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Cerberus

(377 words)

Author(s): Walde, Christine (Basle)
[German version] (Κέρβερος, Kérberos). A guard dog that belongs to the standard repertoire of the Graeco-Roman  Underworld who signals and prevents any unauthorized entry into, or departure from, the realm of the dead. He often appears at the side of  Hades and/or  Persephone. In the Hellenistic age C. in a changed form was also associated with the god  Sarapis (Macrob. Sat. 1,20,13-14). C. is mentioned for the first time -- although without a name or any more detailed description -- in Homer in connection with the adventures of  Hercules in the Underworld…

Celaeno

(85 words)

Author(s): Walde, Christine (Basle)
(Κελαινώ, Kelainṓ, of κελαινός/‘dark’). [German version] [1] Lover of Poseidon One of the  Pleiades (Hes. fr. 275,2 Rzach; Ov. Fast. 4,173), by Poseidon mother of Lycus (Apollod. 3,111; Eratosth. Katasterismoi 23) and of Nycteus (Hyg. Poet. Astr. 2,21). Walde, Christine (Basle) [German version] [2] One of the Harpies One of the  Harpies living with the Strophades, who predicts to the Aeneads that they would devour their tables before the founding of the city (Verg. Aen. 3,209-258; cf. Val. Fl. 4,453ff.). Walde, Christine (Basle)

Morpheus

(110 words)

Author(s): Walde, Christine (Basle)
[German version] (Μορφεύς). One of the many sons of Hypnus (of ‘Sleep’, Latin Somnus) who personify the dream life of people. With his brothers Icelus and Phantasus M. is responsible for the realistic form of dream images. M., who appears to Alcyone in the form of her dead husband Ceyx, in particular, became proverbial in the tradition of Ovid (‘lie in M.'s arms’). The ‘dream artists’, mentioned only by Ovid (Met. 11,633-676) in his description of the caves of sleep localised in Cimmeria, are amon…

Leucon

(431 words)

Author(s): Walde, Christine (Basle) | Bäbler, Balbina (Göttingen) | von Bredow, Iris (Bietigheim-Bissingen)
(Λεύκων; Leúkōn). [German version] [1] Boeotian hero Boeotian hero, son of Athamas and Themisto, daughter of the Lapith king Hypseus (Apollod. 1,9,2). His daughter Euippe marries Andreus of Orchomenus (Paus. 9,34,6f.). Eponym of Lake Leuconis (= Copais) (Steph. Byz.). Walde, Christine (Basle) [German version] [2] Author of Old Comedy, 5th cent. BC Author of Old Comedy who competed in the Lenaea of 422 BC with the play Πρέσβεις (‘Legates’) against Aristophanes' ‘Wasps’, and in the Dionysia of 421 with the play Φράτερες against the latter's ‘Peace’…

Ceyx

(253 words)

Author(s): Walde, Christine (Basle)
[German version] ( Κήϋξ; Kḗyx). Son of Hesperus and Philonis (Apollod. 1,7,4), king of  Trachis. C. grants asylum to Hercules in his flight from Calydon, who went from there to his death on the Oeta, and to his spouse Deianira (Apollod. 2,7,6; Diod. Sic. 4,57,1). C. later also receives the Heraclides, whom he must however send on their way (Hecataeus FGrH 1 F 30). C.'s life is marked by blows of fate: his son Hippasus participates in Hercules' campaign against Oechalia and loses his life (Apollod. 2…

Dreams; Interpretation of dreams

(2,165 words)

Author(s): Renger, Johannes (Berlin) | Walde, Christine (Basle)
[German version] I. Ancient Orient Dreams and their interpretation were a popular topic in the written tradition of the Ancient Orient and Egypt since the 22nd cent. BC. Both spontaneously experienced dreams as well as dream incubation are attested. Preserved dreams relate divine messages (in the form of theophanies). Though usually contained in literary texts [3; 5. 746; 6], they also occur in letters [1]. Dreams also contained ethical maxims and wisdom for life reflecting personal experience and st…

Melpomene

(133 words)

