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(Νικόστρατος; Nikóstratos). [German version] [1] Son of Menelaus [1] and Helen Son of Menelaus [1] and Helen [1]. According to  Hom. Il. 3,175 and Hom. Od. 4,12, Menelaus and Helen had only a daughter (Hermione, cf. Eur. Andr. 898; Lycoph. 851), but in another tradition they also had a son (Hes. Fr. 175,2 M.-W.; Soph. El. 539). Later authors tried to resolve this discrepancy by making N. the son of a slave (Paus. 2,18,6). In Amyclae, N. and Megapenthes [2] were portrayed on horseback, as a counterpart to t…

[German version] [1] Platonic philosopher, c. AD 176 (Ἀττικος; Áttikos) Platonic philosopher, mentioned in the chronicle of Eusebios in AD 176 [1. 16, 148], teacher of  Harpocration of Argus, author of commentary on Plato's Timaeus [1. 50, 215f.], Phaedon (?) [1. 30, 190f.] and Phaedrus (?) [1. 42, 197]; the fragments 40-42 Des Places, fr. 40-42 Des Places, which could refer to a commentary on the ‘ Categories of Aristotle [1. 248, 258f.], come from the tract ‘against those who pretend to be able to explain the teachings of Plato through those of Aristotle …

[German version] I Greek (Σευῆρος; Seuêros). [German version] [1] Platonist, 2nd cent.? Platonist, probably 2nd cent. AD. He wrote a monograph On the soul [1. 80, 299; 2. 409-13, 428 f., 435 f.] and a commentary on Plato’s Timaeus [1. 52, 217 f.; 2. 407-9]. He appears in these works to be an original-minded, somewhat stoicizing interpreter of Aristotle’s doctrine of categories [1. 259; 2. 413 f.; 3. 66, 288 f.], and of Plato’s theories of the soul [1. 299; 3. 56, 278 f.] and of the origin of the world [4. 116-18, 417-21]. His works …

[German version] (Νιγρῖνος/ Nigrînos). Middle Platonist philosopher of the 2nd cent. AD, known only from a text of the same name by Lucianus [1], who depicted him as a teacher working in Rome. He attributed to him a lecture full of anecdotes about the exemplary, peaceful life of the Athenians in contrast to the dissipated, noisy hustle and bustle of life in Rome; certainly this lecture tends to be more akin to the thought of the Cynics than the Platonists. It is disputed whether N.'s existence is l…

(Ἱέραξ; Hiérax). [German version] [1] H. of Antiochia, strategos of Ptolemy VI after 146 BC H. of Antiochia, deserted Demetrius [7] I for Alexander [13] Balas (Diod. Sic. 33,3), and then deserted him in 146 BC for Ptolemy VI, whom he had proclaimed king by the Antiochenes (Diod. Sic. 32,9 c). He had a high position at the court and, as strategos (?) of Ptolemy VIII, he foiled the uprising of  Galestes, but then was eliminated by the king (Diod. Sic. 33,22; FGrH 87 F 4). PP 1/8,264; 2, 2163; 6, 17012. Ameling, Walter (Jena) [German version] [2] Commander in chief of Ptolemy IX in 88 BC Sent by Ptolemy…

(Ἀμώνιος; Ammónios). [German version] [1] Favourite of  Alexander [II 13] I (Balas), middle of the 2nd cent. BC Favourite of  Alexander [II 13] I (Balas); ruled in his place in Syria, executed relatives and followers of (the deceased) Demetrius I and oppressed the Antiochenes. When he attempted an attack on Ptolemy VI, certainly Alexander's most important supporter, and Ptolemy demanded that A. be handed over, Alexander actually declined to do this, so Ptolemy broke with Alexander: despite dressing as a woman, A…

