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[German version] I. Persons (Δίων; Díōn) Meister, Klaus (Berlin) [German version] [I 1] Close friend of Plato and defender of his philosophy Son of Hipparinus, brother-in-law and son-in-law of Dionysius I of Syracuse, b. 409 BC, close friend of Plato and defender of his philosophy since Plato's first visit to Syracuse in 388. He gained prestige and wealth as Dionysius' I' trusted friend and advisor and also remained an influential person under Dionysius II. In 366, he arbitrated the peace with Carthage and called Pl…

I. Sanctuary [German version] A. Etymology and definition The word νυμφαῖον/ nymphaîon is first attested in the 4th cent. BC, on Delos (IG XI,2,144, A l. 91). It originally designated a sanctuary of the nymphs. A nymphaeum is first attested in Itanus on Crete in the 3rd cent. BC together with a water reservoir (ILS 9458). The Latinised form nymphaeum is first found in Pomponius Mela (first half of the 1st cent. AD, Mela 2,3), for a nymph sanctuary in Chersonessus. Conversely, Plinius (HN 35,151) used the word nymphaeum to describe a well with a statue in it (Corinth). The modern t…

(Παυσανίας; Pausanías). [German version] [1] Spartiate from the house of the Agiads Spartiate from the house of the Agiads, son of Cleombrotus [1], after whose death (480/479 BC) he became guardian for his cousin Pleistarchus [1] and 'regent' (Hdt. 9,10; Thuc. 1,132,1; Paus. 3,4,9), father of the later king Pleistoanax (Thuc. 1,107,2). In 479, P. led the contingent of the Hellenic confederacy of 481 to victory over the Persians at Plataeae (Persian Wars), where at first the Greeks almost suffered a catastro…

(Μενέλαος/Menélaos, Attic Μενέλεως/Menéleos; Latin Menelaus). [German version] [1] Ruler of Sparta, married to Helena A significant character in the cycle of myths about the Trojan War ( Troy: Cycle of myths). A younger brother of Agamemnon, who ruled the most significant power centre in Greek myth, Mycene, by marriage to Zeus's daughter Helen ( Helene [1]; their only child was a daughter, Hermione) M. became king of a region in the Eurotas valley with its capital Sparta and Amyclae [1], which was significant…

(Πτολεμαῖος/ Ptolemaîos). Personal name meaning 'warlike' (not 'hostile'), first recorded in Hom. Il. 4,228; the name occurred in Macedonia in the 5th and 4th cents. BC, from where it spread to Thessaly, still in the 4th cent. (IG IX 2, 598). It became prominent with the Lagid dynasty, and became common, not only in Egypt, where it may at first have indicated solidarity with the dynasty, but also elsewhere. It underwent many deformations and transmutations. Ptolemies Famous persons: P. [1] I Soter, P. [6] III Euergetes; P. [22], the son of Caesar; the scientist Claudius P. [65]. Ameling, Wa…