Search

(Ἀσκληπιάδης; Asklēpiádēs) [German version] [1] of Samos Epigrammatic poet Epigrammatic poet of the ‘Garland’ of Meleager, who addresses him in the preface by the dark pseudonym Σικελίδης (Anth. Pal. 4,1,46; cf. Hedylus, GA I 1, 101 6, 4; Theoc. 7,40); an outstanding representative of the Ionian-Alexandrianschool, he lived around the turn of the 4th/3rd cent. BC. A. was highly praised by Theocritus (7,39-41), but attacked by Callimachus (schol. Flor. Callim. Fr.1,1). From the latter he differed, among other things, through a diametrically opposed appraisal of the Lyde of Antimach…

[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 variou…

[German version] Son of the sister of Chrysippus and his pupil; Chrysippus dedicated a number of works to him (Diog. Laert. 7,185; 196 f.; 202). After the death of his uncle (207 BC) A. honoured his memory with a text Χρυσίππου ταφαί (Ind. Stoic. Herc. 46,3) and -- according to the witness of Plutarch (De Stoicorum repugnantibus 2,1033e) -- with the erecting of a bronze statue: on this he had a distich (= Anth. Pal. append. 1,129 Cougny) engraved (ἐπέγραψε), in which Chrysippus is wittily called ‘…

(Ἀντίφιλος; Antíphilos). [German version] [1] Athenian strategos of hoplites (323/22 BC) The Athenian A. was elected Athenian strategos of hoplites ( Hoplites) after the death of Leosthenes 323/322 BC, whose successor he became. He took over the command of the land forces of the Hellenic League in the Lamian or Hellenic War and distinguished himself through military skills and courage (Plut. Phoc. 24,1-2; Diod. Sic. 18,13,6). He lifted the siege of  Antipater at  Lamia, in 322 defeated a Macedonian army under Le…

[German version] (Βησαντῖνος; Bēsantînos). Writer in Hadrian's era, possibly from Rhodes (according to the heading in Anth. Pal. 15,27, a poem that in any case belongs not to him but to Simias of Rhodes; also wrongly attributed to him: 9,118 = Thgn. 527f., cf. Stob. 4,50,44). MSS F and Y of the Bucolics attribute a βωμός ( bōmós) to him, a pattern poem in the shape of an altar: 26 verses in different metres forming the eulogizing acrostic Ὀλύμπιε πολλοῖς ἔτεσι θυσείας, that is certainly addressed to Hadrian (cf. ThGL 5,1924A). It is also transmitted a…

(Δοῦρις; Doûris) [German version] [1] Poet of epigrams Epigrammatic poet from Elea (in Aeolis); author of a remarkable poem on the flood that destroyed Ephesus c. 300 BC (Anth. Pal. 9,424, cf. Steph. Byz. 289,3-16), in all probability from the ‘Garland’ of Meleager. The city was rebuilt shortly afterwards by Lysimachos, who renamed it Arsinoeia after his wife: this happened before 289/8 (cf. Syll.3 368, 24), after the epigram had been written. Degani, Enzo (Bologna) Bibliography GA I,1, 97; 2, 280f. [German version] [2] Painter of Attic red-figure bowls, c. 505-465 BC One of the most p…

[German version] [4] Writer of epigrams Evodus (Εὔοδος; Eúodos) Epigrammatic poet of the Imperial age (1st or 3rd cent. AD), of whom Planudes preserved two short poems, of altogether three hexameters, in the form of riddles (Anth. Pal. 16,116 and 155): the first describes a centaur, the second the phenomenon of the echo, which is int. al. referred to as the ‘residue (τρύγα; trýga) of the voice’ and the ‘tail of the word’. Degani, Enzo (Bologna) [German version] [1] Imperial freedman under Tiberius Imperial freedman who had great influence over Tiberius in the last year of his life. PIR2 E 1…

(Διοσκουρίδης; Dioskourídēs). [German version] [1] Son of Polemaeus, naval commander in 314-313 BC Son of Polemaeus, nephew of  Antigonus [1] Monophthalmus. Led the fleet to a few victories as naval commander in 314-13 BC. Nothing further is known about his life. Badian, Ernst (Cambridge, MA) Bibliography R. A. Billows, Antigonus the One-Eyed, 1990, 381f. [German version] [2] Polyhistor of the 4th and 3rd cents. BC Polyhistor of the 4th and 3rd cents. BC, pupil of Isocrates (Ath. 1,18,11 A). Of his works, the following titles are known (cf. FGrH 3 B 594): 1. Apomnēmoneúmata (‘Memorabil…

