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[German version] I. Antiquity The interest of the Greeks in etymology was linked from the 5th cent. through to the Alexandrian period to philosophical speculation on the origins of language (which reached its peak in Plato's Cratylus) as well as research, especially by the Sophists, on the origin of individual poetic and especially Homeric ‘glosses’ for the purpose of determining their true (ἔτυμος; étymos) meaning. The earliest treatise is the writing of Heraclides Ponticus ‘On Etymologies’ (Περὶ ἐτυμολογιῶν; Perì etymologiôn, which is a chapter from ‘On words’/Περὶ ὀνομάτων; Perì…

I. Greek [German version] A. Alexandrian period Greek lexicography begins in the Alexandrian period (3rd cent. BC) as a further development of glossography. The Alexandrian period in particular is the time at which collections of ‘glosses’ (difficult words) are compiled, such as the Ἄτακτοι γλῶσσαι ( Átaktoi glôssai) by Philitas, the Γλῶσσαι ( Glôssai) by Simias of Rhodes, and one by Zenodotus of Ephesus (all of them 3rd cent. BC). These collections presuppose the intention to explain special expressions in local dialects or words that are no long…

[German version] (ἡ Σοῦδα; hē Soûda). The name S. (or Suidas) refers to a large extant Greek-Byzantine historical encyclopaedia compiled in the 10th cent. AD (possibly under Iohannes Tzimiskes, 969-976) and organised lexically and alphabetically by key-words. In the S., the compilers combined the entirety of material accessible to them by referring to older compilations, among other things (in this sense, the S. is a 'compilation from compilations'). The form and meaning of the name S. have long been debated: until c. 1930, it was assumed to be the author's name but this cla…

[German version] (Λόβων; Lóbōn) of Argos. Biographer of the 3rd cent. BC, author of a work Περὶ ποιητῶν (‘On Poets’). It is mentioned by Diog. Laert. 1,34-35 and 112 and in the Vita of Sophocles and was a polemical work in comparison with the Pínakes of Callimachus: [1] gathered 27 fragments but their number is probably greater. This work must have contained biographical details regarding ancient verse writers (of every kind: epic poets, lyricists, tragedians, philosophers, etc. right through to the legendary Seven Sages) as well as extra…

(ὀνομαστικόν/ onomastikón, sc. βιβλίον/ biblíon). [German version] I. Term The term onomastikón (collection of names, from ὄνομα/ ónoma, ‘name’) describes learned works that are not arranged alphabetically but juxtapose synonyms and terms relating to the same semantic field. This principle of ordering is very old  (it was already known in Near Eastern culture in the 2nd millennium BC; Lists) and undoubtedly was the most common one up to the Augustan period. Tosi, Renzo (Bologna) [German version] II. Greek Already a (lost) work by Democritus [1] (5th cent. BC), which treat…

I. Greek [German version] A. The ancient concept of ‘Glosses’ Glosses (γλῶσσαι; glôssai) are words that are rare and difficult to explain. The Greeks' interest in such words dates back to the earliest periods: even in works of archaic and classical poets, glosses were accompanied by more common synonyms (‘glossarial synonymity’); this kind of ‘self-exegesis’ is perhaps already evident in the first two verses of the Odyssey (Hom. Od. 1.1-2).  Antisthenes [1] and the Sophists saw the exact interpretation of words as the root of all teaching (παίδευσις, paídeusis). For that reason, gl…

(Διογενιανός; Diogenianós). [German version] [1] Epicurean Epicurean, dating uncertain (perhaps 2nd cent. AD). Eusebius (Pr. Ev. 4,3; 6,8), who cites long excerpts from his script against the doctrine of Chrysippus ‘On Fate’ (περὶ εἱμαρμένης), falsely labels him as a Peripatetic. D. accepted the truth and reliability of mantics. He taught the existence of fortune (τύχη) and of fate; but this does not exclude the freedom of the will. Dorandi, Tiziano (Paris) Bibliography T. Dorandi, in: Goulet 2, 833f. J. Hammerstaedt, in: JbAC 36, 1993, 24-32. [German version] [2] from Heraclea …

