens, strategos, 5th cent. BC Athenian. Initially commander of the cavalry ( hippárchēs; IG I3 511); then participated in the campaign against Samos in 441/40 BC as stratēgós (Androtion FGrH 324 F 38), was also stratēgós the following years and operated as such in Thrace in 430/429. He was treated with hostility due to his unauthorized acceptance of the capitulation of Potidaea (Thuc. 2,70), but remained in office and fell as stratēgós at Spartolus in the summer of 429 during a campaign against the Chalcidians and Bottians (…

[German version] The name given to a work known only through a single papyrus fragment (POxy. 3010, beginning of the 2nd cent. AD). In it someone journeys to a certain Iolaus and delivers a speech in sotadic verses, claiming that he became a Gallus, i.e. a castrated adherent of Cybele [1. 57], and is omniscient. The papyrus breaks off with an Euripidean quotation (Eur. Or. 1155-7) about the value of friendship. The fragment's significance lies in its use of the  prosimetrum (the distinction betwee…

(Λολλιανός; Lollianós) [German version] [2] addendum to the family name Hedius. [German version] [3] Q. Hedius L. Plautius Avitus Consul ord. 209 AD For the form of the name, in which Gentianus is also recorded once, cf. [1. 232f.]. Patrician, brother of the virgo Vestalis maxima Terentia Flavola; son of L. [8]. L.'s career up to the consulate is known from CIL VI 32412 = ILS 1155. It is conspicuous that as patrician between the praetorship and office of consul, he was also iuridicus Asturicae et Callaeciae as well as legate of the legio VII Gemina, both in Hispania citerior. Cos. ord. in AD 20…

[German version] (HART) Latin  novel by an unknown author that tells of the journeys of Apollonius, King of Tyrus, up to the point when he is reunited with his wife, whom he had believed dead, and with his daughter Tarsia, and is reinstalled. The HART contains many Christian elements that are imbedded into a clearly pagan context without being completely integrated. The reconstruction of the work's creation, its dating, and the textual structure are all contested. The oldest sources on the HART go back to the 6th cent. AD (Ven. Fort. carm. 6,8,5f.: AD 566-568; De dubiis nominibus, late 6th …

[German version] A portion of the MS tradition for the work generally known today as the 'Alexander Romance' erroneously names Callisthenes [1], court historian of Alexander [4] the Great, as author. Numerous versions of the 'Alexander Romance' - a 'biography' of Alexander the Great in which historical and fantastic information are mixed - of a variety of dates have been handed down. The dating of the oldest version is uncertain; the only terminus ante quem is the Latin translation by Iulius [IV 23] Valerius ( cos. AD 338). Less disputed is the location of its composition, prob…

[German version] (Μιλησιακά; Milēsiaká). Title of a work by one Aristides [2] with the epithet ‘of Miletus’ (his actual origin is unknown). The text is not extant; all we know for certain is that it had an obscene character. The ancient references are difficult to interpret and do not allow precise categorization: it may have been a novel [1] or, as is more widely accepted, a collection of novellas, possibly integrated into a framework structure. Modern literary studies favour the latter hypothesis, which was forcefully argued by E. Rohde [3; 4]. This is linked to a wider use of the term Milēsi…