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Sappho

(1,601 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
(Σαπφώ/ Sapphṓ; in her self-designation, fr. 1: Ψάπφω/ Psápphō). Greek poet c. 600 BC. [German version] A. Life Lyric poet, born at Mytilene or Eresus on Lesbos. Was regularly synchronized in Antiquity with the poet Alcaeus [4] and the statesman Pittacus (e.g., Str. 13,617). The date recorded in the Suda s.v. Σ. - the 42nd Olympiad = 612-609 BC - could refer either to her birth or to her akme. The latter is the more likely and accords with the notice in the Marmor Parium that she went into exile in Sicily between 603/02 and 596/95 (FGrH 239,36), when she s…

Simonides

(1,357 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto) | Fornaro, Sotera (Sassari)
(Σιμωνίδης/ Simōnídēs). [German version] [1] Iambographic poet (the iambographic poet) see Semonides Robbins, Emmet (Toronto) [German version] [2] Lyric poet, 6th/5th cents. BC Greek lyric poet, 6th/5th cents. BC Robbins, Emmet (Toronto) [German version] I. Life S. was born in Ioulis on Ceos [1], the son of Leoprepes, uncle of Bacchylides. Of the two birth dates given in the Suda - the 56th Olympiad (556/553 BC) and the 62nd Olympiad (532/529 BC), the earlier is generally accepted. According to the Suda, S. died in the 78th Olympi…

Melos

(1,080 words)

Author(s): Kalcyk, Hansjörg (Petershausen) | Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[German version] [1] Cyclades island (Μῆλος/ Mêlos, Doric Μᾶλος/ Mâlos; Latin Melos, modern Milos). Name of the westernmost of the Cyclades islands, the fifth largest at 161 km2. Included in the archipelago of M. are Kimolos off the northeastern point, Polaegus (modern Polivo) to the east, and Erimomilos to the west of M., plus a number of very small islands and rocks. M. is the caldera of a Pliocene volcano; its relics are still present today in the sulphurous thermal springs in the northeast and southeast. The sea has access to the caldera of the crater …

Lasus

(376 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto) | Hübner, Wolfgang (Münster)
(Λάσος; Lásos). [German version] [1] L. of Hermione Poet, c. 500 BC in the Argolis (incorrectly in the Suda: Achaia). The Suda places his date of birth in the 58th Oympiad. (548-544 BC). Like Anacreon and Simonides, this Greek poet was under the patronage of Hipparchus in Athens. According to Hdt. 7,6, Onomacritus was expelled by Hipparchus when L. caught him forging oracles of Musaeus. The Schol. Aristoph. Av. 1403 quotes authorities who consider L. the first organizer of dithyrambic choruses positione…

Kastoreion

(103 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[German version] (Καστόρειον, sc. μέλος; Kastóreion mélos). A melody, named after Castor, sung by the Spartans, accompanied on the aulos, as they went off to battle. At the same time, the king started to sing the Embaterion (Plut. De musica 26,1140c; Plut. Lycurgus 22; Polyaenus, Strat. 1,10). The meter of these two martial airs was undoubtedly anapestic (Val. Max. 2,6,2). The association of Castor with horses (cf. Hom. Il. 3,237) establishes a connection between the kastoreion and the epinikion, especially on the occasion of horse competitions (Pind. Pyth. 2,69; Hyp…

Philoxenus

(1,694 words)

Author(s): Badian, Ernst (Cambridge, MA) | Robbins, Emmet (Toronto) | Montanari, Ornella (Bologna) | Albiani, Maria Grazia (Bologna) | Hoesch, Nicola (Munich) | Et al.
(Φιλόξενος; Philóxenos). [German version] [1] Name of several officers under Alexander the Great Several officers with the name P. are mentioned in the sources about Alexander  [4] the Great. They cannot always be distinguished with certainty. One P. was appointed by Alexander in 331 BC (incorrect [1]) ' to collect tribute on this side of the Taurus'(i.e. in Asia Minor) (Arr. An. 3,6,4). This cannot be correct. Arrian must, as often, have expressed himself imprecisely, as this duty had already been entrusted to somebody else. It can also hardly be th…

Lycophronides

(92 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[German version] (Λυκοφρονίδης; Lykophronídēs). Lyric poet, date and origin unknown. Two fragments are extant in Athenaeus, both come from the ‘Erotica’ of Clearchus [6]. Ath. 13,564a-b deals with modesty that is the basis of beauty; Ath. 15,670d-f is a poem of dedication by a shepherd who is in love; it has a slightly Doric coloration that is reminiscent of epideictic epigrams in which hunters offer up their hunting equipment (GA I 2, 34f.). The metre is idiosyncratic in both cases but is close to Ionic ( Metre). Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)

Mesomedes

(134 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[German version] (Μεσομήδης; Mesomḗdēs). Cithara player and lyric poet from Crete, freedman of Hadrian (according to the Suda), main period of production AD 144 (according to Eusebius). Besides two poems in the Anthologia Palatina (14,63) and the Anthologia Planudea (16,323), 13 poems are transmitted by the manuscripts, four of which are provided with musical notation. They include hymns, animal fables, the description of a sponge and of a clock, as well as a poem on the manufacture of glass. There is a variety of metres, in particu…

Anacreontea

(634 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[German version] (Ἀνακρεόντεια; Anakreónteia). A collection of poems, handed down in that manuscript of the 10th cent. AD which contains the  Anthologia Palatina. The poems were published for the first time in 1554 by Stephanus (Henri Estienne), who had seen the manuscript three years earlier in Louvain and had copied out the texts from it [1.178]. The copy made by Stephanus, today kept in Leiden, follows exactly the text of the poems in the MSS; however, his edition suppresses details which allow …

Cleomachus

(120 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[German version] (Κλεόμαχος; Kleómachos). Kinaidographos, born in Magnesia, dates uncertain. According to Str. 14,1,41 he was a boxer who after falling in love with a kínaidos and a prostitute, whom he supported, began to write in the obscene language of the kínaidoi. Heph. Enchiridion 11,2 (= Consbruch 392,10-15) states that the Ionian acatalectic dimeter a maiore was called the Kleomacheion and that this verse form contained Molossian metre and choriambs. Hephaestion cites (as does Trichas ad loc. Consbruch 395,10) an example but neither is definitely…

Arion

(549 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[German version] (Ἀρίων; Aríōn). Lyric poet from Methymna on Lesbos. According to statements in the Suda, his akme was in Olympiad 38 (628-624 BC), and it is said there that he had been a pupil of  Alcman. Hdt. 1,23 reports that he had been the first person to compose a  dithyramb, and given it a name and performed it in Corinth. The mention in the Suda awards him the merit of being ‘the first to have put together a chorus, sung a dithyramb and to have given a name to that which the chorus sang, and to be the fi…

Hybrias

(140 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[German version] (Ὑβρίας; Hybrías). At the end of a collection of scholia, Ath. 695f adds a poem by H. of Crete, which ‘many consider to be a scholion ’ [1]. H. boasts of being the master of the public slaves (δεσπότας μνοΐας) and of earning a living as a soldier. The poem was formerly assumed to be a war song by a Doric nobleman, now is commonly regarded as the boasting of a man who comes from the class that he now rules [2]. A reference to the Persian Great King suggests the middle of the 6th cent. BC as terminus post quem. The two stanzas consist primarily of trochees, choriambs,and glyconics…

Diagoras

(491 words)

