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[German version] (‘Viermännerkommentar’) Modern term for a commentary, presumably early Byzantine, on the ‘Iliad’, being a compilation of the four exegetes of Homer  Aristonicus [5],  Didymus [1], Aelius  Herodianus [1] and  Nicanor [12] (cf. the subscription of the individual books of the Iliad in the Cod. Venetus A). The four-man commentary provides information on the factual and linguistic interpretation of Homer, as well as on the decisions of textual criticism of the Alexandrians in the circl…

[German version] (Σοφόκλειος/ Sophókleios; not Sophocles [3. 901]). Greek grammarian of the late 2nd cent. AD, known from his commentary on the  Argonautiká of Apollonius [2] Rhodius, which he wrote following Theon [4] and Lucillus [1], presumably with a polemic bias against Eirenaeus [1]. S.' commentary had above all a mythographical/geographical character. Although S. is cited only twice by name in the surviving scholia, etymologies of place names under S.' name in Stephanus [7] of Byzantium can certainly be ascri…

[German version] [1] Perhaps a descendant of V. [2], mentioned in Statius According to Statius [II 2] (Silv. 4,6,94) V. died at an early age and rivalled his forbears. Probably of noble origin, perhaps a descendant of V. [2]. Eck, Werner (Cologne) [German version] [2] M. V. Atticus See M. Iulius [II 147] V. Atticus. Eck, Werner (Cologne) [German version] [3] L. Iulius V. Greek lexicographer, first half of the 2nd cent. Greek lexicographer, first half of the 2nd cent. AD, Superintendent of the Mouseion in Alexandria, procurator of the Roman and Greek libraries and …

(Παλαμήδης/ Palamḗdēs). [German version] [1] Son of Nauplius and Clymene (Π./ P., or Ταλαμήδης/ Talamḗdēs, Etr. Palmithe or Talmithe). Son of Nauplius [1] and Clymene [5] or Hesione [2], brother of Oeax (Apollod. 2,23; 3,15). The seemingly obvious etymological meaning of the name ('with skilful hands') becomes doubtful considering the Etruscan form talmithe (from Greek pálmys = basileús, 'king'). In Greek, P. is the epitome of the skilful inventor ( prṓtos heuretḗs ) [1] (cf. Pl. Phdr. 261d). He is attributed, for instance, with the invention…

(Νικοκλῆς; Nikoklês). [German version] [1] King of Salamis on Cyprus, from 374/373 B.C. King of Salamis on Cyprus, son and, from 374/373 BC, successor of Euagoras [1] I. (Diod. Sic. 15,47,8). N. died, probably together with Strato of Sidon, in the so-called Uprising of the Satraps, the main phase of which took place c. 362-360 B.C. Although N. continued the philhellenic policies of his father (Philhellenism), Hellenistic forms of sovereignty and way of life already announced themselves in N., since Isocrates…

(Σωσίβιος/ Sōsíbios). [German version] [1] Egyptian statesman, 3rd cent. BC Son of Dioscurides, father of Ptolemaeus [32], Sosibius [2] and Arsinoe [II 5]; from Alexandria; still under Ptolemaeus [6] III he won victories in the diaulos at the Ptolemaia, in the agéneioi ('beardless') wrestling at the Panathenaea and in chariot racing at the Isthmia and Nemea (Callim. fr. 384 Pfeiffer; [1. 144-149; 2. 79-81]). At the time there was already talk of endowments for Zeus Kasios in Pelusium and the Heraeum (of Argos?). S., who was honoured on Delos c. 240 BC (IG XI 4, 649), was probably…

(Φρύνιχος/ Phrýnichos). [German version] [1] P. from Athens Tragedian, around 500 BC Tragedian. According to Suda φ 762 (TrGF I 3 T 1) he achieved his first victory in 511/508 BC and died on Sicily (T 6). He is said to have been the first person to bring female roles to the stage and to have 'invented' the trochaic tetrameter (T 1), which probably means that he introduced the metre into the tragic genre. He was famous on account of the quality ('sweetness') of his sung parts (Aristoph. Vesp. 219), whose len…

