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[German version] (Πετεώς; Peteṓs). Mythical king of Athens (Hom. Il. 4,338), son of Orneus (Paus. 2,25,6) and father of Menestheus [1] (Hom. Il. 2,552). Banished by  Aegeus from Athens, P. and inhabitants of the deme of Stiria are supposed to have founded the polis of Stiris in Phocis (Paus. 10,35,8). In the Egyptian tradition an Egyptian Petes is supposed to have been Menestheus's father and a ruler of Athens (Diod. 1,28,6). Binder, Gerhard (Bochum)

(Ἰατροκλῆς; Iatroklês). [German version] [1] Athenian, oligarch, 4th cent. BC Athenian, fled in 411 BC after the pro-democratic uprising of the Athenian fleet off Samos with the trierarch  Eratosthenes [1] and others, when the fleet was operating in the Hellespont, to Athens, where he supported the oligarchy (Lys. 12,42). Schmitz, Winfried (Bielefeld) Bibliography Traill, PAA 531050. [German version] [2] Son of Pasiphon, approx. 350 BC Son of Pasiphon, in 348 BC captured by  Philippus II during the conquest of  Olynthus but then released (Aeschin. Leg. 15-16…

[German version] Like the Greek ἄβαξ, ἀβάκιον ( ábax, abákion), Latin abacus refers to various objects, made from a variety of materials, and which have the characteristics of a ‘platter, board, panel, or slab’: 1. the board used for board games and dice games ( Board games); 2. the platter used for serving food ( Table utensils); 3. a decorative wall panel ( Decorum, wall cladding); 4. the slab covering the capital of a column ( Column). 5. Often, abacus signifies a dresser or sideboard, most usually for the decorative display of valuable items. Thus Cicero says about Verres: abaci …

(Επαίνετος; Epaínetos) [German version] [1] Medicinal plant expert Medicinal plant expert and author of toxicological works, who lived between the 1st cent. BC and the 3rd cent. AD. His views on the dangerous characteristics of wolfbane, hemlock, opium, mandrake, henbane, poisonous mushrooms, black chamaeleon (a plant whose leaves can change colour), of bull's blood, of litharge and of lumpsucker as well as his remedies against these poisons are reported in detail in Ps.-Aelius Promotus' De venenis (ed. princeps, S. Ihm, 1995).  Medicine;  Toxicology Nutton, Vivian (London) …

[German version] A. General In contrast to modern ways of thinking and feeling, in ancient cultures there was a more marked tendency to distinguish between separate stages of a person's life (i.e. as a rule the life of a man); the number of such stages and their names, as well as their delimitation, differ widely in the sources. The designations given to people assigned to a particular stage of life are correspondingly vague and therefore often difficult to differentiate. Basically, two kinds of div…

[German version] A. Attic of the older era (until the 5th/4th cents.) Attic, which occupies a paramount position in literature, is verifiable since the end of the 7th cent. through a plethora of inscriptions: private inscriptions, official proclamations, and also inscriptions on vases and ostraca as well as curse tablets (4th-3rd cents.), which in some cases reflect ‘Vulgar Attic’. Since the foundation of the 1st  Delian League (478/7) and during the time when Athens stood at the centre of Greek politics, …

[German version] I. Egypt and the ancient Orient The central Egyptian sources of information regarding banquets are the depictions of the funerary banquet in the tombs of Theban officials dating from the 18th dynasty (15th -14th cents. BC). The early pictures show the tomb's occupant with his spouse as the host in front of a table loaded with dishes of food and faced by their guests in several rows. Servants adorn them with flowers and bring wine and food, pleasant-smelling ointments and utensils for ha…

(ἀγών/ agṓn). [German version] I. Term From the Homeric epics onward, agon meant a '(place of) assembly' and a '(place of) contest'. Agon as contest was not restricted to sporting and artistic competitions, but could also denote a legal battle (Dem. Or. 15,30), a difficult challenge (Soph. Trach. 159), a great effort (Hdt. 7,209) or a hazardous ordeal (Xen. Cyr. 3,3,44). Associated terms were used in corresponding ways: ἀγωνίζεσθαι ( agōnízesthai, 'to contend for a prize, to compete'), ἀγωνιστής ( agōnistḗs, 'competitor, combatant'), ἀγώνισμα ( agṓnisma, '(object/prize of) con…

[German version] I. Typology To create a typology of the kiss in antiquity seems rather difficult, given its many specifications, of which the erotic kiss represents no more than a single facet. Existing approaches barely go beyond collections of material [1; 2; 3]. As far as tradition permits, two main categories can be distinguished: formal kisses (in politics; client relations; cult, religion) and private kisses (in family, kinship, friendship; love relations). Within these main categories and th…

