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Collection of moral maxims from the 3rd/4th cent. AD. The author is anonymous; the suggestion that they could be attributed to Marcus Porcius Cato [1] Censorius is no longer deemed possible. Up to the early 19th cent., it was ascribed to one Dionysius Cato.; this identification had been sanctioned by the edition of Joseph Justus Scaliger (Leiden 1598). Works The collection consists of: (1) a prefatory epistle in prose ( Epistola Catonis); (2) 57 breves sententiae in prose; (3) the central part, 144 hexametrical Disticha in four books (books 2–4 with hexametric prologues); (4) 1…

ca. 520/510–ca. 450 BC; writer of choral poetry; rival of Pindarus [2]. Works His works, which belonged to the central genre of choral poetry (dithyramb, encomium, epinicion, hyporchema, etc.), are, for the most part, lost. Roughly 100 lines are preserved through the manuscript tradition as quotations in the writing of other ancient authors. It was only through a papyrus find, published in 1897, that – in some cases substantial – parts of 14 epinician poems and six dithyrambs became known. Works Greek Title Latin Title English Title Dating Brief Description 1 Ἐπίνικοι / Epínikoi ( Epin.) E…

Fragments of Greek lyric poetry from the 7th to the 5th cents. BC. Works Greek lyric poetry in the major genres of melos (individual song, choral song), elegy, and iambus. With the exception of Pindar’s Epinicia, Theognis’ elegies, and a monody by Sappho (fragment 1), the poems are only extant in fragments; either on papyri, or in quotations in works transmitted in manuscripts. The main examples of the melos (monody) are: Sappho , Alcaeus [4] , Anacreon [1], Corinna, and Erinna. Representative …

b. early 3rd cent. BC in Alexandria; d. 2nd half of the 3rd cent. BC; major Greek scholar and epic writer. Works Of his works, only the epic poem Argonautiká has been transmitted. Papyri The papyri (all dating to the Christian era) frequently offer a better reading than the manuscripts. Manuscripts The manuscripts fall into three classes. Works Greek Title Latin Title English Title Dating Brief Description 1 Ἀργοναυτικά / Argonautiká Argonautica Argonautica ca. 250 BC Epic poem about the legendary journey of the Argonauts, in 4 bks. Manuscripts Name / Number Dating Selection Content / No…

since the 3rd cent. AD also called Chrysostom (‘golden-mouthed’) b. ca. AD 40 in Prusa (Bithynia); d. after AD 112; Greek orator and philosopher with Stoic and Cynical roots, who also demonstrated an interest in politics. Works A corpus of 80 orations is preserved; two orations ( Log. 37 and 64) were composed by Dion’s pupil Favorinus. A characteristic quality of his work is the great variety of topics that are covered. Stoic philosophy and Cynical cultural criticism are determining factors; in the political arena, Dion used his art to propa…

Anonymous Greek historical fragment from the 4th cent. BC Works The work continues the account of Thucydides [2], which breaks off in 411 BC, for the time from 411 to at least 395 BC; it comprises ca. 20 pages (with gaps). papyri The work became known through two papyrus finds. Translation / Commentaries English translation of the FGrH with updated commentary in the online edition of Brill’s New Jacoby (BNJ), 2006ff. Works Greek Title Latin Title English Title Dating Brief Description 1 Ἑλληνικὰ Ὀξυρύνχια / Hellēnikà Oxyrhýnchia Hellenica Oxyrhynchia ( Hell.) Greek History from Oxyrhy…

lived in Ascra (Boeotia) around 700 BC; roughly one generation younger than Homerus; one of the earliest Greek poets. Works A large number of works were ascribed to Hesiod in Antiquity; three compositions are preserved in their entirety, namely: Theogony, Works and Days, and The Shield. Of these, only the first two are considered to be genuine. The Catalogue of Women became known chiefly through extensive papyri, but it is generally not accepted as Hesiodic. Other works, such as the Greater Ehoiai, only survive in small fragments. papyri Numerous papyri from the Imperial period tha…