(Τίμαιος; Tímaios). [German version] [1] Main speaker in Plato's [1] Timaeus T. of Locri [2] Epizephyrii in southern Italy (Τίμαιος Λοκρός/ Tímaios Lokrós), the main speaker in Plato's [1] Timaeus, was in Antiquity regarded as a Pythagorean [1.83-85]. The Suda s.v. T. (IV p. 553,26f. Adler) and the scholia to Pl. Tim. 20 A Greene report that he wrote on mathematical problems, on nature and on the life of Pythagoras [2] (μαθηματικά, περὶ φύσεως, περὶ τοῦ Πυθαγόρου βίου/ M athēmatiká, Perì phýseōs, Perì toû Pythagórou bíou) [1.85]. One treatise, in the Doric dialect [2.11-19], ent…

(Θόας/ Thóas). [German version] [1] Mythical ruler of Lemnos Mythical ruler of Lemnos (Hom. Il. 14,230; 23,745), son of Dionysus and Ariadne, brother of Oenopion and Staphylus [1] (Apollod. Epit. 1,9). Through his daughter Hypsipyle (Ov. Ep. 6,114), T. is connected with the legend of the Argonauts, because she saved him from the murder of the men by the Lemnian women (Apollod. 1,114 f.); nevertheless, he was killed later (ibid. 3,65) or, according to another version, escaped to Oinoie (= Sicinos) or Chio…

[German version] A. (Roman) Name of a Roman plebeian family, of which the branch of the Planci acquired political significance in the 1st century BC. Its most prominent member is M. [I 4], cos. in 42 BC. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) I. Republican period [German version] [I 1] M. Flaccus, L. Took part in an attempt on the life of Cassius Longinus in 48 BC From Hispania Baetica; he escaped after a failed attempt on the life of the Q. Cassius [I 16] Longinus, a follower of Caesar's, in Corduba in 48 BC (Bell. Alex. 52,3f.). In 46/5 as a follower of the younger…

(Ξενόκριτος/ Xenókritos). [German version] [1] Choral lyricist of the 7th cent. BC Choral lyricist of the 7th cent. BC from Locri (in lower Italy). In the generation after Terpander he, Thaletas and Xenodamus took part in various musical reforms in Sparta (Plut. De musica 9,1134b-c). Like the other two he was a composer of paeans (Plut. loc.cit.), which were also classed as dithyrambs (Dithyrambos) in Antiquity because of their mythical and heroic subject matter (Plut. De musica 10,1134e; [1. 41], cf. [2. …

(Ποσειδώνιος/ Poseidṓnios). [German version] [1] Doctor, end of the 4th cent. BC Doctor at the end of the 4th cent. BC, who wrote about mental illnesses and about ephiáltēs, a feeling of suffocation (cf. demons V. C.; Aet. 6,12). P. was taken by Philostorgius (Historia Ecclesiastica 8,10) to be the source for the assertion that insanity is not the result of demonic affliction, but has a physical cause in the form of an imbalance in the bodily fluids (Humoral theory). Nutton, Vivian (London) [German version] [2] Greek grammarian, 2nd cent. BC Alexandrian grammarian of the 2nd cent. BC,…

(Ζωίλος/ Zōílos). [German version] [1] Greek Sophist from Amphipolis, 4th cent. BC Greek Sophist from Amphipolis, 4th cent. BC; active in the area of historiography [1], rhetoric [3] and philology; pupil of Polycrates [3], teacher of Anaximenes [2] from Lampsacus and Demosthenes [2]. However, Z. owes his fame to his criticism of Homerus [1] in his work Κατὰ τῆς Ὁμήρου ποιήσεως/ Katà tês Homērou poiḗseōs ('Against Homer's verse'; 9 books; fragments in [2]) which earned him the epithet Ὁμηρομάστιξ ( Homēromástix, 'Scourge of Homer'). Motivated by the Cynic approach, Z. endeav…