(Ὠρίων/ Ōríōn). [German version] [1] Gigantic mythical hunter Gigantic mythical hunter (as early as Hom. Od. 11,310; 11,572-575), also a constellation (as early as Hom. Il. 18,485f.; Stars, legends about). Son of Poseidon and Euryale [2] (Hes. fr. 148(a) M.-W.) or of the earth (Apollod. 1,25f.) or of Zeus, Poseidon and Hermes or Hyrieus (Ov. Fast. 5,535; Hyg. Fab. 195). According to the latter version, his name was derived from the unusual nature of his conception: Hyrieus was granted a wish as a reward…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient In the Ancient Orient, Akkadian scribes acted as grammarians, adding Sumerian translations to Akkadian flective forms, or who provided abstract grammatical explanations for Sumerian syllables. Grammatical texts took the form of a two-columned list; there were no grammatical rules expressed in sentence form. In order to achieve congruence between the non-isomorphic languages of Sumeria and Akkadia, grammarians made up artificial Sumerian forms, neglected morpho-synta…

(Ἐρατοσθένης; Eratosthénēs). [German version] [1] Athenian, active in the Peloponnesian War An Athenian of rich family. In 411 BC he was serving as a trierarch in the Hellespont, but left his ship in order to support the oligarchs in Athens (Lys. 12,42). After the capitulation of Athens in the Peloponnesian War (404 BC), E. belonged to an action group ─ the five ephors ─ working for an oligarchic coup. After the abolition of the democratic order, E. was on the ruling committee of the Thirty, and after its …

(Ἁρποκρατίων; Harpokratíōn). [German version] [1] Platonic philosopher from Argos Platonic philosopher from Argos, 2nd cent. AD, pupil of  Atticus, called ‘top Platonist’ (Πλατωνικῶν κορυφαῖος; Platōnikôn koryphaîos) by Proclus [1. 18]. Important was his commentary on Plato (24 bks.) [1. 28, 152, 180ff., 191, 194, 197, 206, 216f.] and his lexicon on Plato (2 bks.) [1. 28, 235]. Just as Atticus and Plutarch, H. supported the idea of the world's origin in a single (temporal) act, but, in his understanding of the  Demiour…

(Ἡσύχιος; Hēsýchios). [German version] [1] Alex. scholar, author of a lexicon Alexandrian scholar, author of an alphabetically arranged lexicon, which has passed down to us numerous fragments (primarily of poetry), allows many text variants to be restored, and is of special significance to the study of ancient classical exegesis, of dialects, and of the history of the Greek language. The basis for dating him is the Epistula ad Eulogium, which introduces the lexicon: some scholars identify the addressee with  Eulogius Scholasticus (5th cent. AD), others, includin…

(Κύριλλος; Kýrillos) [German version] [1] C. of Jerusalem Bishop Born c. AD 313, he was a member of the Jerusalem clergy (Jer. Chron. 2365 [GCS Eus. 7,236,7f. Helm/Treu]), and from 348 to 386 served as bishop of Jerusalem; he came to this office rather as a follower of the Homoeans (cf. Jer. loc. cit., Socr. 2,38,2 and Sozom. Hist. eccl. 4,20,1) than as a Nicaean (cf. Theod. Hist. eccl. 2,26,6). In 358 he was relieved of his office by  Acacius [2] of Caesarea and banished to Tarsus, rehabilitated in 359 a…

(Πάμφιλος; Pámphilos). [German version] [1] Athenian soldier, 4th cent. BC Athenian hípparchos and stratēgós. In 389 BC, he erected a permanent emplacement on Aegina and besieged the island, but had to be relieved after five months, himself besieged by the Spartan Gorgopas. Convicted of embezzlement and fined heavily at Athens, P. still owed the city five talents at his death after having sold his estates (Lys. 15,5; Xen. Hell. 5,1,2; Aristoph. Plut. 174; 385; Plat. fr. 14 PCG; Dem. Or. 39,2; 40,20 and 22). Schmitz, Winfried (Bielefeld) Volkmann, Hans (Cologne) Bibliography Davies, 36…

Name of an old patrician family, probably connected with the name of the god  Jupiter [1. 281; 2. 729]. The gens was one of the so-called ‘Trojan families’, who were said to have moved from Alba Longa to Rome under king Tullus Hostilius [I 4] (see below). The Iulii were prominent in the 5th and 4th cents. BC. Their connection to the family branch of the Caesares, which rose to prominence from the 3rd cent. and whose outstanding member was the dictator  Caesar (with family tree), is unclear. Caesar's adoptive son,…