b. ca. AD 140/150, possibly in Athens; d. ca. AD 220; distinguished Greek Christian philosopher and theologian. Works Many of Clemens’ numerous writings have been lost. An incomplete list of his works can be found in the Church History of Eusebius [7] (6,13). Apart from a homily ( Tís ho sōzómenos ploúsios), a group of three thematically and functionally related texts is preserved intact, which, in their examination of pagan scholarship and theology, develop elements of Christian ethics and theology ( Paidagōgós; Protreptikòs pròs Héllēnas; Strōmateîs). Works Greek Title Latin Title E…

2nd cent. AD; author of a Greek romance novel. Works Novel in eight books. Manuscripts Twenty-three manuscripts are known, but only 12 contain the full text; most manuscripts date from the 16th cent. Works Greek Title Latin Title English Title Dating Brief Description 1 Τὰ κατὰ Λευκίππην καὶ Κλειτοφόντα/Tà katà Leukíppēn kaì Kleitophónta The Adventures of Leucippe and Clitophon 2nd cent. AD Novel about the separation and reunion of the lovers Leucippe and Clitophon Papyri Name / Number Dating Selection Content / Notable Features 1 P.Oxy. 3836 2nd cent. AD Terminus ante quem for the d…

d. AD 66 by suicide; Roman novelist. Works The author Petronius as portrayed by Tacitus [1] ( Annales 16,18–19) is now generally attributed with the excerpts of a Latin novel, transmitted under the title of Satyricon (Σατυρικῶν/ Satyricṓn libri = Satyrica). The size of the original work must have far exceeded that of the extant fragments. According to its literary form, it is a mixture of prose and verse passages. Their parodistic-satirical function is obvious. The episodic structure of the story, characterized by individual separat…

active in the 3rd cent. BC; Greek historian; representative of the so-called tragic, or mimetic, school of historiography (by means of sophisticated literary techniques). Works His works are only extant in fragments. They were not only used as source material by later historians, but also seen as exponents of a narrative culture, as evident in the reception of the Deipnosophistaí by Athenaeus [3] , which transmits the largest proportion of fragments (cf. also the more recent translations). Translation / Commentaries English translation of the FGrH with updated commentary in…

Works Anonymous collection of 80 lascivious Latin epigrams. Works Latin Title English Title Dating Brief Description 1 Carmina Priapea The Priapus Poems/The Garden of Priapus ca. AD 100 Manuscripts Name / Number Dating Selection Content / Notable Features 1 Laurentianus 33,31 First half of the 14th cent. Oldest MS, written by Giovanni Boccaccio Early editions Editor Selection / Vols. Place / Series Year Content / Notable Features 1 G.A. de’ Bussi Rome 1469–1471 Ed. princ.; under the name of Vergilius [4] 2 J.J. Scaliger Lyon 1572 With comm. Modern editions (complete works) Editor Select…

active from the end of the 4th cent. to the middle of the 3rd cent. BC; Greek poet and scholar. Works Only the didactic poem Phainómena has been preserved. Translations The work enjoyed a wide reception in the form of ancient and medieval translations. Works Greek Title Latin Title English Title Dating Brief Description 1 Φαινόµενα/Phainómena Phaenomena Appearances 1st half of the 3rd cent. BC Description of the constellations and weather signs in the form of a didactic poem, in 1,154 dactylic hexameters Manuscripts Name / Number Dating Selection Content / Notable Features 1 Marcianus gr…

3rd/4th cent. AD; author of a Greek novel in ten books. Works Greek Title Latin Title English Title Dating Brief Description 1 Αἰθιοπικά / Aithiopiká Aethiopica An Ethiopian Romance (or: Story) 3rd/4th cent. AD Novel about the separation and reunion of Theagenes and Charicleia Manuscripts Name / Number Dating Selection Content / Notable Features 1 Vaticanus gr. 1390 13th/14th cent. Better than the oldest MS, Vaticanus 157 from the 11th cent. Early editions Editor Selection / Vols. Place / Series Year Content / Notable Features 1 V. Opsopoeus Basel 1534 Ed. princ. 2 H. Commelinus Heidelber…

