Search

[German version] The Greeks called any mechanical device μηχανή but in the narrow sense it referred to the Greek theatre machinery: a crane installed behind the stage as a flying apparatus that can be swung into the scene to take the characters in a drama to a remote location or cause gods to appear up high. The mechane is referred to in drama texts and later sources under many names: κρεμάθρα ( kremáthra, ‘suspension device’, Aristoph. Nub. 218), γέρανος ( géranos, ‘crane’ [in both senses], Poll. 4,130), αἰώρημα ( aiṓrēma, ‘swing’, schol. Aristoph. Pax 80), κράδη ( krádē, ‘fig branch’, Ari…

[German version] (Καλλιππίδης; Kallippídēs). Tragic actor of the 5th/4th cents. BC, who, popular and controversial, was remembered long after his death. He himself was many times the victorious  protagonist, for example at the Lenaia of the year 418, but the tetralogy of his poet did not win a prize [1]. His expressive gesticulation, aimed at producing a realistic effect, was modern in its style; it displeased Mynniscus who had once appeared with Aeschylus and who described the young colleague as a…

[German version] (θεωρικόν; theōrikón). Public payment to Attic citizens for participating in festivals, particularly dramatic performances. The introduction of the t. (also in the plural θεωρικά/ theōriká sc. χρήματα/ chrḗmata) was sometimes ascribed to Pericles [1], who was suspected of bribing the people with it (Plut. Pericles 9), sometimes to Agyrrhius, who c. 400 BC had expenses paid to participants in the Ekklēsía; there is no contemporary evidence, however. Apparently, Eubulus [1] was c. 350 the first to regularly use public money for subsidising visits to th…

[German version] I Greek (Θεόδωρος; Theódōros). [German version] [I 1] Of Samos, Greek architect, bronze sculptor and inventor, Archaic period Multitalented Greek inventor, architect, bronze sculptor and metal worker ( toreutḗs; Toreutics) of the Archaic period from Samos (for the occupational image cf. architect). His father was Telecles (Hdt. 3,41; Paus. 8,14,8; 10,38,6) or according to other sources (Diog. Laert. 2,103; Diod. Sic. 1,98) Rhoecus [3]; his name is so frequently mentioned in conjunction with the latter that …

[German version] (δευτεραγωνιστής; deuteragōnistḗs). ‘Second actor’, introduced by Aeschylus, but the designation deuteragonistes is more recent. Whilst the ‘first actor’ ( prōtagōnistḗs) traditionally took on the main role ( Átossa, Oidípous, Mḗdeia) and could identify with this, the deuteragonistes ─ or even the ‘third actor’ ( tritagōnistḗs) ─ had to cope with a large number of different roles. The amount of text that had to be mastered by the deuteragonistes was considerable and rapid mask changes required great declamatory skill but brought less fame than th…

[German version] Tragedian in 1st-cent. BC Rome; respected freedman ( nostri familiaris Cic. Ad Q. Fr. 1,2,14), achieved wealth as a ‘star’. Scattered mentions provide no coherent picture of his art. In the role of Atreus, carried away by emotion, he is said to have killed a servant with his sceptre (Plut. Cicero 5,5), but  Cicero says his anger was simulated (Cic. Tusc. 4,55). His use of facial expression was praised (Cic. Div. 1,80); however Fronto (p. 143,13-14) emphasizes his intensive study of masks […

Name of a plebeian family that gained prominence during the Second Punic War (Schulze, 266). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) [German version] [1] C., L. Antiquarian author, 1st cent. BC? Antiquarian author probably of the late Republican period (1st cent. BC; since [6] differentiated from the historian L.C.Alimentus). Seven works of grammarian, antiquarian and legal content are known from quotes in Festus, Gellius and others (fragments: [1. 1,252ff.; 2. 71ff.]): De verbis priscis, De fastis, De comitiis, De consulum potestate, De officio iurisconsulti (at least two vols.), De re …

(ὑποκριτής; hypokritḗs). [German version] I. Concept The underlying verb ὑποκρίνομαι ( hypokrínomai) means in Homer ‘to make a decision upon request’, ‘to interpret’ (on omens: Hom. Il. 12,228 or dreams: Hom. Od. 19,535; 555) or ‘to answer’ (Hom. Od. 2,111). The basic meaning of the noun hypokrites, which is first attested in the 5th cent. BC, was thus postulated now as ‘answerer’ (to questions of the director of the chorus), now as ‘interpreter’ (of the myth which the chorus performed). It refers to the speaker who appeared opposite the si…

[German version] Roman mask figure with an etymologically transparent name (derived from the verb mandere/manducare, meaning ‘chewer, ‘eater); its origin, however, is uncertain. According to Paul. Fest. 115 M. was brought along in the celebratory procession at the circus games ( pompa circensis; cf. [1]) as a tooth-gnashing monster to elicit laughter and fright. If we follow Varro (Ling. 7,95), this M. seems to have found his way into the improvisational Atellana fabula , where he was identified with the character of Dossennus [1] (whose name has b…

[German version] [1] Mythical ancestor of the Latin people (Greek Λατῖνος; Latînos). Mythical eponymous ancestor of the Latini. According to the Greek version, L. and his brother Agrius are the sons of Odysseus and Circe and kings of the Tyrrheni on the Island of the Blessed (Hes. Theog. 1011ff.). Servius (Aen. 12,164), who refers to a no longer identifiable Greek author, takes up this origin of L., but identifies him as the founder of the city of Rome, which was named for Rhome, the sister of L. Accor…

(Πῶλος; Pôlos). [German version] [1] Sophist from Agrigentum Sophist, from Agrigentum. Sometimes mentioned as a pupil of Empedocles (31 A 19 DK), sometimes of Gorgias (82 A 2 and 4 DK; Philostr. VS 1,13). This is why Plato makes him one of Socrates' conversation partners in his Gorgias (461b-481b). The technical treatise Μουσεῖα λόγων ( Mouseîa lógōn, lit. 'Rhetorical Museum'), attributed to him in Pl. Phdr. 267b-c, may also be the one that is alluded to in Pl. Grg. 462c. The Suda (s.v. Πῶλος) gives P. as the teacher of Licymnius [2]. Rhetoric; Sophists Narcy, Michel (Paris) …