(Ὠριγένης/ Ōrigénēs). [German version] [1] Platonic philosopher, 3rd cent. AD Platonic philosopher of the 3rd cent. AD, not to be confused with the homonymous Christian O. [2] [1. 17ff.; 2. 404ff.]. Along with Erennius and Plotinus, he was a pupil of Ammonius [9] Saccas. O. wrote two works: On Demons and The one creator is the king (Ὅτι μόνος ποιητὴς ὁ βασιλεύς, fr. 1 and 2 Weber) [3. 92, 336f.]. Proclus conserves numerous comments of O. on the style and content of the proem of Plato's Timaeus (fr. 8-16 Weber). Since O. did not write a commentary on that dialogue, these remark…

(Τίμαιος; Tímaios). [German version] [1] Main speaker in Plato's [1] Timaeus T. of Locri [2] Epizephyrii in southern Italy (Τίμαιος Λοκρός/ Tímaios Lokrós), the main speaker in Plato's [1] Timaeus, was in Antiquity regarded as a Pythagorean [1.83-85]. The Suda s.v. T. (IV p. 553,26f. Adler) and the scholia to Pl. Tim. 20 A Greene report that he wrote on mathematical problems, on nature and on the life of Pythagoras [2] (μαθηματικά, περὶ φύσεως, περὶ τοῦ Πυθαγόρου βίου/ M athēmatiká, Perì phýseōs, Perì toû Pythagórou bíou) [1.85]. One treatise, in the Doric dialect [2.11-19], ent…

[German version] A. Definition Demonology is the philosophical doctrine of the daímones ( Demons) ─ intermediate beings between gods and men ─ that the Platonic Academy first systematically developed subsequent to the problem posed by the Socratic daimónion (δαιμόνιον). Baltes, Matthias (Münster) [German version] B. Preplatonic It is not possible to reconstruct a systematic Pre-platonic demonology although later philosophers, e.g., Aetius (1,8,2), Aristoxenus (fr. 34), Aristotle (fr. 192 Rose) and Plutarch (De Is. et Os. 360e), believed th…

(Εὔδωρος; Eúdōros). [German version] [1] One of the five leaders of the Myrmidons under Achilles One of the five leaders of the  Myrmidons under Achilles. A son of Hermes and  Polymele, he was brought up by his grandfather Phylas after Polymele later married the Actorid Echecles. His aptitude for fighting, being a fast runner, is strongly emphasized (Hom. Il. 16,179-186) but apart from this, the Iliad is silent on his fate. Eust. Od. 1697,56 reports of his death at the hands of Pyraechmes at the first clash with the Trojans (cf. also Eust. Od. 1053,54). Bloch, René (Berne) Bibliography R. Jan…

(Δημόκριτος; Dēmókritos). [1] of Abdera Atomist philosopher, 2nd half of the 5th cent. BC [German version] A. Life and Writing D. was active in the 2nd half of the 5th cent. and one of the main representatives of ancient  Atomism, which he adopted from  Leucippus. Their respective contributions to the theory of the atom are difficult to differentiate. It is characteristic in this context that the ‘Great World Order’ (Μέγας διάκοσμος; Mégas diákosmos) listed in an index of D.'s writings (by Diog. Laert. 9,45 = 68A33 DK) was a treatise by Leucippus according to Theoph…

(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…

(Ἀλκίνοος; Alkínoos). [German version] [1] Mythical king of the Phaeacians Highest king of the Phaeacians on the legendary Island of Scheria, which he rules with twelve other kings, as the thirteenth (Hom. Od. 8,390). According to Homer, son of Nausithous, hence grandson of Poseidon (Od. 7,56 ff.). Married to his clever niece Arete (Od. 7,65 ff.), with whom he had five sons and the daughter Nausicaa (Od. 6,15 ff., 62). The gods honour A. by their visible appearance (Od. 7,201 ff.), Hephaestus created the …