Author(s): Hölkeskamp, Karl-Joachim (Cologne) | Robbins, Emmet (Toronto) | Decker, Wolfgang (Cologne)
(Διαγόρας; Diagóras). [German version] [1] of Eretria Politician 6th cent. BC Towards the end of the 6th cent. BC (between 539 and 510?), D. overturned the ‘oligarchy of the knights’, allegedly for personal motives (Aristot. Pol. 5,5, 1306a 35-37) [1]. In posthumous tribute, a statue of D. was erected (Heraclides Lembus fr. 40 Dilts). Whether D. as nomothetes introduced a ‘democratic constitution’ [2], has to remain a moot point. Hölkeskamp, Karl-Joachim (Cologne) Bibliography 1 F. Geyer, Topographie und Gesch. der Insel Euboia 1, 1903, 66f. 2 H.-J. Gehrke, Stasis, 1985, 63f. …

Anacreon

(1,328 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto) | Di Marco, Massimo (Fondi Latina)
[German version] [1] The Elder Lyric poet, 6th cent. BC (Ἀνακρέων [ Anakréōn], or for metrical reasons also Ἀνακρείων [ Anakreíōn]). Robbins, Emmet (Toronto) [German version] A. Life Writer of monodic lyrics and one of the nine authors who belong to the Alexandrian canon of the nine lyrical poets. A. was born in the town of Teos in Ionia; the details about the name of his father vary (Suda). The chronology of his life is also uncertain and is based on the assumption that he was a contemporary of Polycrates of Samos; for the akme of A. the date Olympiad 62/2 (531 BC) given by Eusebius is…

Erinna

(350 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[German version] (Ἤριννα; Ḗrinna). Poet and author of a work known in antiquity as the ‘Distaff’ (Ἠλακάτη; Ēlakátē), a poem of 300 hexameters (Anon. Anth. Pal. 9,190,3). Eusebius indicates that her creative time was between 353 and 352 BC (= Ol. 106.4 or 107.1). The Suda, which erroneously made her into Sappho's contemporary, names several possible places of origin; the most probable being the island of Telos since she writes in Doric with the occasional Aeolism. The literary similarities with the works of  Ascl…

Praxilla

(165 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[German version] (Πράξιλλα/ Práxilla). Lyric poetess from Sicyon, chief date c. 451 BC. (Eusebius, Jer. Chron. Ol. 82,2). Author of hymns (747 PMG), dithyrambs (748 PMG) and skólia (749, 750 PMG). Two verses about a girl seen at a window (754 PMG) are written in the praxilleion metre, named after her; the beginning syllables can be found as inscriptions on a Boeotian vase from the middle of the 5th cent. Her treatment of myth was innovative: Dionysus was the son of Aphrodite and not Semele (752 PMG); Zeus, not Laius, kidnapped Chrysippus (7…

Lyric poetry

(3,871 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto) | Fuhrer, Therese (Zürich)
I. Greek [German version] A. Definition, characteristics The term lyric poetry (LP) encompasses the entirety of Greek poetry from the 7th to the mid-5th cent. BC with the exception of stichic hexameter poetry and drama. The word lyrikós (λυρικός) is related to lýra (λύρα), lyre, and initially refers to poetry that is sung to the accompaniment of a string instrument or, in a broader sense, to all poetry sung to musical accompaniment. This also includes elegiac distichs, which were usually or even without exception accompanied by an aulós ( Elegy, Music), epinician poetry, accompanied by a l…

Threnos

(312 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[German version] (θρῆνος/ thrênos, pl. thrênoi), dirge, lament. Homer apparently differentiated between a more spontaneous γόος ( góos, ‘weeping’, ‘wailing’) by relatives or friends (cf. Hom. Il. 18,316; 24,723; 24,747) and the threnos sung by outsiders: Hector's body, laid out on a bed, is surrounded by singers (Hom. Il. 24,719-722), the leaders of the threnos (ἔξαρχος/ éxarchos: Hom. Il. 24,721; ἐξάρχειν/ exárchein: 18,316) and the women who accompany the song with lamentations. In the lament for Patroclus (Hom. Il. 18,28-31 and 339-342), the captured T…

Eurytus

(365 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto) | Riedweg, Christoph (Zürich)
(Εὔρυτος; Eúrytos). [German version] [1] Hom. character Ruler of Oechalia, mentioned in Hom. Il. 2,596; 730. The location of Oechalia is unclear (on the Peloponnese?). In Hom. Od. 21,20ff., Iphitus the son of E., while searching for his horses in Messenia, gives Odysseus his father's great bow (with which Odysseus later kills the suitors), and on his search is later murdered by Heracles. E. himself is killed by Apollo, whom he challenges to an archery competition (Od. 8,224-228). He plays an important role in the non-extant early epic ‘The Capture of Oechalia’ (Οἰχαλίας ἅλωσις; Oichalías…

Melissus (Μέλισσος; Mélissos)

(825 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto) | Bodnár, István (Budapest) | Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance)
[German version] [1] Chariot race victor M. of Thebes, son of Telesiades, addressee of Pind. I., 3 and 4 ( Pindarus). Two victories are mentioned, one in the horse or chariot race at Nemea (ibid. 3,9-13), the other in the pankration (ibid. 4,44). The two metrically identical poems are not treated separately in all MSS. The race victory was probably later, I. 3 being appended to the longer poem I. 4 in regard to a single celebration [1. 202-203]. M.'s father belonged to the family of the Cleonymidae, h…

Lamynthius

(96 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[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 composed lyrical verse about a foreign (βαρβάρου/ barbárou) girl of the same name in his Erōtiká. He is named by Epicrates [4] in the Antilaḯs (PCG v 4) as the author of love songs. Fragments have not been preserved. Robbins, Emmet (…

Corinna

(358 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[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…

Xanthus

(1,334 words)

Author(s): Stenger, Jan (Kiel) | Robbins, Emmet (Toronto) | Högemann, Peter (Tübingen) | W.T.
(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. Fab. 170). 4) A son of Niobe (Pherecydes FGrH 3 F …

Timotheus

(2,915 words)

Author(s): Nutton, Vivian (London) | Robbins, Emmet (Toronto) | Zimmermann, Bernhard (Freiburg) | Schmitz, Winfried (Bielefeld) | Neudecker, Richard (Rome) | Et al.
(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) …

Pindarus

(2,907 words)

Author(s): Högemann, Peter (Tübingen) | Robbins, Emmet (Toronto) | Bartels, Jens (Bonn)
(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 Artemisions, 1…

Melanippides

(141 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[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.…

Hymenaios

(864 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
(Ὑμέναιος; Hyménaios). Wedding song (cf.  Hymenaeus) Robbins, Emmet (Toronto) I. Greek [German version] A. Etymology The meaning of hyménaios is shared by ὑμήν ( hymḗn), as it is usually found in the cry Ὑμὴν ὦ Ὑμέναιε [1. vol. 2,361]. The origin of the word ὑμήν is disputed: some claim its origin is pre-Greek and not Indo-European [2]; others maintain it is Greek, and synonymous with hymḗn = membrane, i.e. the hymen, although this meaning first appears in later authors [3. 964-965]. Diehl, who assumes a connection with the Latin suo, sees a further link with ὕμνος ( hýmnos,  Hymn), which…

Archebulus

(112 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[German version] (Ἀρχέβουλος; Archéboulos). Poet from Thera (Suda s. v. Euphorion 3801 Eagle) or possibly from Thebes (Θηβαίου erroneously for Θηραίου?). Teacher of  Euphorion, therefore can be dated to early 3rd cent. BC. The only verse ascribed to him, which possibly is not genuine, (SH 124), is quoted in order to explain the metre named after him. This metre, the archebuleum, consists of four anapests followed by one bacchaeus:           . A. had allegedly used it ‘exces…

Megaclea

(73 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[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)

Propemptikon

(302 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[German version] (προπεμπτικόν, sc. μέλος/ mélos, ᾆσμα/ â isma). A poem that wishes a departing friend or relative all the best for a prosperous trip overseas (εὔπλοια/ eúploia). In Late Antiquity there was also the προπεμπτικὸς λόγος ( propemptikòs lógos), a speech written in prose whose topoi were stipulated by the rhetors and listed (e.g. Menander Rhetor 3,395-99 Spengel); these included the prayer for a safe journey and return, the dangers of sea travel, praise of the destination, lamentation because of abandonment by the departi…

