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[German version] (Λαμύνθιος; Lamýnthios). Lyric poet from Miletus, dating uncertain. Phot. s.v. calls him a ‘poet of erotic poetry’ (ποιητὴς ἐρωτικῶν μελῶν; poiētḕs erōtikôn melôn); Ath. 13,596f-597a mentions two poets who write about hetaerae named Lyde: Antimachus [3] of Colophon, who composed his Lýdē in elegiac meter, and L., who according to Clearchus compose…

[German version] (Κόριννα; Kórinna). Lyric Greek poet of the 5th cent. BC (?), probably from Tanagra in Boeotia (Paus. 9,22,3). The Suda gives various birthplaces, and has her a pupil of Myrtis and contemporary of  Pindarus, whom she is said to have defeated. Other, rather improbable, biographical anecdotes link her with Pindar. Although the Suda speaks of five bks., and many sources assign C. to the canon of nine lyric poets, her work was not published by the Alexandrians. There is also no survivi…

(Ξάνθος/ Xánthos). [German version] [1] Name of several figures in Greek mythology Name of several male figures in Greek mythology: 1) Son of Phaenops [2], who was killed by Diomedes [1] at the gates of Troy (Hom. Il. 5,152-158). 2) Son of Triopas and Oreasis. X. received a part of Lycia; from there, he settled the deserted island of Lesbos (Diod. Sic. 5,81,2; Hyg. Fab. 145). 3) One of the sons of Aegyptus, who is killed by Arcadia, daughter of Danaus (Hyg…

(Τιμόθεος; Timótheos). [German version] [1] T. of Metapontum Greek physician, c. 400 BC Greek physician, fl. c. 400 BC. According to the Anonymus Londiniensis (8,8), T. believed that disease was the result of the blockage of passages through which residues would have been excreted. Residues that have risen up from the entire body are forced to remain in the head until they are transformed into a saline, acrid fluid. They then break out and cause a wide variety of disease, whose character is determined by the place or places to which they flow..…

(Πίνδαρος/ Píndaros). [German version] [1] Tyrant of Ephesus (c. 560 BC) Tyrant of Ephesus ( c. 560 BC), nephew of Croesus. When Croesus laid siege to Ephesus, P. is said to have advised fastening the gates and walls of the town to the columns of the Artemisium (Ephesus with map) with ropes. Croesus, bound by a vow to the shrine, spared the town and promised safety and freedom but forced P. to leave; his son was spared and his fortune left untouched (Hdt. 1,26; Polyaenus, Strat. 6,50; Ael. VH 3,26). Högemann, Peter (Tübingen) Bibliography U. Muss, Bauplastik des archaischen Artemision…

[German version] (Μελανιππίδης; Melanippídēs). Dithyrambic poet from Melos, whose main period of creativity was in the second half of the 5th century BC. A grandfather of the same name, also a poet, is mentioned in the Suda: there are no surviving fragments from this M. the Elder, who, according to information from the Marmor Parium , won a victory in Athens in 494/93. In Pherecrates' Cheírōn (PCG VII 155), M. the Younger, who exercised considerable influence on the new musical style, is reprimanded by Music personified, because he was the first to misuse it. Various innovations are ascribed to him, including astrophic anabolḗ (Aristot. Rhet. 1409b). Fragments of the Danaḯdes, a Marsýas and a …

(Ὑμέναιος; Hyménaios). Wedding song (cf.  Hymenaeus) Robbins, Emmet (Toronto) I. Greek [German version] …

[German version] (Ἀρχέβουλος; Archéboulos). Poet from Thera (Suda s. v. Euphorion 3801 Eagle) or possibly from Thebes (Θηβαίου e…

[German version] (Μεγάκλεια; Megákleia). According to the Vita Ambrosiana (1,3,3-4 Drachmann), wife of Pindar ( Pindarus), daughter of Lysitheus and Calline. In Eustathius's verse biography, which is preserved in the proem of his lost Pindarus commentary, Timoxeine is given as the name of Pindar's wife (Τιμοξείνη, 3,302,1 Drachmann). In both sources the children are called Protomache, Eumetis and Daephantus. Pindar composed a Daphnephorikon for him (fr. 94c Snell-Maehler). Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)

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[German version] (Τελέσιλλα; Telésilla). Greek poet from Argos, c. 451/450 BC (Eus. Chronicon Ol. 82.2, p. 112 Helm). She is supposed to have armed the women of her home city and prevented a victory by Cleomenes [3] (Paus. 2,20,8-10; Plut. Mor. 245c-f; but not in Hdt. 6,77,2). The few preserved fragments make frequent mention of Apollo and Artemis in a mythological context. It appears that fragment 726 PMG represents a poem on …

[German version] (Αἰσχρίων; Aischríōn). The Suda (s. v. 354 Adler) mentions an epic writer from Mytilene, companion of Alexander the Great and pupil of Aristotle (no quotations extant); Ath. 7,296f and 8,335c-d quotes choliambic verses of an A. of Samos. Tzetz. Chil. 8,398 ff. names -- perhaps rightly so -- only A. of Mytilene, an author of both genres. Authentic iambic verses of his are a) an epitaph for Philaenis, who repudiates the…

(Λικύμνιος; Likýmnios). [German version] [1] Son of Electryon Son of Electryon, half-brother of Alcmene, husband of Perimede, father of Argeius [1], Melas and Oeonus or, according to a new source [2], of Perimedes, Oeonus and Pero. After first seeking refuge together with the Heraclidae, with Ceyx in Trachis, he is killed by Tlepolemus in Argus (Hom. Il. 2,661-663; Pind. Ol. 7,27-31). As eponym of Licymna, the acropolis of Tiryns (Str. 8,6,11) - his name, like that of his mother Midea, indicates that he belongs to the pre-Greek period - L. is probably …

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[German version] (Τέρπανδρος/ Térpandros, Lat. Terpander). Early 7th cent. BC kithara player from Lesbos or Cyme [3] (Suda s. v. T.). His life was closely tied to Sparta where he was the first victor at the Carnea (Hellanicus FGr…

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[German version] (αἴλινος; aílinos). A cry, usually in the refrain of a dirge αἴλινον αἴλινον ( aílinon aílinon; Aesch. Ag. 121; Soph. Aj. 627; Eur. Or. 1395), but also used as the term for a spinning song (Ath. 14,618d) or a song of joy (Eur. Her. 348-9). These opposite meanings lead to the common basic meaning ‘song’ (cf. λίνος; línos, Hom. Il. 18,570) [3. II, 84 ff.]. In spite of its uncertain origin (Frisk s. v.), the Greeks associated it with the dying god Linus because of the sounds αἴ and λίνος (Hdt. 2,79; Pind. fr. 128c,6 Snell-Maehler). Some saw the ailinos as an adaptation of a cult…

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[German version] I. Greek A genethliakón (γενεθλιακόν, sc. μέλος, ᾷ̓σμα) is a poem in honour of a birthday (γενέθλιος ἡμέρα, γενέθλιον ἦμαρ), in association with a gift or standing alone. Callim. Fr. 202 is a iamb to a friend in celebration of the seventh day after the birth of his daughter. There is an isopsephic epigram written by Leonides of Alexandria (Anth. Pal. 6,321) as a birthday present to Caesar γενεθλιακαῖσιν ἐν ὥραις. Other epigrams…