Anonymous collection of Greek poems on the themes of wine and love from the period of the 1st cent. BC/1st cent. AD to the 5th/6th cent. AD; transmitted in the codex of the Anthologia Palatina (cf. Anthology), erroneously under the name of the Greek poet Anacreon [1] (6th cent. BC). Works While only three are complete, authentic poems (fragment 2 Diehl/12 PMG; fragment 40 Diehl/50 PMG; 88 Diehl/72 PMG) and a number of fragments by the lyric poet Anacreon have been preserved. The collection comprises ca. 60 poems from various periods of Antiquity…

b. between AD 335 and 340 in Caesarea (Cappadocia); d. shortly after AD 394 in Nyssa (Cappadocia); eminent Greek Doctor of the Church; became bishop of Nyssa in 372; brother of Basilius [1] of Caesarea. Works Among the extant works are a large number of short catechetical (e.g. Lógos katēchētikós ho mégas; Perì parthenías; Perì psychês kaì anastáseōs), dogmatic (e.g. Pròs Eunómion lógoi antirrhētikoí), and exegetical writings (e.g. Perì kataskeuês anthrṓpou; Perì toû Mōyséōs), as well as orations and letters. Editions The modern critical edition ( Gregorii Nysseni Opera = GNO), beg…

1st cent. AD; author of an astrological poem in Greek (original title not preserved). Works Latin Title English Title Dating Brief Description 1 Carmen astrologicum elegiacum Astrological Poem in Elegiacs 1st cent. AD Didactic poem on astrology/astronomy; the model for subsequent works, such as the Mathesis of Firmicus Maternus Papyri Name / Number Dating Selection Content / Notable Features 1 P. Oxy. 4503–4507 2nd–5th cent. Modern editions (complete works) Editor Selection / Vols. Place / Series Year Content / Notable Features 1 D. Obbink Teubner 2006 Ed. princ. Manfred Landfester S…

b. between 485 and 480 BC on Salamis; d. 406 BC in Pella (Macedonia); Greek writer of tragedies and satyr plays. Works Of the 90 works, 17 tragedies and one satyr play are extant. The Rhesus transmitted under Euripides’ name is surely spurious. Papyri Numerous papyrus and other fragments convey the content and plot of further tragedies ( Antiope; Erechtheus; Phaethon; Alexander; Archelaus; Hypsipyle; and Cresphontes). Manuscripts The tradition falls into two strands: (1) the ten plays with commentaries ( Alcestis; Andromache; Bacchae; Hecuba; Hippolytus; Medea; Orestes; Phoenician…

b. in the latter half of the 5th cent AD in Caesarea (Mauretania); d. in the first half of the 6th cent. AD; important Latin grammarian and teacher of grammar in Constantinople. Works The main focus of his written work was on grammar. Also extant are a poetic panegyric, and the Latin version of Dionysius [27] Periegetes’ didactic geographic poem. Manuscripts Due to their importance in the educational system, Priscian’s grammatical works have been transmitted in many manuscripts. More than 800 manuscripts are known for his main work Institutio de arte grammatica. From the 12th cent., i…

Authors of didactic treatises on rhetoric, from the 4th. cent. BC to the 5th cent. AD. Works The wealth of Greek rhetorical textbooks illustrates the importance attached to rhetoric even outside the educational system. Only a small fraction of this literature is extant. Anonymous treatises, pseudepigrapha, and authentic texts by a wide range of rhetoricians provide an insight into the theory and practice of rhetorical training. These include Anaximenes [2] of Lampsacus (2nd half of the 4th cent. BC, Téchnē rhētorikḗ; transmitted under the name of Aristoteles [6] as …