Telesilla

(123 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[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 the wedding of Zeus and Hera and that fragment 717 PMG is meant for a chorus o…

Aeschrion

(125 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[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 calumnies of someone called Polycrates, b) discusses the food th…

Licymnius

(291 words)

Author(s): Heinze, Theodor (Geneva) | Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
(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 tha…

Pythermus

(90 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[German version] (Πύθερμος; Pýthermos). Lyric poet from Teos, perhaps 6th century BC; known from a mention in Ath. 14,625c, in a discussion of the three books of Heraclides Ponticus' Perì Mousikês: P. is supposed to have written skólia in the Ionian mode and iambic verses and to have been mentioned by Ananius or Hipponax. The only recorded verse (metre: phalaeceus) claims that apart from gold everything is nothing (910 PMG); it became proverbial and can also be found cited in Diogenianus, Plutarch and the Suda. Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)

Terpander

(333 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[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 FGrH 4 F 85a) of the 26th Olympiad (676/673 BC). He achieved four sequential further victories at the Pythia (Plut. Mor. 1132e) which took place every eight years at that time - his career must therefore have spanned 25 years. He died in 640 BC ay the latest (Euseb. Chron. Olymp…

Nomos

(2,285 words)

Author(s): Siewert, Peter (Vienna) | Ameling, Walter (Jena) | Jansen-Winkeln, Karl (Berlin) | Robbins, Emmet (Toronto) | Klose, Dietrich (Munich)
[German version] [1] Nomos, nomoi (ὁ νόμος/ ho nómos, pl. οἱ νόμοι/ hoi nómoi). Siewert, Peter (Vienna) [German version] A. General In Greek, nómos (pl. nómoi) refers to customary conduct or a behavioural norm observed by members of a community; depending on the context it can be translated with ‘custom’, ‘habit’, ‘practice’, ‘rule’, ‘order’, ‘institution’, ‘constitution’, ‘law’ etc. (cf. [1. 20-54; 2. 14-19]). The size of the communities where a nómos applied could vary considerably: from married couples and families to cult and settlement communities, from cit…

Ailinos

(146 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[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…

Oeniades

(83 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[German version] (Οἰνιάδης; Oiniádēs). Aulos player and dithyrambic poet from Thebes. IG II2 3064 records his victory in the aulos competition at Athens in 384/3. His father, Pronomus, was probably the famous aulētḗs in Paus. 4,27,7; 9,12,5; Anth. Plan. 16,28,2. Didymus [1] mentions O. as one of three poets to compose a dithyramb entitled Cyclops (840 PMG). Robbins, Emmet (Toronto) Bibliography D.A. Campbell, Greek Lyric 5, 1993, 208  H. Reimann, s.v. O., RE Suppl. 8, 369  D.F. Sutton, Dithyrambographi Graeci, 1989, 38F1.

Epinikion

(617 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
(ἐπινίκιον; epiníkion, sc. μέλος; mélos, ᾆσμα; âisma), ‘victory song’. [German version] A. Term The adjective epiníkios is used for the closer definition of ἀοιδή ( aoidḗ; song) in Pind. Nem. 4,78, whereas in Aesch. Ag. 174 the neutr. pl. epiníkia represents a shout of victory. In prose, the term, in conjunction with θύειν ( thýein) or ἑστιᾶν ( hestiân), generally refers to the sacrifices (sc. ἱερά; hierá), which followed a victory in battle (Dem. Or. 19,128) or took place as part of festival celebrations ([Dem. or.] 59,33; cf. Pl. Symp. 173a). The neutr. sing. epiníkion was first used b…

Genethliakon

(459 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[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, particularly by  Crinagoras, accompanied birthday gifts…

Skolion

(281 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[German version] (σκόλιον; skólion). A Greek song at a symposium (Banquet). Unlike elegy, also sung at the symposium, it was accompanied by the lyre and was in lyric metre. The origin of the term is most likely the practice of holding a myrtle branch, which singers passed to each other in haphazard fashion (cf. Aristoph. fr. 444 PCG vol.3.2), though other far-fetched derivations were advanced, in particular from dýskolon ('difficult'), because inferior or drunken singers could not manage them (cf. Schol. Pl. Grg. 451e, Ath. 15,693f.-694c). First mention is in Pi…

Melinno

(143 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[German version] (Μελιννώ; Melinnṓ). Greek female poet who composed a hymn in five Sapphic stanzas to the goddess Roma. Stobaeus (ecl. 3,7,12), who cites her, gives Lesbos as her place of origin, probably on account of the metre because there are only hints of an Aeolian dialect in het poetry. Her date is much disputed: most scholars propose the Republican period because - despite some similarities in images and ideas - there is no reason to suppose that she was influenced by Latin poetry and because she made no mention of the princeps [1]; others assign her to the 2nd cent. AD by poin…

Work songs

(501 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[German version] Although songs were generally part of the leisure sphere in Greece, there is some evidence that music also accompanied work. On the Reaper Vase Rhyton from Hagia Triada ( c. 1500 BC) a group of peasants, returning from work in the fields, are carrying their tools on their shoulders; the procession is accompanied by singing musicians, of which the first is shaking a sistrum. Homer mentions the λίνος( línos; Ailinos), a song played on the lyre by a boy to accompany dancing and singing at the grape harvest (Il. 18,569-572), as well as a song played …

Dosiadas

(142 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[German version] (Δωσιάδας; Dosiádas). Author handed down by Anth. Pal. 15,26, also in the Codex of the bucolic poets under the Τεχνοπαίγνια ( Technopaígnia). The poem is a γρῖφος ( gríphos) or riddle, in the way of the Alexandra of  Lycophron, with dark references and allusions to known mythological figures which are explained by the scholia in some MSS. Its subject is a literary dedication of an altar that Jason erected on Lemnos and at which  Philoctetes was injured. The language is a mixture of Doric and epic forms (e.g. Τεύκροι…

Artemon

(593 words)

Author(s): Montanari, Franco (Pisa) | Weißenberger, Michael (Greifswald) | Robbins, Emmet (Toronto) | Degani, Enzo (Bologna) | Pressler, Frank (Heidelberg)
(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. …

Glycon

(378 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto) | Bowie, Ewen (Oxford) | Nutton, Vivian (London) | Neudecker, Richard (Rome)
(Γλύκων; Glýkōn). [German version] [1] Poet Named by Heph. 10,2 Consbruch as the inventor of Glyconic verse ( Metre). His existence is disputed and the three verses ascribed to him (= 1029 PMG) are generally viewed as alexandrine in terms of metre: G. could hardly have lived before Sappho (late 7th cent. BC), who used this meter. Choeroboscus names G. (in his Comm. on St. In Heph. Consbruch) as a comedic poet, but probably mistook him for Leucon (PCG V 612). Anth. Pal. 10,124, a two-liner on the futil…

Heraclitus I (Gk)

(1,845 words)

Author(s): Betegh, Gábor (Budapest) | Robbins, Emmet (Toronto) | Albiani, Maria Grazia (Bologna) | Bäbler, Balbina (Göttingen) | Fornaro, Sotera (Sassari) | Et al.
(Ἡράκλειτος; Hērákleitos). [German version] [1] H. of Ephesus Ionian philosopher, c. 500 BC Son of Bloson, outstanding personality within Ionian philosophy. Betegh, Gábor (Budapest) [German version] A. The person H.'s main period of activity is estimated to have been about 503-500 BC (Diog. Laert. 9,1). He belonged to a leading family in the public life of Ephesus. The doxographic tradition records several anecdotes of H.'s arrogance and contempt for his fellow citizens and humanity in general, which are mostly based on fragments of H. Betegh, Gábor (Budapest) [German version] B. La…