Author(s): Walde, Christine (Basle)
[German version] (Μελπομένη/ Melpoménē; Lat. Melpomena; descriptive name: ‘she who sings’; cf. Diod. Sic. 4,7: M. because of the melody that affects the listeners). One of the nine Muses (Hes. Theog. 77). According to Achelous [2], she is the mother of the Sirens (Apollod. Ep. 7,18). For a long time, M. remains the least specific and most rarely mentioned Muse. She is regarded as the patron of tragedy, especially of the lyric choral parts, and is depicted with, among other things, theatrical masks (c…

Momos

(113 words)

Author(s): Walde, Christine (Basle)
[German version] (Μῶμος/ Mômos). Greek personification of censoriousness, son of Nyx/Night (Hes. Theog. 214). In the Kýpria, M. is an advisor to Zeus (Kypria fr. 1 EpGF). Iulianus (Ep. 50) tells that M. was gripped by excessive rage, because he could find no fault with Aphrodite. After Callimachus, who often refers to him in his literary feuds as the embodiment of the stupid, carping caviller (e.g. Callim. H. 2,113; Callim. Fr. 393), M. is often mentioned in later literature (Lucian. Iuppiter tragoedus 19ff; Lucian. Verae historiae 2,3). In his Oneirokritiká (Artem. 4 pr.), the drea…

Lavinia

(300 words)

Author(s): Walde, Christine (Basle)
(Greek Λαῦνα/ Laûna). Name of two female characters who are linked with the Aeneas myth ( Aeneas). [German version] [1] Daughter of Anius Daughter of Anius - the priest king of Delos at the time of the Trojan War (Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 1,59,3) - who marries Aeneas (Ps.-Orig. 9,2,5) and later as a seer accompanies him on his wanderings. L. dies on the site where Lavinium is built (Isid. Orig. 15,1,52). Walde, Christine (Basle) [German version] [2] Daughter of Latinus and Amata Daughter of Latinus and of Amata who after the death of her brother is the sole heir to the throne (Ve…

Hyperion

(139 words)

Author(s): Walde, Christine (Basle)
[German version] (Ὑπερίων; Hyperíōn; on the etymology [1]). In the tradition of Hesiod one of the  Titans, who with his sister Theia fathers the gods of light Helios ( Sol),  Selene and  Eos (Hes. Theog. 134; 371-374; Apollod. 1,2,8). Opinions are divided on his participation in the  titanomachy (schol. Hom. Il. 14,274 Dindorf contra Serv. Aen. 6,580). In Homer, however, H. is an epithet (Hom. Od. 1,8) as well as an independent term for Helios (Hom. Il. 19,398, but especially in Roman poetry: e.g. …

Cephalus

(728 words)

Author(s): Walde, Christine (Basle) | Engels, Johannes (Cologne)
(Κέφαλος, Képhalos). [German version] [1] Athenian hero Athenian hero, eponym of the Attic deme  Cephale (north-west of Thoricus) and founding father of the Cephalid lineage (Pherecydes, FGrH 3 F 34; Hsch. s.v. Κεφαλίδαι). C. is regarded a) as the son of the Athenian king  Pandarus (Pandium) or of  Hermes and Herse, the daughter of Cecrops; or b) as the son of the Phocian king Deion(eus) and Diomede, the daughter of Xuthus, whereby he becomes the brother of Aenetus, Phylacus, Actor and Asteropeia. C. is an exceptional hunter with breathtaking beauty. When hunting on the slope…

Cassius

(5,432 words)

Author(s): Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) | Eder, Walter (Berlin) | Eck, Werner (Cologne) | Giaro, Tomasz (Frankfurt/Main) | Birley, A. R. (Düsseldorf) | Et al.
Name of a plebeian gens (cf. Tac. Ann. 6,15,1), the representatives of whom have been known historically since the middle of the 3rd cent. BC. The most important family, especially in the 1st cent. BC, are the Cassii Longini. A patrician C. (around 500 BC, C. I 19) is rare. I. Republican age [German version] [I 1] C., C. Governor of Asia 89-88 BC Praetor 90 BC (?), in 89-88 governor of the province of Asia whence he, with M'. Aquillius [I 4], induced Nicomedes of Bithynia to attack  Mithridates (MRR 2,34). He then had to retreat from the victorious Mithridat…