(Ζηνόδωρος/ Zēnódōros). [German version] [1] Greek mathematician, probably at the beginning of the 2nd cent. BC Greek mathematician, probably at the beginning of the 2nd cent. BC [5; 6. 604 f.]. He wrote a work 'Isoperimetric figures' (Περὶ ἰσοπεριμέτρων σχημάτων, Perì isoperimétrōn schēmátōn) in which he proved that of all figures of the same circumference the circle has the greatest area, and formulated the proposition that of all bodies of the same surface area the sphere has the greatest volume [3; 4; 7]. Substantial parts of the …

[German version] I Greek (Παρθένιος; Parthénios). [German version] [I 1] Prolific writer from Nicaea or Myrlea, 1st cent. BC 1st cent. BC; from Nicaea or Myrlea; according to the Suda (π 664 = T 1 Lightfoot), our only source of biographical information (based on Hermippus of Berytus), P. may have been born in Myrlea and then moved to Nicaea (cf. [5. 9] with literature). Prolific writer, author of poems in a variety of metres. Captured by Cinna during a campaign against Mithridates [6] in 73 BC, but freed ' because of his education', P. is believed to have lived until the time of Empe…

(Θεαγένης/ Theagénēs). [German version] [1] Tyrant of Megara, 7th cent. BC Tyrant of Megara [2] in the last quarter of the 7th cent. BC; he probably descended from a noble family and maintained hospitality with aristocrats all over Greece. According to a later tradition, when he seized power, he is said to have won the people's confidence in his fight against the city's landowners (by slaughtering their flocks: Aristot. Pol. 5,1305a 21-26) and to have been granted a body guard by the assembly (Aristot. Rh.…

(Ζώσιμος; Zṓsimos). [German version] [1] Of Thasos, epigrammatist, probably between 150 BC and AD 50 Z. of Thasos. Greek epigrammatist, whose works are probably to be dated between 150 BC and AD 50: three (Anth. Pal 6,183-185; 6,15 is also ascribed to him, alternatively to Antipater [8] of Sidon) are variations on the theme of 'dedication to Pan' from the view of a hunter, a bird catcher and a fisherman (cf. Satyrius). Another deals with the unusual theme of a shield saving its owner who uses it as a raft (Anth. Pal. 9,40, cf. Diocles [10]). Albiani, Maria Grazia (Bologna) Bibliography FGE 104-…

[German version] I Greek (Θεοδόσιος/ Theodósios). [German version] [I 1] Greek mathematician and astronomer, 2nd/1st cent. BC Greek mathematician and astronomer. Folkerts, Menso (Munich) [German version] I. Life and works According to Str. 12,4,9, T. was one of the most important men in Bithynia; the birthplace Tripoli given in the Suda (s. v. Θ.) may relate to another T. As Strabo also names T.’ sons as important mathematicians, T. must belong in the 2nd half of the 2nd cent. BC, or, at the latest, the 1st half of the 1st. …

(Θεόπομπος/ Theópompos). [German version] [1] Spartan king, around 700 BC Among the early Spartan kings, the Eurypontid T. (Eurypontids), son of Nicander [1] (Hdt. 8,131), is the only one securely identified in a contemporary source: Tyrtaeus (fr. 2 Gentili/Prato) names him as a victorious king in the 1st Messenian War ( c. 700/690-680/70 BC). He was probably the colleague of the Agiad Polydorus [6] (Paus. 4,7,7), appears to have played a role in Spartan-Argive conflicts around Cynuria [1] (Paus. 3,7,5) and in disputes between Spartans and Arcad…