Encomium

(577 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[German version] (ἐγκώμιον/ enkṓmion, sc. μέλος/ mélos, ᾆσμα/ âisma). A song of praise. Praise (ἔπαινος, épainos) and reproach (ψόγος, psógos) are two important functions in oral poetry widely used and documented in early Greece [1. 141-151]. Reproach is largely the subject of the iambographers while praise is, for example, found in the poem addressed by  Alcaeus to his brother (350 Voigt [2]), the poems of  Sappho to her female friends, in the Partheneia of  Alcman, in the erotic poetry dedicated by  Anacreon and…

Stesichorus

(1,165 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
(Στησίχορος; Stēsíchoros). [German version] [1] Lyric poet, 6th cent. BC Greek lyric poet, one of the nine of the Alexandrian canon. Robbins, Emmet (Toronto) [German version] A. Life S. originated from Himera (Sicily) and was called 'the Himeraean' (Ἱμεραῖος/ Himeraîos), or he may have come from Mataurus in south Italy; he died in Catania (Catane). The dates in the Suda (σ 1095) are suspect: his birth in the 37th (632-629 BC) and death in the 56th Olympiad (556-553 BC) seem based on synchronisation with other poets, with the first giving an akme of a conventional 40 years after the Su…

Iulia

(3,365 words)

Author(s): Stegmann, Helena (Bonn) | Eck, Werner (Cologne) | Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[German version] [1] Aunt of C. Iulius Caesar, wife of C. Marius, 2nd/1st cent. BC Paternal aunt of C. Iulius  Caesar; between 115 and 109 BC, she married C. Marius, with whom she had a son named C. Marius ( cos. 82; Plut. Marius 6,3; Plut. Caesar 1,1; Sall. Hist. 1,35 Maur). There is almost no information regarding I.'s life. On the occasion of her death in 68, Caesar held a large funeral ceremony (Suet. Iul. 6,1; Plut. Caesar 5,1). Stegmann, Helena (Bonn) [German version] [2] Daughter of L. Iunius [I 5] Caesar, mother of triumvir M. Antonius Daughter of L. Iulius [I 5] Caesar and Fulvia (d…

Embaterion

(236 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[German version] (ἐμβατήριον/ embatḗrion, sc. μέλος/ mélos, ᾆσμα/ âisma). Military march, often sung, usually played by an auletes (flute-player), although Phillis of Delos speaks of κινήσεις ἐμβατηρίους ( kinḗseis embateríous) in connection with ἀρχαίους κιθαρῳδούς ( archaíous kitharōidoús; Ath. 1,21f-22a). The proto-Corinthian Chigi vase of c. 630 BC (Rome, VG 22679) shows warriors marching with a flute-player (cf. Thuc. 5,70). The rhythm was undoubtedly anapaestic: Dion Chrys. 2,59 (PMG 856; cf. PMG 857) quotes one such song, supposedly…

Cydias

(426 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto) | Weißenberger, Michael (Greifswald) | Hoesch, Nicola (Munich) | Nutton, Vivian (London)
(Κυδίας; Kydías). [German version] [1] Erotic poet Erotic poet, quotes from Pl. Chrm. 155d, mentioned by Plut. Mor. 931e. He was obviously popular in Athens as he is depicted as a komast on a red-figured dish (Munich 2614) and on a psykter (London, BM E767) from c. 500 BC [1. 12-13]. He may perhaps be identical with Cydidas of Hermione referred to by Schol. Aristoph. Nub. 967 [2. 215]. Possibly (rather improbable) he is the dithyramb poet Cedeides/Ceceides mentioned by Aristoph. Nub. 985 (with schol.) [3]. Robbins, Emmet (Toronto) Bibliography 1 K. Friis Johansen, Eine Dithyrambos-A…

Palinodia

(113 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[German version] (παλινῳδία/ palinōidía). Poem by Stesichorus in which he withdrew the vituperation of Helen [1] because of which he had lost his eyesight (192 PMGF). This 'revocation' is said to have restored his vision. Stesichorus withdrew his report that Helen had travelled to Troy and appears instead to have introduced the story that she had spent the war years in Egypt. There were apparently two palinodies (193 PMGF). Later the term was used for any type of revocation (cf. for instance Cic. Att. 4,5,1). Chiastically arranged songs (a b : b a) are also called 'palinodic' (H…

Telestes

(160 words)

Author(s): Patzek, Barbara (Wiesbaden) | Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
(Τελέστης; Teléstēs). [German version] [1] Last king of Corinth According to a list of kings in Diod. 7,9,2-5, T. was the last king of Corinth. The name's apt meaning ( télos = 'end') casts doubt on his historicity. His murder was, according to tradition, closely followed by the Bacchiadae (Paus. 2,4,4). Patzek, Barbara (Wiesbaden) Bibliography J. B. Salmon, Wealthy Corinth, 1984, 47; 55. [German version] [2] From Selinus, dithyramb poet, c. 400 BC Dithyrambic poet from Selinus [4]. The Marmor Parium (65) mentions a victory in Athens in 402/401 BC. Titles of his works are Argo (with cri…

Ibycus

(633 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[German version] (Ἴβυκος; Íbykos), born in Rhegium in the 6th cent. BC, the second important poet of Magna Graecia after  Stesichorus. He came to Samos in the 54th Olympiad (564-561 BC) (Suda: ‘when Polycrates, the tyrant's father, ruled there’, should probably be corrected to Πολυκράτους, which would result in more common Greek, and would then say - in accordance with Hdt. 3,39, who names Aeaces as the father: ‘when the father of the tyrant Polycrates ruled there’). Eusebius' dating differs from t…

Hyporchema

(295 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[German version] (ὑπόρχημα; hypórchēma). Old Greek choral lyric that was originally associated with the weapon dance. The word hyporchema is first documented in Pl. Ion 534c, where it is cited along with forms of poetry.  Thaletas of Gortyn (7th cent. BC) was the first to compose hyporchḗmata to accompany the weapon dances of the  Curetes (schol. Pind. Pyth. 2,127). As warrior dances were more elaborate and mimetic than other choral dances, a soloist probably sang (Ath. 1,15d-e). Thaletas probably brought the hyporchema to Sparta, where, together with Xenodamus of Cythera, h…

Antigenes

(291 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto) | Badian, Ernst (Cambridge, MA)
(Ἀντιγένης; Antigénēs). [German version] [1] Dithyrambic poet Attic dithyrambic poet, presumably the author of an inscription on a tripod for the victory of the phyle  Acamantis in the dithyrambic competition in the Dionysia (FGE 11-15). The sources (Anth. Pal. 13,28) ascribe the epigram to ‘Simonides or Bacchylides’, but Hecker emphatically recognized Antigenes as the author; he calls himself the χοροδιδάσκαλος [1.149-152]; the χορηγός and αὐλητής are also mentioned. In order to put the names into verse, an unusual metre is used. The date is perhaps c. 485 BC. [2]. Robbins, Emmet (…

Epicedium

(294 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[German version] (ἐπικήδειον; epikḗdeion, sc. μέλος; mélos, ᾆσμα; âisma). Ceremonial song at mourning (κῆδος, kḗdos) or during burial (cf. Pind. Pyth. 4,112). The chorus in Eur. Tro. 514 sings an epicedium (ᾠδὰν ἐπικήδειον; ōidàn epikḗdeion) over the fall of Troy; similarly, Plato speaks of the women who are ἐπικήδειοι ᾠδαί ( epikḗdeioi ōidai), professional mourners at a burial. As a substantive, however, epicedium is used rarely and only quite late. Ancient authors tried to distinguish it from other words for ‘lament’: Proclus (Phot. 321a 30-32) calls epicedium a song ‘before t…

