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(Ἀγαθοκλῆς; Agathoklês) [German version] [1] of Athens Archon 357/56 BC Archon 357/56 BC (Dem. Or. 47,44; Diod. Sic. 16,9). Meier, Mischa (Bielefeld) [German version] [2] Tyrant King of Syracuse (316-288 BC) Later king of Syracuse, born 361/0 BC in Thermae in Sicily. Son of Carcinus, who had been banned from Rhegium, and who under  Timoleon had received citizenship in Syracuse and had a pottery manufactory. A. had an adventurous youth, participated in several martial undertakings and early on fostered broad-reaching politica…

[German version] (Ἐρατοκλῆς; Eratoklês). Head of a school of harmonics opposed on three occasions by Aristoxenus (5f. Meibom). Zaminer, Frieder (Berlin) Bibliography A. D. Barker, Hoi kaloumenoi harmonikoi: the predecessors of Aristoxenus, in: PCPhS 24, 1978, 1-21.

[German version] I. Ancient Near East Music played a significant role in all areas of life of the Ancient Near East, but textual and iconographical evidence is mainly limited to its role in court life and the cultic-religious sphere. The making of music (Sumerian ‘nam-nar’, Akkadian ‘nārūtu’), already a highly specialized area as early as the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC, belonged to the fundamental values of civilization. The particular occasion determined the musical form (more than 100 Sumeri…

(Ἰσμηνίας; Ismēnías or Ἱσμηνίας; Ismēnías). [German version] [1] Prominent Theban politician, 5th/4th cent. BC Prominent Theban politician, famous for his wealth (Pl. Men. 90a). After the end of the Peloponnese War (431-404 BC), I., with  Androclidas, came to the fore as leaders of a Hetaeria which opposed the pro-Spartan politics of  Leontiades. The goals were to push back the Leontiades faction and to bring about a new orientation in international politics towards Athens (Hell. Oxy. 12,1f.; 13,1; Xen. Hell.…

[German version] (Κρέξος). Named together with Timotheus and Philoxenus as a poet of dithyrambs (Ps.-Plut. De musica 1135c). He allegedly introduced to dithyrambic poetry the style of Archilochus and the tragedians of partially speaking and singing iambic meters to the accompaniment of the lyre (λέγεσθαι/ᾄδεσθαι παρὰ τὴν κροῦσιν) (1141b; also Philod. De musica 4,5). Zaminer, Frieder (Berlin)

(Διονύσιος; Dionýsios). Famous personalities: D. [1], the tyrant of Syracuse; the historian D. [18] of Halicarnassus. Dionysios (month),  Months, names of the. The chronicle of Ps.-D. by Tell Maḥre see D. [23]. I. Politically active personalities [German version] [1] D. I. Notorious tyrant in Syracuse c. 400 BC of Syracuse, son of Hermocritus, born in c. 430 BC, died in 367 BC. Founder of the ‘greatest and longest tyrannical rule in history’ (Diod. Sic. 13,96,4; appearance: Timaeus FGrH 566 F 29). Possessing a sophist education (Cic. Tusc. 5,63), D. had enormous ambitions a…

(Ἀριστόξενος; Aristóxenos). [German version] [1] Musician, Musical theoretician, philosopher, biographer, from Tarentum from Tarentum, musician, musical theorist, philosopher, biographer, known as μουσικός. According to Suda son of Mnesias or of the musician Spintharus, pupil of his father, of a certain Lamprus of Erythrae, of the Pythagorean Xenophilus and finally of Aristotle. In Mantinea A. turned to philosophy. Claims to have heard in Corinth the story of Damon and Phintias from the tyrant Dionysius II (after he h…

[German version] (κόρδαξ; kórdax). Typical comedy dance (κωμικὴ ὄρχησις; kōmikḕ orchēsis; the word kordax appears first in Aristoph. Nub. 540). Usually connected with drunkenness, the kordax was a boisterous, burlesque, and rude dance. It was never described in detail, thus it cannot be identified clearly on vase paintings. The kordax also occurred outside of the theatre as a hyporchematic dance (Ath. 14,630e) or as a solo dance with i…