Pierides

(91 words)

Author(s): Walde, Christine (Basle)
(Πιερίδες/ Pierídes; Lat. Pierides or Pieriae). [German version] [1] Epithet of the Muses Name for the Muses after the place of their residence (Hes. Theog. 53). Walde, Christine (Basle) [German version] [2] The nine daughters of Pierus The nine daughters of Pierus (Paus. 9,29,4) and Antiope, they challenged the Muses to an artistic competition, were defeated and turned into magpies (Ov. Met. 5,671ff.)  (Ov. Met. 5,294ff.; Antoninus Liberalis 9,1ff.). According to Antoninus Liberalis l.c. their names were Acalanthis, Colymbas, Iynx…

Romanius Hispo

(123 words)

Author(s): Walde, Christine (Basle)
[German version] Latin rhetor and advocate in the early Imperial Period. His intelligence and gift for oratory allowed him to work his way up from modest circumstances to being a welcome guest at the court of Tiberius [II 1] (Quint. Inst. 6,3,100; Tac. Ann. 1,74). In the quaestor Caepio [1] Crispinus' treason case against the praetor Granius [II 3] Marcellus he appeared as a joint plaintiff. Seneca [1] the Elder's numerous mentions of him express admiration for his extraordinary command of the lan…

Comparison

(446 words)

Author(s): Walde, Christine (Basle)
[German version] In ancient rhetoric, the terms εικών/ eikṓn (literally ‘image’, ‘illustration’: often for short comparisons), παραβολή/ parabolḗ (especially for similes) as well as Latin simile, similitudo cover diverse phenomena dominating a word, sentence or even a text that create a relationship between two facts or spheres of the imagination. The primary function of emphasis placed the comparison close to the  topos (Quint. Inst. 4,1,70), and the exemplum (5,11,22; but cf. Cic. Inv. 1,49), the figurae sententiarum (Cic. De or. 3,201 = Quint. Inst. 9,1,31;  figures). A theory…

Cycnus

(327 words)

Author(s): Walde, Christine (Basle)
(Κύκνος; Kýknos, Latin Cygnus; ‘swan’). Name of several heroes whose common element is their relationship with swans. Among these the most important are: [German version] [1] Son of Ares and Pelopea Son of  Ares and of Pelopea (Apollod. 2,5,11: the Pyrene), king of Amphanae, husband of Themistonoe. In the grove of Apollo in Thessalonian Pagasae, C. robs pilgrims travelling to Delphi and invites them to participate in chariot races which he always wins (detailed narration [Hes.] scut. 57ff.). He kills the losers and decorates …

Gavius

(1,035 words)

Author(s): Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) | Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance) | Eck, Werner (Cologne) | Walde, Christine (Basle) | Rüpke, Jörg (Erfurt)
Roman family name, frequently attested in inscriptions, also in the form Cavius [1. 76f.]; in the Republican period its bearers are still politically insignificant; also a Faliscan praenomen [2. 103]. I. Republican period [German version] [I 1] G., P. Crucified as a spy of Spartacus 72 BC from Compsa (Lower Italy), was captured and crucified in Sicily in 72 BC by C.  Verres as an alleged spy of the slave leader  Spartacus (Cic. Verr. 2,5,158-170). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) [German version] [I 2] G. Bassus Roman grammarian and antiquarian of the late Republic Roman grammarian and…

Idaea

(163 words)

Author(s): Walde, Christine (Basle) | Zingg, Reto (Basle)
(Ἰδαία; Idaía). [German version] [1] Epithet of Cybele One of many epithets of the mother of gods ( Cybele), named after her cult on the Phrygian  Ida [2] (e.g. Eur. Or. 1453; Str. 10,469). Walde, Christine (Basle) [German version] [2] Nymph of the Ida mountains Nymph of Ida [2] in Phrygia, wife of the river god Scamander, mother of  Teucer, the first king in the Troad, after whom the people of the Teucri are named (Apollod. 3,139; Diod. Sic. 4,75). Zingg, Reto (Basle) [German version] [3] Daughter of Dardanus Daughter of Dardanus, great-granddaughter of [2], second wife of  Phineu…