(Ἀρτέμων; Artémōn). [German version] [1] Greek grammarian From Cassandreia. Greek  grammarian. As he makes mention of  Dionysius Scytobrachion, he is dated to the 2nd half of the 2nd cent. BC. Of his works Athenaeus cites: Περὶ βιβλίων συναγωγῆς, Περὶ βιβλίων χρήσεως, Περὶ τοῦ Διονυσιακοῦ συστήματος as being his. An almost contemporary namesake from Pergamum, the commentator on Pindar (FGrH 569), possibly is the same person; A. from Clazomenae (FGrH 443), on the other hand, is older. A., the editor of the Aristotelian letters (Demetrius, elocutiones 223), is difficult to identify. …

[German version] A. Greek (Ἀντώνιος; Antṓnios). [German version] [1] Thallus Epigrammatic poet, 2nd half of the 1st cent. BC Epigrammatic poet from Miletus (according to [2] he had received Roman citizenship, through the patronage of Antonia Minor) lived in the 2nd half of the 1st cent. BC (in Anth. Pal. 6,235 the birth of a Καῖσαρ [ Kaîsar] is celebrated, who is to be equated with either C. Julius Caesar, the grandson of Augustus, or with Germanicus). His five epigrams, which derive from the ‘Garland’ of Philippus, are certainly conventional in their…

[German version] (Ἀμμωνίδης; Ammōnídēs). Undatable author of a short Greek epigram mocking an unknown Antipatra (Anth. Pal. 11,201): "If Antipatra had been shown to the Parthians naked, they would have fled through the Pillars of Heracles"‘.’ As little is known of the poet as of the addressee. An attempt by Brunck to amend Ἀμμωνίδου (-ον: Planudes) to Ἀμμωνίου, in order to ascribe the couplet to Ammonius [10], the equally unknown author of the epigram Anth. Pal. 9,827, has no basis. Degani, Enzo (Bologna) Bibliography 1 R. F. Ph. Brunck, Analecta veterum poetarum Graecorum, vol.…

(Ἀδαῖος; Adaîos). [German version] [1] Dynast in south-eastern Thrace, (middle of the 3rd cent. BC) Dynast in south-eastern Thrace, middle of the 3rd cent. BC, probably offspring of a Macedonian governor appointed by  Philip II. He minted several emissions of bronze coins. Probably identical to A., who reigned in Cypsela (Athen. 11,468 f.) and A., who was executed by  Ptolemaeus III (Pomp. Trog. prol. 27; SEG 34, 1984, 878). Peter, Ulrike (Berlin) Bibliography K. Buraselis, Das hell. Makedonien und die Ägäis, 1982, 122-123, 139. [German version] [2] Macedonian epigrammatist Maced…

[German version] Unknown poet of epigrams, two of whose satirical poems survive: one pillories a poetaster (Anth. Pal. 11,129), the other is an interesting literary manifesto against the affectations of the Attic orators, regarded by C. as being as empty as they were abstruse (Anth. Pal. 11,144, cf. Lucillius, Anth. Pal. 11,142). At least chronologically plausible is his identification with Iulius Cerialis, the friend of Martial (Mart. Epigr. 11,52,1). Degani, Enzo (Bologna)

(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 300 verses) of his gastronomic poem, written c. AD 330, have been preserved by Athenaeus. Its …

(Διογένης; Diogénēs). Known personalities: the Cynic D. [14] of Sinope, the philosophical historian D. [17] Laertius. I. Politically active personalities [German version] [1] Macedonian troop commander in Attica since 233 BC Athenian (?) [1. 341,1], Macedonian troop commander in Attica since 233 BC, who is supposed to have demanded Corinth from the Achaeans (Plut. Arat. 34,1-4) [2. 168,63] at the rumour of the death of  Aratus [2]; after the death of  Demetrius [3] II in 229, he facilitated the liberation of Athens from Maced…

[German version] Author of an artistically refined epigram on a fisher that is rich in effective antitheses: his boat helped him to survive yesterday but today it serves as his funeral pyre (Anth. Pal. 7,381, cf. Antiphilus, Anth. Pal. 7,635). It is part of the ‘Garland’ of Philippus. All that is known of its poet is that he was a ‘Messenian’ (Μεσσήνιος; Messḗnios) but it is unclear in the lemma whether he was from Messenia or Messina. Degani, Enzo (Bologna) Bibliography GA II,1, 254f.; 2, 288.