Anabole

(290 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[German version] (ἀναβολή; anabolḗ). A musical introduction that precedes the singing, as with Pind. Pyth. 1,4 f. addressed to the lyre, ὅταν προοιμίων ἀμβολὰς τεύχηις: dancers and singers receive their cue from the first notes. It is clear from e.g. Hom. Od. 1,155 (= 8,266) φορμίζων ἀνεβάλλετο καλὸν ἀείδειν, that the singer, who underscores his singing voice with music, previously plays an instrumental part. No doubt he also used his instrument during the pauses in the singing. Flute-players also played ἀναβολαί ( anabolaí; Eupolis, PCG V 81). Aristot. Rh. 3,9,1409b 25 ment…

Daphnephorikon

(259 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[German version] (δαφνηφορικόν; daphnēphorikón). A song sung by maidens at the  Daphnephoria, a festival for Apollo Ismenios in Thebes (Paus. 9,10,4). Proclus (Phot. 321a34) reports daphnēphoriká as part of Pindar's Partheneia; the Suda s.v. Πίνδαρος counts daphnēphoriká amongst the 17 books (in addition to the Partheneia). POxy. 4,659 (1904) = Pind. fr. 94b Snell-Maehler provides us with a substantial fragment of a daphnēphorikón. The poem was written in honour of Agasicles, the grandson of an Aeoladas (l. 9), to whom fr. 94a is obviously addressed. Pagon…

Epitaphios

(353 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
(ἐπιτάφιος; epitáphios). [German version] [1] Funerary epigram see  Funerary epigram Robbins, Emmet (Toronto) [German version] [2] Funeral games or funeral oration (sc. ἀγών or λόγος; agṓn or lógos: funeral games or funeral oration). Funeral games are known since Hom. Il. 23; for Athens, Aristot. Ath. Pol. 58 mentions an epitáphios agṓn (for Sparta cf. Paus. 3,14,1). The term ‘funeral oration’ (ἐπιτάφιος λόγος; first in Pl. Menex. 236b) is only confirmed for Athens; it refers to the laudatio for a well-respected citizen in accordance with the πάτριος νόμος; pátrios nómos, ‘the inhe…

Cinesias

(342 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[German version] (Κινησίας; Kinēsías). Athenian dithyrambic poet, whose creative period ranged from c. 425 to 390 BC. His father Meles (Pl. Grg. 501e-502a) is referred to in Pherecrates' Ágrioi (PCG VII 6, cf. Aristoph. Av. 766) as the worst kitharode imaginable. IG II2 3028 of the early 4th cent. BC preserves fragments of a dedication by a victorious choregos of a choir under C.'s direction. In 394/3 BC, in his function as   bouleutḗs , C. succeeded in his proposition to the people's assembly (IG II2 18) of honouring Dionysius I of Syracuse. Lysias (Ath. 551d-552f) attacked h…

Lamprocles

(114 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[German version] (Λαμπροκλῆς; Lamproklês). Musician and poet of Athens, early 5th cent. BC. Among his pupils were Damon, the teacher of Pericles (Diels/Kranz 1, 382), and possibly Sophocles (Ath. 1,20e states that the latter's teacher was Lamprus; perhaps a confusion with L. [1. 315]). Ath. 11,491c cites a dithyramb fragment. The only other preserved fragment comes from a hymn to Athena (schol. Aristoph. Nub. 967). To L. is attributed the observation that the Mixolydian mode does not relate to the other keys in the manner assumed until that time [2. 223-224]. Robbins, Emmet (Toronto) Bib…

Alcaeus

(1,661 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) | Robbins, Emmet (Toronto) | Hidber, Thomas (Berne) | Degani, Enzo (Bologna)
(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…

Timocreon

(268 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[German version] (Τιμοκρέων/ Timokréōn). Lyricist and elegist from Ialysus in Rhodes, early 5th cent. BC, according to the Suda also a writer of the Old Comedy (for which no evidence survives, however). In Mesopotamian Susa, T. entertained the Persian king as a pentathlete and a jester (Ath. 415f-416a). It is well known that there was a feud between him and Themistocles, whom he attacks for his failure to return him to Rhodes and his lack of success at the Isthmian Games (fr. 727 PMG). This twelve-…

Bacchylides

(1,270 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[German version] (Βακχυλίδης; Bakchylídēs). Author of choral lyric whose productive period was in the 5th cent. BC. B. was born in Iulis on Ceos, but the exact year of his birth remains contested. He was the grandson of an athlete by the same name, the son of a man called Meidon (Suda) or Meidylus (EM), and nephew of  Simonides [1. 130-132]. Eusebius of Caesarea stated the time of B.'s akmḗ as the 2nd year of the 78th Olympiad, doubtlessly due to B.'s most important assignment -- to praise Hieron of Syracuse's victory in the chariot race of 468 BC. In Chron. pasch., his akmḗ is set 13 years earl…

Argas

(156 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[German version] (Ἀργᾶς; Argâs). Poet and kitharist (first half of 4th cent. BC), from whom no fragments have remained. We know his name only from sources which allow one to assume a proverbially poor-quality poet: Plutarch mentions as a nickname of Demosthenes Ἀργᾶς, a poet of ‘poor and disgusting songs’ (νόμων πονηρῶν καὶ ἀργαλέων) and makes ἀργᾶς synonymous with ὄφις, serpent (Demosth. 4,8; cf. Hsch. s. v. ἀργᾶς 7013 Latte). There are some uncomplimentary references in Phaenias of Ephesus (FHG I…

Hermolochus

(95 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[German version] (Ἑρμόλοχος; Hermólochos). Author of several lines regarding the imponderables and hopes of life. In Stob. 4,34,66 (also in Phot. Bibl. 167) he is called H. in two MSS, and Hermolaus in one MS. [1. 637] attributes this fragment to a Hermodotus and rearranges two verses; [2] maintains the attribution to H. but slightly changes the colometry. The dactyloepitritic verses show traces of the Doric in Stobaeus. Modern editors have made further conjectures with regard to the Doric elements. Robbins, Emmet (Toronto) Bibliography 1 Th. Bergk, Poetae Lyrici Graeci III, 41882 2 …

Pythermos

(86 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[English version] (Πύθερμος). Lyrischer Dichter aus Teos, vielleicht 6. Jh. v. Chr.; bekannt durch die Erwähnung bei Athen. 14,625c, in einer Erörterung des 3. B. von Herakleides Pontikos' Perí musikḗs: P. habe skólia in ion. Tonart gedichtet; auch habe er iambische Verse verfaßt und sei von Ananios oder Hipponax erwähnt worden. Der einzige überl. Vers (Metrum: Phalaeceus) behauptet, daß außer Gold alles nichts sei (910 PMG); er wurde zum Sprichwort und findet sich auch bei Diogenianos, Plutarchos und in der Suda zitiert. Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)

Lamynthios

(86 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[English version] (Λαμύνθιος). Lyrischer Dichter aus Milet, Datier. unsicher. Phot. s.v. nennt ihn einen ‘Dichter von erotischen Gedichten’ (ποιητὴς ἐρωτικῶν μελῶν); Athen. 13,596f-597a erwähnt zwei Dichter, die über Hetären namens Lyde schrieben: Antimachos [3] aus Kolophon, der seine Lýdē im elegischen Versmaß, und L., der laut Klearchos in seinen Erōtiká lyrische Verse über ein ausländisches (βαρβάρου) Mädchen des gleichen Namens verfaßte. Er wird von Epikrates [4] in der Antilaḯs (PCG V 4) als Verf. von Liebesliedern genannt. Fr. sind nicht erhalten. Robbins, Emmet (Toro…

