Πληροφορίες τοπωνυμίου

Damastes

Damastes, of Sigeum, a Greek historian, and a contemporary of Herodotus and Hellanicus of Lesbos, with the latter of whom he is often mentioned. Suidas even calls him a disciple of Hellanicus, while Porphyry (ap. Euseb. Praep. Evang. ix.) states, that Hellanicus borrowed from Damastes and Herodotus several statements concerning the manners and customs of foreign nations. This latter statement has led some critics to assume, that Porphyry alludes to a later Hellanicus of Miletus; but there is no reason for such a supposition, and the simpler solution is, that the work of Damastes was published before that of Hellanicus, or what is more likely, that Porphyry made a blunder. According to Suidas, Damastes wrote, - 1. A History of Greece (peri ton en Helladi genomenon). 2. On the ancestors of those who had taken part in the war against Troy, and 3. A catalogue of nations and towns (ethnon katalogos kai poleon), which is probably the same work as the one quoted by Stephanus of Byzantium (s. v. huperboreoi) under the simple title of peri ethnon. Besides these, a teriplous also is mentioned as the work of Damastes by Agathemerus (i., ed. Hudson), who states, that Damastes copied from Hecataeus. All these works are lost, with the exception of a few insignificant fragments, Eratosthenes made great use of them, for which he is censured by Strabo (i., xiii., xiv.), who set little value upon the opinions of Damastes, and charges him with ignorance and credulity. From Dionysius of Ilalicarnassus (A. R. i. 72) we learn that Damastes spoke of the foundation of Rome. (Comp. Val. Max. viii. 13, Ext. 6; Plut. Camill. 19; Dionys. Hal. Jud. de Thuc.; Plin. H. N. Elench. libb. iv. v. vi. vii. and vii. 48; Avienus Ruf. de Ora Marit.; Sturz. Fragm. Hellanici; Ukert, Untersuchung. uber die Geographie des Hecataeus und Damastes, Weimar, 1814).

This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Oct 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks

A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology (ed. William Smith)
• http://perseus.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/cgi-bin/ptext?d...