[German version] (not Chalcidius). Christian philosopher; his dates are disputed: he either lived from the second half of the 3rd to the first half of the 4th cent. AD [1] or from the first half to the middle of 4th cent. [2]. Assigning his commentary on Plato's Timaeus to a particular school of thought (for Middle Platonism see [1] or Neoplatonism, see [2; 3; 4; 5]), is further complicated by the fact that important tenets, like those on providence and fatum, have basically remained unchanged from Middle Platonism to the end of Neoplatonism [6]. C.'s Timaeus …

(Ἐρατοσθένης; Eratosthénēs). [German version] [1] Athenian, active in the Peloponnesian War An Athenian of rich family. In 411 BC he was serving as a trierarch in the Hellespont, but left his ship in order to support the oligarchs in Athens (Lys. 12,42). After the capitulation of Athens in the Peloponnesian War (404 BC), E. belonged to an action group ─ the five ephors ─ working for an oligarchic coup. After the abolition of the democratic order, E. was on the ruling committee of the Thirty, and after its …

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[German version] A. Life Flavius Magnus Aurelius C., a senator, born c. AD 490, came from a family of the senatorial aristocracy -- probably of Syrian origin (the name refers to the Syrian Zeus Kasios), but for generations settled in Scylacium (Squillace in Calabria) -- which was very influential in Bruttium and Sicily ( primatus: Cassiod. Var. 1,4,14) and carried out important political tasks (PLRE 2, 263f., C. 1 and 2). As a comes sacr. larg. of Odoacer, C.'s father (PLRE 2, 264f.) went over to Theoderic at the right time (AD 490), handed Sicily over to him without …

[German version] A. Concept Χορός ( Chorós), ‘Ring dance, troupe of dancers, dance floor, chorus of singers’ (‘original meaning not ascertainable with any certainty’ Frisk). Ring or group dance associated with singing; in the narrower sense the chorus trained for the performance of choral lyrics and songs in Attic drama. Surviving evidence (texts of choral lyrics, pictorial representations, descriptions) provides scarcely more than sketchy impressions of the lively whole. The loss of song meant that…

(Γαυδέντιος; Gaudéntios). [German version] [1] G. Philosophus Musician and philosopher Author of an introduction to harmony, Ἁρμονικὴ εἰσαγωγή ( Harmonikḕ eisagōgḗ) ─ probably written in line with Claudius Ptolemy's ─ tran…

[German version] A. Life Son of the consul for 487, B. was born around 480. After his father's early death he was adopted into the household of  Symmachus, whose daughter, Rusticiana, he married. Given an excellent education, he was as familiar with the writings of Plato, Aristotle and the Neoplatonists, especially Porphyry and the Athenian School, as with Augustine, and he soon acquired a reputation as a scholar. In 510 he became consul sine collega…

[German version] I. Terminology In Greek Antiquity, ῥυθμική, sc. τέχνη ( rhythmikḗ, sc. téchnē) was, from Aristoxenus [1] on, the theory of rhythm. The original meaning of ῥυθμός ( rhythmós), long controversial, seems to have been ‘flowing’, ‘a stream’ [12]. Rhythmós referred to bodily and tonal movements, but also to immobile bodies and statues (Arist. Quint. 31 Meibom). R hythmós is attested in Archil. 67a 7 Diehl, in the context of μουσική ( mousikḗ ; Pl. Leg. 665a: κινήσεως τάξις/ kinḗseōs táxis, ‘order in movement’), in rhetoric (Aristot. Rh. 3,8,1408b-1409a), and as a theoretical concept (Aristox. Rhythmica fr. 3 Pearson). Latin technical works used rhythmus as well as numerus to designate rhythm (Quint. Inst. 9,4,45). Zaminer, Frieder (Berlin) [German version] …

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[German version] I. Preliminary remarks Musical instruments that have been preserved or graphically represented in a clear manner can easily be …

(Ἀρχέστρατος; Archéstratos). [German version] [1] Actor and Tragedian With his tragedy Antaios, an unknown actor triumphed at the Soteria in Delphi between 267 and 219 BC (DID B 11, 5). He is probably not to be identified with the A. mentioned in Plut. Aristides 1,3 (318e). Pressler, Frank (Heidelberg) Bibliography Mette, 198 TrGF 75. [German version] [2] Author of a gastronomic poem from Gela, 4th cent. BC Citizen of Gela who lived in the 2nd half of the 4th cent. BC. 62 fragments (more than 3…