Alkaios

(1,600 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Princeton) | Robbins, Emmet (Toronto) | Hidber, Thomas (Bern) | Degani, Enzo (Bologna)
(Ἀλκαῖος). Der sprechende myth. Name ( alkḗ, “Stärke”) hängt mit Herakles zusammen. [English version] [1] Großvater des Herakles, Sohn von Perseus und Andromeda Großvater des Herakles, Sohn des Perseus und der Andromeda, Mann der Pelopstochter Astydameia, Vater des Amphitryon und der Anaxo, Großvater des Herakles (Hes. scut. 26; Schol. Eur. Hec. 886). Auch die Namensform Alkeus scheint belegt zu sein, die für das Patronymikon Alkeides besser paßt. Graf, Fritz (Princeton) [English version] [2] Ursprünglicher Name des Herakles Urspr. Name des Herakles, auf Befehl des delph…

Artemon

(559 words)

Author(s): Montanari, Franco (Pisa) | Weißenberger, Michael (Greifswald) | Robbins, Emmet (Toronto) | Degani, Enzo (Bologna) | Pressler, Frank (Heidelberg)
(Ἀρτέμων). [English version] [1] griech. Grammatiker, 2. H. 2. Jh. v. Chr. Aus Kassandreia. Griech. Grammatiker. Da er Dionysios Skytobrachion erwähnt, wird er in die 2. H. des 2.Jh. v.Chr. datiert. Athenaios zit. von ihm: Περὶ βιβλίων συναγωγῆς, Περὶ βιβλίων χρήσεως, Περὶ τοῦ Διονυσιακοῦ συστήματος. Der fast zeitgenössische A. aus Pergamon, Kommentator des Pindaros (FGrH 569), ist möglicherweise dieselbe Person; älter ist jedoch A. aus Klazomenai (FGrH 443). A., der Herausgeber der Aristotelesbriefe (Demetrios, elocutiones 223), ist schwer zu identifizieren. …

Antigenes

(282 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto) | Badian, Ernst (Cambridge, MA)
(Ἀντιγένης). [English version] [1] Dithyrambendichter, 5. Jh. v. Chr. Att. Dithyrambendichter, vermutlich der Autor einer Inschr. auf einem Dreifuß für den Sieg der Phyle Akamantis beim Dithyrambenwettstreit an den Dionysien (FGE 11-15). Die Quelle (Anth. Pal. 13,28) schreibt das Epigramm ›Simonides oder Bacchylides‹ zu, aber Hecker erkannte A. zwingend als Autor, der sich selbst den χοροδιδάσκαλος nennt [1.149-152]; der χορηγός und der αὐλητής werden auch genannt. Um die Eigennamen in das Versmaß zu bri…

Bakchylides

(1,245 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[English version] (Βακχυλίδης). Dichter von Chorlyrik, der im 5.Jh. v.Chr. wirkte. B. ist in Iulis auf Keos geboren, doch das genaue Jahr seiner Geburt bleibt umstritten; er war Enkel eines gleichnamigen Athleten, Sohn eines Mannes namens Meidon (Suda) oder Meidylos (Etym. m.) und Neffe des Simonides [1. 130-132]. Seine akmḗ wird von Eusebios von Caesarea mit dem 2.J. der 78. Ol. angegeben, ohne Zweifel seines wichtigsten Auftrags wegen, den Sieg des Hieron von Syrakus im Wagenrennen vom J. 468 v.Chr. zu preisen. In Chr. pasch. wird seine akmḗ dreizehn Jahre früher angesetzt [2. …

Melos

(967 words)

Author(s): Kalcyk, Hansjörg (Petershausen) | Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[English version] [1] Kykladeninsel (Μῆλος, dor. Μᾶλος; lat. Melos, h. Milos). Name der westlichsten, mit 161 km2 fünftgrößten Kykladeninseln. Zur Inselgruppe von M. gehören Kimolos an der NO-Spitze, Polaigos (h. Polivo) im Osten und Erimomilos westl. von M., dazu noch eine Anzahl kleinster Inseln und Klippen. M. ist die Caldera eines pliozänen Vulkans, als dessen Relikte h. noch die schwefelhaltigen Thermen im NO und SO vorhanden sind. Das Meer hat durch einen Einschnitt im NW Zugang zum Kraterkessel - einem der besten Häfen des Mittelmee…

Propemptikon

(297 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[English version] (προπεμπτικόν, sc. μέλος/ mélos, ᾆσμα/ áisma). Ein Gedicht, das einem abreisenden Freund oder Verwandten die besten Wünsche für eine glückliche Fahrt übers Meer (εὔπλοια, eúploia) überbringt. In der Spätant. gibt es auch den προπεμπτικὸς λόγος ( propemptikós lógos), eine in Prosa abgefaßte Rede, deren Topoi von den Rhetoren festgelegt und aufgelistet wurden (z. B. Menandros Rhetor 3,395-99 Spengel); zu ihnen gehören das Gebet für eine sichere Reise und Rückkehr, die Gefahren der Seereise, das Lob des Zielorts, die K…

Argas

(142 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[English version] (Ἀργᾶς). Dichter und Kitharoide (1. H. 4. Jh. v. Chr.), von dem keine Fragmente erh. sind. Seinen Namen kennen wir nur aus Quellen, die einen sprichwörtlich schlechten Dichter vermuten lassen: Plutarch nennt als Spitznamen des Demosthenes Ἀργᾶς, einen Dichter ›schlechter und widerlicher Lieder‹ (νόμων πονηρῶν καὶ ἀργαλέων) und setzt ἀργᾶς synonym mit ὄφις, Schlange (Demosth. 4,8; vgl. Hesych. s. v. ἀργᾶς 7013 Latte). Es gibt unschmeichelhafte Erwähnungen bei Phainias von Ephesos …

Erinna

(310 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[English version] (Ἤριννα). Dichterin und Autorin eines Werkes, das die Ant. als die ‘Spindel (Ἠλακάτη) kannte, ein Gedicht von 300 Hexametern (anon. Anth. Pal. 9,190,3). Eus. gibt ihre Wirkungszeit für 353-352 v.Chr. (= Ol. 106.4 oder 107.1) an. Die Suda, die E. irrtümlich zur Zeitgenossin Sapphos macht, nennt mehrere mögliche Herkunftsorte; am wahrscheinlichsten ist die Insel Telos, da sie dor. mit gelegentlichen Äolismen schreibt. Die lit. Ähnlichkeiten mit den Werken des Asklepiades und Theokr…

Dosiadas

(127 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[English version] (Δωσιάδας). Autor von Anth. Pal. 15,26, auch im Codex der bukolischen Dichter unter den Τεχνοραίγνια ( Technopaígnia) überliefert. Das Gedicht ist ein γρῖφος ( gríphos) oder Rätsel, angelehnt an die Alexandra des Lykophron, mit dunklen Bezügen und Anspielungen auf bekannte myth. Figuren, die in einigen Hss. von den Scholien erklärt werden. Es handelt sich um ein lit. Weihgedicht eines Altars, den Iason auf Lemnos errichtete und an dem Philoktetes verwundet wurde. Die Sprache ist eine Mischung aus dor. und ep.…

Palinodia

(110 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[English version] (παλινῳδία). Gedicht des Stesichoros, in dem er die Schmähung der Helene [1] widerrief, derentwegen er angeblich sein Augenlicht verloren hatte (192 PMGF). Dieser “Widerruf” soll ihm die Sehkraft zurückgegeben haben. Stesichoros nahm seinen Bericht, daß Helena nach Troia gefahren war, zurück und scheint stattdessen die Gesch. eingeführt zu haben, daß sie die Kriegsjahre in Ägypten verbracht habe. Offenbar gab es zwei P. (193 PMGF). Später wird der Begriff P. für jede Art von Widerruf verwendet (vgl. etwa Cic. Att. 4,5,1). Auch chiastisch arrangierte Lieder (…