Nyx

(651 words)

Author(s): Walde, Christine (Basle)
(Νύξ/ Nýx; Lat. Nox, night). In antiquity, the night as a sphere of the eerie and the hidden was regarded not simply as a natural, daily phenomenon that shaped people's lives but as a goddess and personification. It is difficult to draw clear boundaries between these realms. [German version] A. Genealogies In variously accentuated genealogies of gods [1], N. is a cosmogonic power. In Hesiod, N. belongs to the first generation of gods along with other appearances of light (Hes. Theog. 123ff.; 211; 744ff.; cf. her authority in Hom. Il. 14,259). Sh…

Mnemosyne

(278 words)

Author(s): Walde, Christine (Basle)
[German version] (Μνημοσύνη/ Mnēmosýnē, Latin Moneta; Liv. Andronicus, Odusia fr. 21 Morel-Büchner-Blänsdorf). Goddess of memory (cf. Mneme). As a daughter of Uranus and Gaia M. belongs to the oldest generation of Titans (Hes. Theog. 135), who represent cosmic and social concepts. After spending nine nights with Zeus, she became the mother of the nine Muses who bring human beings joy and temporary light-heartedness (Hes. Theog. 54 ff.; Pind. Nem. 7,15; Pind. Isthm. 6,75). Parallels to Zeus’s other lo…

Muses

(1,502 words)

Author(s): Walde, Christine (Basle)
(Greek Μοῦσαι/ Moûsai, Latin Musae; Camenae: see below; etymology contentious [3. 7f.]; ancient attempts at a solution, e.g. Pl. Crat. 406a; Diod. Sic. 4,7,3-4; Etym. M. 589,40; further details [3. 5f.]). [German version] A. General The M. are a specific of the religion and of the cultural self-conception of the Greeks. Far from being mere personifications of the arts, they are rather the expression of the capacity, granted to man alone, for self-reflection and taking a place in history. As goddesses of memoria (memory and the means of remembering, the…

Clodius

(2,871 words)

Author(s): Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) | Will, Wolfgang (Bonn) | Nutton, Vivian (London) | Glock, Andreas (Bremen) | Birley, A. R. (Düsseldorf) | Et al.
In the 1st cent. BC, vernacular form of the gentilicium  Claudius (C. [I 4] and  Clodia), since late Republican period also an independent family name. I. Republican period [German version] [I 1] C., C. Praefect of M. Brutus in 43/42 BC In 43/42 BC follower and prefect of M. Brutus; he murdered C. Antonius [I 3]. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) [German version] [I 2] C., Sex. Henchman of P. Clodius [I 4] Pulcher, Sex. Cloelius [2] Henchman of P. Clodius [I 4] Pulcher, Sex.  Cloelius [2]. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) [German version] [I 3] C. Aesopus Tragic actor, 2nd half of the 1st cent. BC Tragic …

Severianus

(267 words)

Author(s): Hoffmann, Philippe (Paris) | Walde, Christine (Basle)
[German version] [1] Bishop of Gabala/Syria, c. 400 The bishop of Gabala (present-day Ǧabla) in Syria who appeared from AD 401 as a preacher in  Constantinopolis. His name is primarily tied to the acrimonious conflict with Iohannes [4] Chrysostomus after the latter was nominated as ecumenical patriarch. Both were regarded as gifted preachers, and their rivalry, characterised by reciprocal slights and their open competition for the favour of Empress Aelia [4] Eudoxia, finally led to the deposition and ex…

Capito

(156 words)

Author(s): Walde, Christine (Basle) | Birley, A. R. (Düsseldorf)
Roman cognomen; see also Ateius, Fonteius. [German version] [1] Orator of the Augustan period Orator of the Augustan period, praised by  Seneca the Elder because of his ability -- in contrast with  Cassius [III 2] Severus -- to distinguish clearly between the demands of declamations as opposed to those of legal speeches, with regards to their tone and presentation. According to Seneca's assessment, C.'s best orations were in no way inferior to those of the tetrad of the great declamators  Latro,  Fuscus,  Alb…