(Διότιμος; Diótimos). [German version] [1] Strategos in Corcyra 433/2 BC Athenian, son of Strombichides, from Euonymon (his family is known into the 3rd cent.). Strategos in Corcyra in 433/32 BC (Thuc. 1,45,2; IG I3 364,9); 439-32 nauarchos at Neapolis (Timaeus FGrH 566 F 98); he may have led a legation to Susa (Str. 1,3,1). Perhaps identical with D. in Ath. 10,436e. Kinzl, Konrad (Peterborough) Bibliography Fraser/Matthews (1) Davies, 4386. [German version] [2] Athenian strategos c. 390 BC Athenian strategos. Commander of the Athenian mercenary force near Corinth in 390/…

[German version] (Δαμοχάρις; Damocháris). Epigrammatic poet of the Justinianic period, grammatikós, friend and student of Agathias (according to the lemma of Anth. Pal. 7,206, a tomb epigram on the partridge loved by the master, cf. Agathias 7,204f.). Born on Cos, as can be seen from the epitaph of Paulus Silentiarius (7,588), he was proconsul and governor of Asia and was especially venerated both in Smyrna (cf. the anonymous poem 16,43) and in Ephesus (cf. SEG 18,474). Four epigrams of average standard from the ‘Cycle’ of Agathias are extant. Degani, Enzo (Bologna) Bibliography Av. un…

I. Greek [German version] A. Beginnings The epigram was a part of Greek literature throughout its entire history (the oldest documents coincide with the first examples of alphabetic script) and originally consisted of a short verse inscription or label on vases, cups, votive gifts, funeral steles, herms, etc. The occasion was always real and could be public or private in nature. The metre of the epigram was the epic hexameter, sporadically in combination with a dactylic pentameter, an iambic trimeter,…

[German version] (Εὐτόλμιος Ἰλλούστριος; Eutólmios Illoústrios). Epigrammatic poet, honoured with the titles vir illustris and scholastikós. Five of his poems are extant, probably originating from Palladas' Syllogḗ: the epigrammatic epitaphs Anth. Pal. 7,608 and 611 (elegant imitations of Bianor 7,644 and Parmenion 7,184), the anathematic epigram 6,86 (whose lapidary brevity was seemingly parodied by Palladas), and the epideictic epigram 9,587, a single distich, describing a θερμοχύτης; thermochýtēs (‘a vessel, out of which warm beverages were poured’). Degani, Enzo (Bo…

[1] of Syracuse C. 287-232 BC [German version] A. Life A. was born in 287 BC in Syracuse, son of the astronomer Phidias. He was friends with King Hieron II, and later with his son Gelon. A. probably spent some time in Alexandria; he later sent on his writings to the mathematicians (Conon, Dositheus, Eratosthenes) who were working there. In Syracuse, A. studied problems of mathematical and physical theory, but also their practical applications; the machines and physical apparatus which he built (e.g. the s…

[German version] Epigram poet in the early 1st cent. AD (cf. Anth. Pal. 7,391 on the death of Germanicus in AD 19), born perhaps in Smyrna (according to the lemma of Anth. Pal. 11,72; the poem's authorship is, however, not certain). At least nine poems by B. are extant from the ‘Garland’ of Philippus (with the addition of several incerta, cf. Anth. Pal. 9,30 as well), all of which rather mediocre, most of them either epideictic (9,236 is a panegyrical poem about imperial Rome, ‘the home of the entire universe’) or funeral epigrams (7,372 = GVI 1580 is possibly an actual inscription). Degani, Enz…

(Ἐπίγονος; Epígonos). [German version] [1] Sculptor in Pergamum Sculptor in Pergamum, who participated in building the victory monuments for the Attalids according to Pliny. Signatures are preserved on the following bases for Attalus I (241-197 BC): the so-called ‘Small Battle Bathron’ of the strategos Epigenes [2]; round base of the so-called ‘Great Anathema’ ( c. 228 BC; the attribution of the ‘Ludovisi Gaul’ remains in dispute); the so-called ‘Great Bathron’ ( c. 223 BC) with the ‘Dying Trumpeter’, which is documented in writing and was recognized in a copy on t…

(Ἆγις; Âgis). [German version] [1] I, eponymous hero of the  Agiads A. I, eponymous hero of the  Agiads, son of Eurysthenes and father of Echestratus, according to another version father of the legendary lawgiver Lycurgus (Hdt. 7,204; Paus. 3,2,1). The institution of the perioikia and of the  Helots by him (Ephorus, FGrH 70 F 117) is historical fiction. Welwei, Karl-Wilhelm (Bochum) [German version] [2] II, Spartan king (427-400 BC) A. II, Eurypontid, Spartan king 427/26-400 BC, son of Archidamus [1] II and stepbrother of Agesilaus [2] II, in 426 and 425 led troo…

(Βόηθος; Bóēthos). I. Political figures [German version] [1] Ptolemaean civil servant, 136/5 BC Son of Nicostratus from Caria; in the service of the Ptolemies well before 149 BC, he occupied various administrative positions before becoming epistrategos of Thebes. Founded two cities in Lower Nubia. Ameling, Walter (Jena) Bibliography K. Vandorpe, Der früheste Beleg eines Strategen der Thebais als Epistrategen, in: ZPE 73, 1988, 47-50. II. Philosophers and writers [German version] [2] Of Sidon Stoic Philosopher, 2nd cent. BC Stoic philosopher of the 2nd cent. BC; he wrote…