Mesomedes

(119 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[English version] (Μεσομήδης). Kitharöde und lyrischer Dichter aus Kreta, Freigelassener des Hadrian (laut Suda), Hauptschaffenszeit 144 n.Chr. (laut Eusebios). Neben zwei Gedichten in der Anthologia Palatina (14,63) und der Anthologia Planudea (16,323) sind 13 Gedichte hsl. überliefert, von denen vier mit einer musikalischen Notierung versehen sind. U.a. handelt es sich um Hymnen, Tierfabeln, die Beschreibung eines Schwamms und einer Uhr, sowie ein Gedicht über die Herstellung von Glas. Die Versmaße sind vielfältig, insbes.…

Anabole

(280 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[English version] (ἀναβολή). Dem Singen vorausgehende musikalische Einleitung, wie bei Pind. P. 1,4 f. an die Lyra gerichtet, ὅταν προοιμίων ἀμβολὰς τεύχηις: Tänzer und Sänger erhalten ihren Einsatz aus den ersten Noten. Aus z. B. Hom. Od. 1,155 (= 8,266) φορμίζων ἀνεβάλλετο καλὸν ἀείδειν wird klar, daß der Sänger, der seine Singstimme mit Musik unterstrich, vorher einen Instrumentalteil spielte. Zweifellos benutzte er sein Instrument auch während der Singpausen. Auch Flötenbläser spielten ἀναβολα…

Diagoras

(459 words)

Author(s): Hölkeskamp, Karl-Joachim (Köln) | Robbins, Emmet (Toronto) | Decker, Wolfgang (Köln)
(Διαγόρας). [English version] [1] aus Eretria Politiker des 6. Jh.v.Chr. stürzte gegen E. des 6. Jh.v.Chr. (zwischen 539 und 510?) die “Oligarchie der Ritter”, angeblich aus persönlichen Motiven (Aristot. pol. 5,5, 1306a 35-37) [1]. Als postume Ehrung wurde ein Standbild von D. errichtet (Heraclides Lembus fr. 40 Dilts). Ob D. als “Nomothet” eine “demokratische Verfassung” einführte [2], muß dahingestellt bleiben. Hölkeskamp, Karl-Joachim (Köln) Bibliography 1 F. Geyer, Topographie und Gesch. der Insel Euboia 1, 1903, 66f. 2 H.-J. Gehrke, Stasis, 1985, 63f. …

Lasos

(353 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto) | Hübner, Wolfgang (Münster)
(Λάσος). [English version] [1] L. von Hermione Dichter, um 500 v. Chr. in der Argolis (Suda fälschlich: Achaia). Die Suda setzt sein Geburtsdatum in die 58. Ol. (548-544 v.Chr.). Wie Anakreon und Simonides stand dieser griech. Dichter in Athen unter dem Patronat des Hipparchos. Laut Hdt. 7,6 wurde Onomakritos von Hipparchos vertrieben, als L. ihn bei der Fälschung von Orakeln des Musaios erwischte. Schol. Aristoph. Av. 1403 zitiert Autoritäten, die eher L. als Arion für den ersten Organisator von kreisförmi…

Hermolochos

(93 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[English version] (Ἑρμόλοχος). Autor einiger Zeilen über die Unwägbarkeiten und Hoffnungen des Lebens. Bei Stob. 4,34,66 (auch bei Phot. Bibl. 167) wird er in zwei Mss. H., in einem Ms. Hermolaos genannt. [1. 637] schreibt dieses Fragment einem Hermodotos zu und stellt zwei Verse um; [2] behält die Zuweisung an H. bei, verändert aber leicht die Kolometrie. Die daktyloepitritischen Verse weisen bei Stobaios Spuren des Dor. auf. Moderne Herausgeber haben weitere Konjekturen auf das Dor. hin vorgenommen. Robbins, Emmet (Toronto) Bibliography 1 Th. Bergk, Poetae Lyrici Graeci III, 418…

Anakreon

(1,226 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto) | Di Marco, Massimo (Fondi (Latina))
[English version] [1] der Ältere Lyriker, 6. Jh. v. Chr. (Ἀνακρέων, oder aus metr. Gründen auch Ἀνακρείων). Robbins, Emmet (Toronto) [English version] A. Leben Verf. monodischer Lyrik und einer der neun Autoren, die zum alexandrinischen Kanon der 9 lyrischen Dichter gehören. A. ist in der Stadt Teos in Ionien geboren, die Angaben über den Namen seines Vaters sind unterschiedlich (Suda). Auch die Lebensdaten sind unsicher und beruhen auf der Annahme, er sei ein Zeitgenosse des Polykrates von Samos; für die akmḗ des A. ist das von Eusebios gegebene Datum Ol. 62/2 (531 v. Chr.…

Pindaros

(2,620 words)

Author(s): Högemann, Peter (Tübingen) | Robbins, Emmet (Toronto) | Bartels, Jens (Bonn)
(Πίνδαρος). [English version] [1] Tyrann von Ephesos (ca. 560 v. Chr.) Tyrann von Ephesos (ca. 560 v.Chr.), Neffe des Kroisos. Als dieser Ephesos belagerte, soll P. geraten haben, die Tore und Mauern der Stadt durch Seile mit den Säulen des Artemisions (Ephesos mit Karte) zu verbinden. Kroisos, durch ein Gelübde dem Heiligtum verpflichtet, verschonte die Stadt, versprach Sicherheit und Freiheit, zwang aber P., die Stadt zu verlassen; sein Sohn blieb verschont, das Vermögen unangetastet (Hdt. 1,26; Polyain. 6,50; Ail. var. 3,26). Högemann, Peter (Tübingen) Bibliography U. Muss, Ba…

Praxilla

(163 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[English version] (Πράξιλλα). Lyrische Dichterin aus Sikyon, Hauptzeit 451 v. Chr. (Eusebios, Hier. chron. Ol. 82,2). Verfasserin von Hymnen (747 PMG), Dithyramben (748 PMG) und skólia (749, 750 PMG). Zwei Verse über ein Mädchen, das sich an einem Fenster zeigt (754 PMG), sind in dem nach der Dichterin Praxilleion genannten Metrum abgefaßt; die Anfangssilben finden sich als Inschr. auf einer boiotischen Vase aus der Mitte des 5. Jh. Ihre Behandlung des Mythos war innovativ: Dionysos war der Sohn der Aphrodite und nicht …

Oiniades

(80 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[English version] (Οἰνιάδης). Aulos-Spieler und Dithyrambendichter aus Theben. IG II2 3064 verzeichnet seinen Sieg im Aulos-Spiel 384/3 v.Chr. in Athen. Sein Vater Pronomos ist wahrscheinlich der berühmte aulētḗs bei Paus. 4,27,7; 9,12,5; Anth. Plan. 16,28,2. Didymos [1] nennt O. als einen von drei Dichtern, die einen Dithyrambos mit dem Titel ‘Kyklops verfaßten (840 PMG). Robbins, Emmet (Toronto) Bibliography D.A. Campbell, Greek Lyric 5, 1993, 208  H. Reimann, s.v. O., RE Suppl. 8, 369  D.F. Sutton, Dithyrambographi Graeci, 1989, 38F1.