Irony

(686 words)

Author(s): Walde, Christine (Basle) | Erler, Michael (Würzburg)
(Greek εἰρωνεία, eirōneía, orig. ‘dissimulation’, Lat. simulatio, dissimulatio, illusio). [German version] I. Rhetoric Like e.g. metaphor ( Comparison), irony is classed in the rhetorical system among the tropes ( Figures) (Rhet. Her. 4,46 assigns it to allegory). While metaphor works through the similarity between what is said and what is meant, irony is characterized by a relationship of contrast ( contrarium) (Anaximen. Ars Rhetorica = [Arist.] Rh. Al. 21,1,1434a, 17f.; Quint. Inst. 8,6,54-56; Aquila Rhetor 7 p. 24,21f. H). Irony is context dependen…

Parallelism

(130 words)

Author(s): Walde, Christine (Basle)
[German version] (from Greek παράλληλοι/ parállēloi, 'standing or lying side-by-side'). As a transpositional figure of speech (Figures) parallelism, like hyperbaton, antithesis and chiasmus, is part of embellished speech ( ornatus). It designates (at least two) coordinated sentence units of equal rank that relate to one another and also deviate from normal word order (Quint. Inst. 9,3,80f.). If the number of syllables in the words and the length of the two sentence units are identical, this is called isokolon; if they are approximately equal, the term used is parison. In order to…

Calchus

(71 words)

Author(s): Walde, Christine (Basle)
[German version] (Κάλχος; Kálchos). King of the Daunians ( Daunia), lover of  Circe prior to the arrival of Odysseus. Because he continues to importune her against her will, she drives him to madness with enchanted food and drink. As a Daunian army begins looking for him, Circe releases him from her spell, but only after C. promises never to set foot on her island again (Parthenius 12). Walde, Christine (Basle)

Alliteration

(127 words)

Author(s): Walde, Christine (Basle)
[German version] The term was coined by the Neapolitan humanist G. Pontano (14th cent.) for the frequent repetition of the same consonant (also, vowel in initial position) or of the same syllable in a word group. However, the phenomenon of alliteration was already known in the practical use of ancient rhetoric (it corresponds to a positively understood homoeoprophoron, related to paronomasia). Alliteration results in a closer linking of sentence parts and creates a mnemotechnical effect (e.g. in Germanic alliteration). It is used most often in aphorisms (Suet. Iul. 37,2: veni, vidi…

Silence

(751 words)

Author(s): Walde, Christine (Basle)
[German version] (Greek σιγή/ sigḗ, σιωπή/ siōpḗ and associated verbs; Latin silentium, taciturnitas, quies and associated verbs). Even though Graeco-Roman Antiquity bears the stamp of a culture of speech (Rhetoric), many testimonies from ancient literature, religion, philosophy, medicine and general understanding betray a high awareness of the importance of silence, which had its own forms of expression and performance [2; 4; 12]. Programmatic statements on silence are found throughout Antiquity, e.g. in Pi…

Castricius

(217 words)

Author(s): Walde, Christine (Basle) | Hadot, Pierre (Limours)
[German version] [1] C., Ti. Teacher of Latin rhetoric and orator, 2nd cent. AD Teacher of Latin rhetoric and orator of high-flown speeches at the time of Antonines who was even listened to by  Gellius (13,22); befriended by  Fronto (ep. ad am. 2,2), highly regarded by  Hadrianus because of his fine education and moral attitudes. C. favoured the reading of Republican authors (Sallust, Metellus Numidicus, C. Gracchus: Gell. NA 2,27; 1,6; 11,13) is linked with the revival of old Roman virtues: Stylistic and moral judgment go hand in hand in the spirit of Cato's vir bonus, peritus dicendi; C. …

Calliope

(291 words)