[German version] Platonic philosopher from Alopeconnesus or Proconnesus, known only from a note from the Suda (2,317,22ff. = [1. 44; 2. 118, fr. 2]). He wrote, in addition to other philosophical works, three books on Plato's ‘Republic. Identification with the mathematician Menaechmus [2. 546f.] can be excluded [1. 203], and it is doubtful that he is identical to Manaechmus named by Photius (Bibl. cod. 167 p. 114b 8) [3. 699f.]. Baltes, Matthias (Münster) Lakmann, Marie-Luise (Münster) Bibliography 1 Dörrie/Baltes 3, 1993 2 F. Lasserre, De Léodamas de Thasos à Philippe d'Oponte…

[German version] [1] Greek military author Greek military author, wrote the τακτικὰ Αἰλιανοῦ; Taktikà Ailianoû, a textbook addressed to Trajan, in which the tactics and structure of the Greek and specifically the Macedonian armies of the classical and Hellenistic eras are explained. A. was a theoretician without any practical experience and it is for this reason that his work appears mechanical. By his own admission (1,2), he drew on the work of many older authors (Aeneas Tacticus, Pyrrhus of Epirus, Posidoni…

[German version] [1] Poet of epigrams of unknown dating Epigram poet of an unknown period (with a peculiar, otherwise undocumented name), author of an insignificant distich on Hesiod (Anth. Pal. 7,52). Degani, Enzo (Bologna) Bibliography FGE 38. [German version] [2] Union of craftsmen and officials Dēmiourgoí (δημιουργοί, ‘public workers’) were occupied with public matters at various levels, depending on time and place. 1. In the Linear B tablets from Pylos dḗmos is found but not demiourgoi; it has been suggested [2] but not universally accepted that in the Mycenaean world demiourgoi…

[German version] (Κέλσος; Kélsos). Platonic writer, 2nd half of the 2nd cent. AD; author of ‘The True Doctrine (Ἀληθὴς λόγος, Alēthḕs lógos), an anti-Christian text thoroughly refuted by the Christian  Origenes (at the request of his friend and patron Ambrosius), in his eight volume ‘Against the Text of Celsus entitled: The True Doctrine [1. 180-301]. Nothing is known about the ethical work announced by C. (8,76). Everything we do know about him and his work comes down to us via Origen, and even he was entirely dependent on the Alēthḕs lógos for his conclusions regarding C.'s person…

[German version] (Δερκυλίδης; Derkylídēs) Philosopher from the 1st cent. BC [3. 180] or AD [4. 64]. Although nowhere described as a Platonist, he seems to have studied Plato's philosophy intensively, especially the mathematical and astronomical sections of his dialogues. Significant was his work of at least eleven volumes ‘On Plato's philosophy’, which was still being quoted by Porphyrius [1. 82ff., 296; 3. 60, 236]. The treatise ‘On the spindle and the whorl, treated in Plato's Politeia’, is perhaps part of that work [3. 44, 202f., 236]. Proclus transmits two comm…

(Πλούταρχος/ Ploútarchos). [German version] [1] Tyrant of Eretria, 4th cent. BC Tyrant of Eretria [1]. As the guest-friend of Meidias [2], the rich opponent of Demosthenes (Dem. Or. 21,110; 21,200), he turned to Athens for help in 349 BC when the exiled Cleitarchus [1] and Callias [9] of Chalcis, supported by Phalaecus of Phocis and Philippus [4] II, threatened his position (Aeschin. In Ctes. 86-88 with schol.). Phocion led the inglorious and expensive expedition in early 348 BC (Dem. Or. 5,5 with schol.; …

Roman cognomen (greek Λογγῖνος; Longînos), derived from longus (‘tall’), in the Republican period in the family of the Cassii (Cassius [I 6-17; II 14-16]), in the Imperial period attested in numerous other families. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) [1] Cassius Longinus Grammarian, Rhetor and platonic philosopher, c. AD 210-272/3 [German version] A. Life A Greek grammarian, rhetor and Platonic philosopher ( c. AD 210-272/3), who was an outstanding representative of the education and culture of his time and was therefore called a ‘living library and walking u…