Anacreontea

(590 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[English version] (Ἀνακρεόντεια). Eine Sammlung von Gedichten, überliefert in jener Handschrift des 10. Jh. n. Chr., die die Anthologia Palatina enthält. Die Gedichte wurden erstmalig 1554 von Stephanus (Henri Estienne) herausgegeben, der die Hs. drei Jahre zuvor in Louvain gesehen und die Texte daraus abgeschrieben hatte [1.178]. Die Abschrift des Stephanus, heute in Leiden aufbewahrt, hält sich genau an den Text der Gedichte in der Hs., doch seine Ausgabe unterdrückt solche Einzelheiten, die kla…

Melissos

(561 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto) | Bodnár, István (Budapest)
(Μέλισσος). [English version] [1] Pferderennensieger M. aus Theben, Sohn des Telesiades, Adressat von Pind. I. 3 und 4 (Pindaros). Zwei Siege werden erwähnt, der eine im Pferde- oder Wagenrennen in Nemea (ebd. 3,9-13), der andere im Pankration (ebd. 4,44). Die beiden metrisch identischen Gedichte sind nicht in allen Hss. voneinander getrennt. Wahrscheinlich war der Sieg im Rennen später und I. 3 wurde dem längeren Gedicht I. 4 im Hinblick auf eine einzige Feier hinzugefügt [1. 202-203]. Der Vater geh…

Epikedeion

(281 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[English version] (ἐπικήδειον, sc. μέλος, ᾆσμα). Zeremonieller Gesang bei der Trauer (κῆδος, kḗdos) oder der Bestattung (vgl. Pind. P. 4,112). Der Chor in Eur. Tro. 514 singt ein e.-Lied (ᾠδὰν ἐπικήδειον) über den Untergang Troias; ähnlich spricht Platon von den ἐπικήδειοι ᾠδαί berufsmäßiger Klagefrauen bei einer Bestattung. Substantivisch wird e. jedoch selten und erst spät verwendet. Ant. Autoren versuchten es von anderen Worten für “Klage” zu unterscheiden: Proklos (Phot. 321a 30-32) nennt e. einen Gesang ‘vor der Bestattung’ (ἔτι τοῦ σώματος προκειμένου; in Eur…

Kydias

(391 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto) | Weißenberger, Michael (Greifswald) | Hoesch, Nicola (München) | Nutton, Vivian (London)
(Κυδίας). [English version] [1] erotischer Dichter Erotischer Dichter, zitiert von Plat. Charm. 155d, erwähnt von Plut. mor. 931e. Er war in Athen offensichtlich beliebt, da er als Komast auf einer rf. Schale (München 2614) sowie auf einem Psykter (London, BM E767) von ca. 500 v.Chr. [1. 12-13] abgebildet ist. Vielleicht ist er identisch mit Kydidas von Hermione, den schol. Aristoph. Nub. 967 [2. 215] nennt. Möglicherweise (eher unwahrscheinlich) handelt es sich um den Dithyrambendichter Kedeides/Kekeides, den Aristoph. Nub. 985 (mit schol.) erwähnt [3]. Robbins, Emmet (Toro…

Nomos

(2,076 words)

Author(s): Siewert, Peter (Wien) | Ameling, Walter (Jena) | Jansen-Winkeln, Karl (Berlin) | Robbins, Emmet (Toronto) | Klose, Dietrich (München)
[English version] [1] N., nomoi (ὁ νόμος, Pl. οἱ νόμοι). Siewert, Peter (Wien) [English version] A. Allgemein N. (pl. nómoi) bezeichnet im Griech. eine übliche Handlungsweise oder eine Verhaltensnorm unter den Mitgliedern einer Gemeinschaft und ist je nach Zusammenhang mit “Brauch”, “Gewohnheit”, “Sitte”, “Regel”, “Ordnung”, “Einrichtung”, “Verfassung”, “Gesetz” u.ä. übersetzbar (vgl. [1. 20-54; 2. 14-19]). Auch die Größe der Gemeinschaften, in denen ein n. gilt, variiert sehr; sie reicht von Ehe und Familie über Kult- und Siedlungsgemeinschaften, Städte …

Arion

(519 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[English version] (Ἀρίων). Lyrischer Dichter aus Methymna auf Lesbos. Nach Aussage der Suda lag seine akmḗ in Ol. 38 (628-624 v. Chr.), und es wird dort auch gesagt, er sei ein Schüler des Alkman gewesen. Hdt. 1,23 berichtet, er sei der erste gewesen, der einen Dithyrambos komponiert, ihm einen Namen gegeben und ihn in Korinth zur Aufführung gebracht habe. Die Notiz in der Suda spricht ihm das Verdienst zu, er habe als erster ›einen Chor zusammengestellt, einen Dithyrambos gesungen und dem, was der Chor sang, …

Ibykos

(593 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[English version] (Ἴβυκος), geb. in Rhegion, 6. Jh. v.Chr., der zweite wichtige Dichter Großgriechenlands nächst Stesichoros. Er kam in der 54. Ol. (564-561 v.Chr.) nach Samos (Suda: ‘als Polykrates, der Vater des Tyrannen, dort herrschte’, ist wahrscheinlich in Πολυκράτους zu verbessern, was geläufigeres Griechisch ergibt und, in Übereinstimmung mit Hdt. 3,39, der den Namen des Vaters mit Aiakes angibt, heißen würde: ‘als der Vater des Tyrannen Polykrates dort herrschte’). Eusebios' davon abweich…

Kastoreion

(87 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[English version] (Καστόρειον, sc. μέλος). Eine nach Kastor benannte Melodie, die von den Spartanern unter Aulosbegleitung gesungen wurde, wenn diese in die Schlacht zogen; der König begann gleichzeitig mit dem Embaterion (Plut. de musica 26,1140c; Plut. Lykurgos 22; Polyain. 1,10). Das Metrum dieser beiden Militärlieder war zweifelsfrei anapästisch (Val. Max. 2,6,2). Die Assoziation Kastors mit Pferden (vgl. Hom. Il. 3,237) bringt das K. in Verbindung mit dem Epinikion, insbes. bei Pferdewettkämp…

Hybrias

(124 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[English version] (Ὑβρίας). Am Ende einer Scholiensammlung fügt Athen. 695f ein Gedicht von H. von Kreta hinzu, das ‘manche für ein Scholion halten’ [1]. H. brüstet sich darin, Herr über die öffentlichen Sklaven (δεσπότας μνοΐας) zu sein und vom Soldatenberuf zu leben. Das Gedicht wurde früher als das Kriegerlied eines dor. Adligen, jetzt gemeinhin als Prahlerei eines Mannes angesehen, der aus der Schicht stammt, die er nun beherrscht [2]. Ein Bezug auf den pers. Großkönig legt die Mitte des 6. Jh. als terminus post quem nahe. Die zwei Strophen bestehen hauptsächlich aus Troch…

Lyrik

(3,401 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto) | Fuhrer, Therese (Zürich)
I. Griechisch [English version] A. Definition, Charakteristika Der Begriff L. umfaßt die gesamte griech. Dichtung vom 7. bis zur Mitte des 5. Jh.v.Chr. mit Ausnahme des stichischen Hexameters und des Dramas. Das Wort lyrikós (λυρικός) gehört zu lýra (λύρα), Leier, und bedeutet zunächst Dichtung, die zur Begleitung eines Saiteninstruments, im erweiterten Sinn alle Dichtung, die zu Musik gesungen wurde; dazu gehörten auch elegische Distichen, die gewöhnlich oder sogar ausnahmslos vom aulós (Elegie, Musik) begleitet wurden, die Siegesdichtung, sowohl mit lýra als auch aulós (z.…

Aischrion

(114 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[English version] (Αἰσχρίων). Die Suda (s. v. 354 Adler) erwähnt einen Epiker aus Mytilene, Gefährte Alexanders d. Gr. und Schüler des Aristoteles (ohne erh. Zitate); Athen. 7,296f und 8,335c-d zitiert choliambische Verse eines A. von Samos. Tzetz. chil. 8,398 ff. nennt - vielleicht zu Recht - nur A. von Mytilene, einen Autor beider Genres. Authentische iambische Verse sind a) ein Epitaph für Philainis, die die Verleumdungen eines Polykrates zurückweist, b) handelt von der Speise, die Glaukos unst…
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