(Νικάνωρ; Nikánōr). [German version] [1] Military official under Alexander the Great, died 330 BC Second son of Parmenion. Under Alexander [4] the Great he led the hypaspistaí of the hetaîroi in the major battles. During the pursuit of Darius [3], Alexander commanded him to pursue the Persian king with a group of riders who had given up their horses and the Agrianes under Attalus [2] as fast as possible (Arr. Anab. 3,21,7-8). He died soon after (330 BC). His brother Philotas stayed behind with an escort for his funeral. Badian, Ernst (Cambridge, MA) Bibliography Berve 2, no. 554. …

(Τρύφων/ Trýphōn). [German version] [1] The usurper Diodotus of Casiane, 2nd cent. BC Name assumed by the usurper Diodotus from Casiane near Apamea [3] (Str. 16,2,10). As strategos of Demetrius [7] I, D./T. went over to the pretender to the throne Alexander [II 13] Balas, betrayed Antioch [1] on the Orontes to Ptolemaeus [9] VI, occupied Apamea [3] and Chalcis, but then did not switch over to Demetrius [8] II, instead raising Alexander's [13] son to king as Antiochus [8] VI in 145 BC. He defeated Demetrius and allied with…

(Ζηνόδοτος/ Zēnódotos). [German version] [1] Of Ephesus, Alexandrian philologist Alexandrian philologist from Ephesus ( c. 325-260 BC; Suda s. v. Ζ. Ἐφέσιος). Baumbach, Manuel (Zürich) [German version] I. Life Alexandrian philologist from Ephesus Z. was employed as tutor to the royal princes at the Ptolemaic court before his appointment in 285/4 BC as the first director [1. 147-148] of the library (II B 2.a) in Alexandria [1]. In addition to a classification of Greek poetry (most notably epic and lyric works), Z. developed in …

(Φιλήμων; Philḗmōn). [German version] [1] Husband of Baukis Husband of Baucis. Junk, Tim (Kiel) [German version] [2] Writer of the Attic New Comedy, c. 300 BC Son of Damon of Syracuse [1. test. 1, 11], became (before 307/6 BC; cf. [1. test. 15]) an Athenian citizen [1. test. 2-12. 15]. Important writer of Attic New Comedy with his stage debut several years before Menander [4] (before 328: [1. test. 2]); it is uncertain whether this somewhat earlier chronology or the different nature of his plays led to P. once being call…

(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…

(Σέλευκος/ Séleukos, Lat. Seleucus). [German version] [1] Co-regent in the Regnum Bosporanum, c.400 BC Co-regent with Satyrus [2] I in the Regnum Bosporanum, 433/2-393/2 BC (according to Diod. Sic. 12,36,1). As Satyrus is elsewhere (Diod. Sic, 14,93,1) described as a sole ruler, and other sources do not mention his name, his existence is not certain. von Bredow, Iris (Bietigheim-Bissingen) Bibliography V. F. Gajdukevič, Das Bosporanische Reich, 1971, 231  E. H. Minns, Scythians and Greeks, 1913, 571  R. Werner, Die Dynastie der Spartokiden, in: Historia 4, 1955, 419-421. …

(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.. Humoral theory Nutton, Vivian (London) …

(Ζήνων/ Zḗnōn.) [German version] [1] Z. of Elea Eleatic philosopher, 5th cent. BC (Son of Teleutagoras). Eleatic philosopher of the 5th cent. BC; a pupil and intimate friend of Parmenides who became famous for his paradoxes. According to the Suda (29 A 2 DK), Z. wrote many books; but his Λόγοι ( Lógoi, 'Arguments', 40 according to Proclus, 29 A 15 DK) probably belonged to a single book, the one he read aloud to his closest circles in Athens (cf. Pl. Prm. 127c-d). In the lost dialogue Sophistes, Aristotle (Aristoteles [6]) declares Z. to have been the 'inventor' ( protos heuretes …

(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…

[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 …