Author(s): Walde, Christine (Basle) | Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] [1] A Muse (Greek Καλλιόπη, Καλλιόπεια; Kalliópē, Kalliópeia; Lat. Calliopa; on the etymology Diod. Sic. 4.3). Of the nine  Muses (Hes. Theog. 79), C. is mentioned most often and is particularly depicted on an individual level. She was originally the Muse of epic poetry honouring warfare, but later, in a paradoxical turnaround, of the ‘peaceful’ Roman love elegy (Prop. 3.3) or of lofty poetry in general (Ov. Tr. 2, 568). C. is considered the patroness of poetry and, among others, is appe…

Phosphoros

(146 words)

Author(s): Walde, Christine (Basle)
[German version] (Φωσφόρος/ Phōsphóros, 'bringer of light'; also Ἑωσφόρος/ Heōsphóros, 'bringer of dawn'; Latin Lucifer [1], cf. Cic. Nat. D. 2,53). Term for the planet Venus as a light-bringing human-friendly morning star, which is identical - as was recognised at an early stage - to the evening star Hesperos (Parmenides, 28 A 1 DK; Pl. Epin. 987b). In mythology, however, the idea of two stars always remained: here P., like Hesperos, is a son of the dawn Eos and the Titan Astraeus (He…

Ceteus

(27 words)

Author(s): Walde, Christine (Basle)
[German version] (Κητεύς; Kēteús). Mythical king in Arcadia, son of  Lycaon; according to Pherecydes in Apollod. 3,7,2 also the father of  Callisto. Walde, Christine (Basle)

Dream interpretation

(1,823 words)

Author(s): Walde, Christine (Basle)
[English version] The multi-voiced discourse conducted within Graeco-Roman Antiquity regarding dreams and dream interpretation in religion, literature, everyday life, philosophy, divination/mantic art and medicine shows clear signs of cultural determination [19]. Despite striking breaks with tradition - above all through Christianity - a relatively high degree of continuity in dream discourses can be observed since Antiquity [18]. Among other things, this is probably owing to the fact that the anc…

Carmen de figuris

(133 words)

Author(s): Walde, Christine (Basle)
[German version] Factual poem in 185 Latin hexameters, dealing in alphabetical order with rhetorical  figures; it was designed as an aide-mémoire in the teaching of rhetorics. It was evidently based on  Rutilius Lupus and  Alexander [25], son of Numenius. As a rule, three lines are offered per figure (the Greek designation, one line for the Latin definition, two lines of examples from Greek and Latin classics). The writer is anonymous (the addressee Messius is perhaps identical with Arusianus Messius); the late Lat…

Tropes

(488 words)

Author(s): Walde, Christine (Basle)
[German version] (τρόποι/ trópoi; singular τρόπος/ trópos, rhetorical term, literally 'turn', from τρέπεσθαι/ trépesthai, 'to turn'; the original technical term was metaphorá, which later acquired its more preicse meaning: Aristot. Poet. 21,7,1457b; Latin verbum translatum: Quint. Inst. 8,3,24, translatio or tropus [1. 205-208]). In rhetoric, tropes have their place in the category of elocutio / ornatus in verbis singulis: in contrast to figures, which have  their effect on the surface of the text, e.g. in the word order, tropes are phrases used in a …

Triarius

(336 words)

Author(s): Schumacher, Leonhard | Walde, Christine (Basle) | Eck, Werner (Cologne)
[German version] [1] Military term Soldier of the Roman manipular army in the third line of the legion in battle formation (Pol. 6,21,7-10). The triarii were armed with gladius (Sword), scutum (Shield) and hasta [1] (Pol. 6,23,16). The integration of the triarii from the phalanx into manipular tactics had the purpose of stabilizing combat effectiveness. After that, the qualification was no longer based on the census but on age and battle experience instead (Liv. 8,8,3-13). The battalions were referred to as 'pillars' ( pili), the triarii as a whole as pilani (Varro Ling. 5,89). Their…

Terpsichore

(96 words)