[German version] Epigrammatic poet from the time of Justinian (Anth. Plan. 39 and 314 celebrate the merits of Flavius Longinus, ὕπαρχος in Byzantium in the years 537-539 and 542), writer of seven mannered poems, which probably derive from the ‘Cycle’ of Agathias and which are to a great extent virtuoso descriptions of works of art (the locus amoenus Anth. Pal. 9,667 may relate to the park near Justinian's Ἡραῖον, cf. Paulus Silentiarius, Anth. Pal 9,663 f. and Agathias, Anth. Pal. 9,665). Degani, Enzo (Bologna) Bibliography Av. und A. Cameron, The Cycle of Agathias, in: JHS 86, 1…

[German version] Epigrammatic poet from Rhodes, from whom two colourless epitymbia (Anth. Pal. 7,189; 473) have come down to us, which in all probability derive from the ‘Garland’ of Meleager. In connection with  Anyte (in this way the improbable Ἀνύτης of Planudes is explained), the first poem refers to a cricket. There is no proof that this unknown poet is the A. who is mentioned in the anonymous arithmetical epigram 14,2,6. Degani, Enzo (Bologna) Bibliography GA I 1,42; 2, 107-109.

(Ἀλκαῖος; Alkaîos). The suggestive mythological name ( alkḗ, ‘strength’) is connected with Hercules. [German version] [1] Grandfather of Hercules Grandfather of Hercules, son of Perseus and Andromeda, husband of Astydameia, the daughter of Pelops, father of Amphitryon and Anaxo (Hes. Sc. 26; Schol. Eur. Hec. 886). Also the form of the name Alceus appears to be attested, which is more compatible with the patronymic Alcides. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] Original name of Hercules Original name of Hercules, altered at the command of the Delphic Oracle (Di…

[German version] [1] A. I, AD 491-518 Byzantine emperor A. I, AD 491-518 Byzantine emperor, born c. 431 in Dyrrachion, decurio of the Silentiarii under emperor Zeno the Isaurian, after whose death the widowed empress Ariadne pushed through A.'s selection and took him as her spouse. Ariadne also banned Longinus, the brother of Zeno; he had been regarded as the successor to Zeno. A revolt of the Isaurians which broke out as a consequence of this, was finally put down by A. only in 498. There was a revolt of the people of Constantinople in 512 caused by the preference of the empero…

[German version] Author of an epitymbion to Hector, who was for Troy ‘a stronger bulwark than the wall erected by the gods’ and at whose death ‘Meonides’ himself felt he had to close the Iliad (Anth. Pal. 7,138). There is no writer or grammarian known by this name but the theme and style of the epigram are suggestive of the ‘Garland’ of Philippus: the obscure epithet ‘Meonides’ was favoured by writers of epigrams in the 1st cent. and it can be no coincidence that the extremely rare adjective θειόδομος -- to describe the Trojan wall -- is elsewhere to be found only in Alpheius, Anth. Pal. 9,104,4. Deg…

[German version] (or C. Longus). Author of two mediocre epigrams: the dedication, written after a Leonidian model (Anth. Pal. 6.300), of a few modest gifts by a farmer to Aphrodite (6.191) and the description of a painting (Anth. Plan. 117). Nothing is known about the poet, who may have been a contemporary of Gaetulicus (1st half of 1st cent. AD). Degani, Enzo (Bologna) Bibliography FGE 67-70.

(Ἀβλάβιος; Ablábios). [German version] [1] Flavius A., 4th cent. AD Flavius A. was one of the most influential officials under  Constantinus the Great. He came from Crete (Lib. Or. 42,23); the child of poor non-Christians (Eun. Vit. Soph. 6,3,1-7); later converted to Christianity (Athan. Epist. Fest. 5). In AD 324/326 he was vicarius of Asia (CIL III 352), 329-337 praef. praet. Orientis, 331 cos. ord. It is said to have been on his instigation that the pagan philosopher  Sopater was executed by Constantine (Eun. Vit. Soph. 6,2,12; 3,7,13; Zos. 2,40,3). He was possibly still in office as pra…

[German version] I. Greek Epigrammatic poet Epigrammatic poet; although it is not possible to be certain, because the name is fairly common, A. is usually equated with the Macedonian C. Antistius Vetus, who in AD 11 was sent into exile because of treason (Tac. Ann. 3,38), or with the praetor A. Sosianus, who suffered the same destiny in AD 62 (Reason: factitatis in Neronem carminibus probrosiis... Tac. Ann. 14,48; 16,14; 21; cf. Hist. 4,44). His four epigrams, which derive from the ‘Garland’ of Philippus are balanced, elegant variations of traditional motives…