[German version] I. Definition Censorship -- from Lat. censura (‘examination’, Middle Latin ‘supervision, reprimand’) -- describes the control (preventative or pre-censorship) and/or the suppression (repressive or post-censorship) of written records, esp. literary ones. In antiquity, censorship was unknown in the sense of a set institution, such as existed later in the age of Absolutism or, if more concealed, in the totalitarian systems of the modern age; however, at certain times and places, it was exe…

[English version] Wie griech. ἄβαξ, ἀβάκιον bezeichnet a. verschiedene, aus unterschiedlichen Materialien gefertigte Gegenstände, denen das Merkmal “Tafel, Brett, Platte” eignet: 1. das für Brett- und Würfelspiele verwendete Spielbrett (Brettspiele); 2. das zum Auftragen von Speisen dienende Servierbrett (Tafelausstattung); 3. eine Platte der Wanddekoration (Decorum, Inkrustation); 4. die Deckplatte des Säulenkapitells (Säule). 5. Mehrfach ist a. Bezeichnung für die Anrichte, das Sideboard, meist zur dekorativen Aufstellung von wertvollem Gerät…

[English version] A. Allgemeines Stärker als in modernem Denken und Empfinden wurde die Lebenszeit des Menschen (d.h. in aller Regel des Mannes) in ant. Kulturen in Abschnitte zu gliedern versucht; die Zahl solcher Stufen und ihre Benennung sowie die Abgrenzung gegeneinander variiert in den Quellen erheblich. Entsprechend unscharf und somit manchmal kaum voneinander abzusetzen sind die Bezeichnungen der einer Altersstufe zugerechneten Menschen. Grundsätzlich lassen sich zwei Formen der Einteilung un…

[English version] I. Typologie Eine Typologie des K. in der Ant. zu entwerfen, ist bei den vielen Ausprägungen des K., von denen der Liebes-K. nur eine Facette darstellt, schwierig. Bisherige Ansätze gehen diesbezüglich über Materialsammlungen kaum hinaus [1; 2; 3]. Soweit die Überl. es zuläßt, werden daher im folgenden zwei Haupttypen unterschieden: förmlicher K. (in Politik; Klientelverhältnissen; Kult, Rel.) und privater K. (in Familie, Verwandtschaft; Freundschaft; Liebesbeziehungen). Innerhalb …

[English version] [1] Verf. toxikologischer Schriften Heilpflanzenkundiger und Verfasser toxikologischer Schriften, der zwischen dem 1. Jh.v.Chr. und dem 3. Jh.n.Chr. lebte. Seine Ansichten über die gefährlichen Eigenschaften des Eisenhuts, Schierlings, Opiums, der Alraune, des Bilsenkrauts, giftiger Pilze, des schwarzen Chamaeleons (einer Pflanze, deren Blätter die Farbe wechseln können), des Stierbluts, der Bleiglätte und des Seehasen sowie seine Mittel gegen diese Gifte werden in Ps.-Aelius Promotus' De venenis (ed. princeps, S. Ihm, 1995) ausführlich wiede…

(Ἰατροκλῆς). [English version] [1] Athener, Oligarch, 4. Jh. v. Chr. Athener, floh 411 v.Chr. nach der demokrat. Erhebung auf der athen. Flotte vor Samos mit dem Trierarchen Eratosthenes [1] u.a. von der im Hellespont operierenden Flotte nach Athen, wo er sich für die Oligarchie einsetzte (Lys. 12,42). Schmitz, Winfried (Bielefeld) Bibliography Traill, PAA 531050. [English version] [2] Sohn des Pasiphon, ca. 350 v. Chr. Sohn des Pasiphon, 348 v.Chr. von Philippos II. bei der Eroberung von Olynthos gefangengenommen, aber danach freigelassen (Aischin. leg. 15…

[English version] I. Ägypten und Alter Orient Zentrale ägypt. Quellen für G. sind Darstellungen des Totenmahles in thebanischen Beamtengräbern der 18. Dyn. (15.-14. Jh. v.Chr.). Die frühen Abb. zeigen den Grabherrn mit Gemahlin als Gastgeber vor einem Tisch mit Speisen, gegenüber in mehreren Registern ihre Gäste. Bedienstete schmücken sie mit Blumen und reichen Wein und Speisen, wohlriechende Salben und Handwaschgerät. Im Laufe der Zeit verliert die Szene ihre rituelle Strenge durch künstlerische Verfe…