Author(s): Walde, Christine (Basle)
[German version] (Τερψιχόρη, 'she who delights in choral dances'). One of the Muses (Hes. Theog. 78), whose name indicates responsibility for  chorus and dance (Pind. I. 2,7; Korinna, fr. 935 Page; Pl. Phdr. 259b-d; Anth. Pal. 9,504) and is connected with paideía   (Diod. 4,7). She wears a wreath of laurel and ivy and her attributes are the lyre and the flute. Some accounts make her the mother of Linus (Suda s. v. Λίνος), Hymenaeus [1] (Alci. Epist. 1,13), Rhesus (Aristoph. Hypothesis zu Eur. Rhes.) and the Sirens (Apoll. Rhod. 4,895). Muses Walde, Christine (Basle)

Officium

(542 words)

Author(s): Gizewski, Christian (Berlin) | Walde, Christine (Basle)
(etymologically reconstructed from Lat. opi-ficium, 'doing work'; pl. officia). [German version] [1] Duty in general Generally a range of duties with a corresponding sense of duty or subordination (Sen. Ben. 3,18,1; Dig. 37,6,6; Cic. Tusc. 4,61); see Duty. Gizewski, Christian (Berlin) [German version] [2] Duties as identified in the philosophy of ethics Since Cicero, especially the duties as identified in the philosophy of ethics (as the 'Roman interpretation' of the Stoic concept of tò kathêkon, Cic. Off. 1,2,5-1,3,7); see Duty; Ethics. Gizewski, Christian (Berlin) …

Verginius

(1,949 words)

Author(s): Müller, Christian (Bochum) | Eck, Werner (Cologne) | Walde, Christine (Basle)
Roman family, probably of Etruscan origin, that played an outstanding role, through the Verginii Tricosti branch (genealogy of the V. Tricosti in [1. 1519]), in Roman politics esp. in the 5th cent. BC. Characteristic of the V. Tricosti are the additional cognomina Caelimontanus, Esquilinus and Rutilus. The political importance of the family steadily declined from around the middle of the 5th cent., becoming altogether insignificant around the middle of the 4th cent. BC. If nothing else, however,…

Iphitus

(135 words)

Author(s): Walde, Christine (Basle)
[German version] (Ἴφιτος; Íphitos). Son of  Eurytus [1] of Oechalia and Antiope (or Antioche) who was killed by Hercules because his father and brothers (except for I.: Apollod. 1,128) did not give Hercules  Iole as his wife, as had been promised to him as a prize for his winning at archery. The legend is told in Hom. Od. 21,14ff. (where the bow of Odysseus is a gift from I.), in the lost epic Oichalías hálōsis, and also in Soph. Trach. 225ff., Diod. Sic. 4,31,2ff. and Apollod. 2,127ff. According to another version, I. arrived at the stronghold of Tiryns searching for…

Allegory

(1,080 words)

Author(s): Walde, Christine (Basle)
[German version] ἀλληγορία ( allēgoría; first documented as a rhetorical term in Cic. Att. 2,20,3), from ἀλληγορέω ( allēgoréō; ‘I say something other [than I mean]’); Lat. translatio, inversio, immutatio, permutatio. In rhetoric, allegory does not refer to a hermeneutical method ( Allegorical poetry,  Allegoresis). Instead, rhetoric deals with the production of allegories and with their effectiveness as a strategy of argumentation (  argumentatio ). However, the rhetorical treatment of allegory also faces fundamental questions of languag…

Caunus

(821 words)

Author(s): Walde, Christine (Basle) | Kaletsch, Hans (Regensburg)
(Καῦνος; Kaûnos). [German version] [1] Eponym of the Carian town C. [2] Eponym of the Carian town C. [2], who gains contours chiefly in connection with his twin sister  Byblis. The myths depict various constellations of their incestuous relationship (Parthenius 11). Walde, Christine (Basle) Bibliography S. Jackson, Apollonius of Rhodes: the Cleite and Byblis Suicides, in: SIFC 14, 1997, 48-54. [German version] [2] Coastal town in the border areas between Caria and Lycia This item can be found on the following maps: Theatre | Lycii, Lycia | Pergamum | Pe…

Polyhymnia

(134 words)

Author(s): Walde, Christine (Basle)
[German version] (Πολύμνια/ Polýmnia, less often Πολυύμνια/ Polyýmnia, one 'with many songs' or 'polyphonic choral song'; cf. Diod. Sic. 4,7,2 ff.). One of the nine canonical Muses, seldom mentioned individually in verse (Ov. Fast. 5,9-54). Despite her unambiguous name, her sphere of activity is non-specific and multifaceted. In Horace (Carm. 1,1), P. is to be understood as a Muse who immortalizes great matters with great songs. She is known as the inventor of the lyre (schol. Apoll. Rhod. 3,1-5a) and …

Senecta, Senectus

(58 words)

Author(s): Walde, Christine (Basle)
[German version] (Latin 'old age'; Greek Γῆρας/ Gḗras). Daughter of Erebus and Nyx/Night (Cic. Nat. D. 3,17,44), personification of old age (Hor. Epod. 8,4), often mentioned in connection with illnesses and human suffering (cf. Sen. Epist. 108,28: “senectus enim morbus est”): Verg. Aen. 6,275; Sen. Herc. f. 696; Sil. Pun. 13,583 et passim. Walde, Christine (Basle)

Leimone

(11 words)

Author(s): Walde, Christine (Basle)
[German version] Daughter of Hippomenes [2]. Walde, Christine (Basle)

Cerambus

(110 words)

Author(s): Walde, Christine (Basle)
[German version] (Κέραμβος, Kérambos). Son of Euseirus (son of Poseidon) and the nymph Eidothea; a shepherd on the Othrys, he invents the panpipes and the lyre, and his playing sets the nymphs dancing. He does not follow Pan's advice to flee from the imminent, icy cold winter. C. and his flock freeze to death under the mass of snow. The nymphs transform him into a beetle with long feelers resembling a lyre (Antoninus Liberalis 22; Cerambyx: stag beetle; cf. Hsch. s.v. Κεράμβυξ). However Ovid in con…

Cambles

(86 words)

Author(s): Walde, Christine (Basle)
[German version] (Κάμβλης; Kámblēs, also Κάμβης; Kámbēs). Mythological king of Lydia. His insatiable appetite (perhaps caused by poison given to him by his enemies) drives him to cannibalism. Driven mad by hunger, he devours even his own wife. Upon waking the next morning with the rest of her hand in his mouth and realizing what he had done, he kills himself (Xanthus, Lydiaca, fr. 12., FHG vol. I, 36ff.; Nicolaus of Damascus FGrH 2 A 90 F 28; Ael. VH 1,27). Walde, Christine (Basle)

Rutilius

(2,145 words)

Author(s): Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) | Fündling, Jörg (Bonn) | Kierdorf, Wilhelm (Cologne) | Giaro, Tomasz (Frankfurt/Main) | Gruber, Joachim (Munich) | Et al.
Name of a widely-branched Roman plebeian family who became well known from the beginning of the 2nd cent. BC on, but only achieved the consulate for the first time at the end of the cent. I. Republican Period [German version] [I 1] R. Lupus, P. Consul in 90 BC Praetor no later than 93 BC; consul in 90. During the Social War [3], he received the command of the northern army; against the advice of his legate C. Marius [I 1], he was lured into an ambush by the Marsi and was killed in the valley of the Tolnus (modern Turano; Liv. Per. 73; App. B Civ. 1,191-194; Oros. 5,18,11 f.). MRR 2,25. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig…

Speeches, Genres of

(10,896 words)

Author(s): Walde, Christine (Basle)
Walde, Christine (Basle) [German version] A. Definition and Historical Overview of the Development of the Genres of Speech (CT) Already in the epics of Homer, the Attic tragedies, among historiographers and in philosophy, the prominent areas of public speech become crystallised in reflection, however sublimated, of socio-cultural reality: speeches of advice, defence and accusation, epitaphs and encomia. Yet it was Aristotle, in his Rhetoric (Book I), who created the first reference text, influential to this day, of a canonic threefold division of the genres of speech (Greek: génē …
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