Listed 54 sub titles with search on: Biographies for wider area of: "MITHIMNA Province LESVOS" .
MITHYMNA (Ancient city) LESVOS
480 - 400
Hellanicus, (Hellanikos). One of the Greek logographi or chroniclers,
born at Mitylene in Lesbos about B.C. 490. He is said to have lived till the age
of eighty-five, and to have gone on writing until after B.C. 406. In the course
of his long life he composed a series of works on genealogy, chorography, and
chronology, of which the fragments are collected by C. and Th. Muller (Paris,
1841). He was the first writer who attempted to introduce a systematic chronological
arrangement into the traditional periods of Greek, and especially Athenian, history
and mythology. His theories of the ancient Attic chronology were accepted down
to the time of Eratosthenes.
Hellanicus, (Hellanikos). Of Mytilene in the island of Lesbos, the most eminent
among the Greek logographers. He was the son, according to some, of Andromenes
or Aristomenes, and, according to others, of Scamon (Seammon), though this latter
may be merely a mistake of Suidas (s. v. Hellanikos). According to the confused
account of Suidas, Hellanicus and Herodotus lived together at the court of Amyntas
(B. C. 553--504), and Hellanicus was still alive in the reign of Perdiccas, who
succeeded to the throne in B. C. 461. This account, however, is irreconcilable
with the further statement of Suidas, that Hellanicus was a contemporary of Sophocles
and Euripides. Lucian (Macrob. 22) states that Hellanicus died at the age of eighty-five,
and the learned authoress Pamphila (ap. Gellium, xv. 23), who likewise makes him
a contemporary of Herodotus, says that at the beginning of the Peloponnesian war
(B. C. 431), Hellanicus was about sixty-five years old, so that he would have
been born about B. C. 496, and died in B. C. 411. This account, which in itself
is very probable, seems to be contradicted by a statement of a scholiast (ad Aristoph.
Ran. 706), from which it would appear that after the battle of Arginusae, in B.
C. 406, Hellanicus was still engaged in writing; but the vague and indefinite
expression of that scholiast does not warrant such an inference, and it is moreover
clear from Thucydides (i. 97), that in B. C. 404 or 403 Hellanicus was no longer
alive. Another authority, all anonymous biographer of Euripides (p. 134 in Westermann's
Vitarum Scriptores Graeci minores, Brunswick, 1845), states that Hellanicus was
born on the day of the battle of Salamis, that is, on the 20th of Boedromion B.
C. 481, and that he received his name from the victory of Hellas over the barbarians;
but this account is too much like an invention of some grammarian to account for
the name Hellanicus, and deserves no credit; and among the various contradictory
statements we are inclined to adopt that of Pamphila. Respecting the life of Hellanicus
we are altogether in the dark, and we only learn from Suidas that he died at Perperene,
a town on the coast of Asia Minor opposite to Lesbos ; we may, however, presume
that he visited at least some of the countries of whose history he treated.
Hellanicus was a very prolific writer, and if we were to look upon
all the titles that have come down to us as titles of genuine productions and
distinct works, their number would amount to nearly thirty; but the recent investigations
of Preller (De Hellanico Lesbio Historico, Dorpat, 1840, 4to.) have shown that
several works bearing his name are spurious and of later date, and that many others
which are referred to as separate works, are only chapters or sections of other
works. We adopt Preller's arrangement, and first mention those works which were
spurious. 1. Aiguptiaka. The late origin of this production is obvious from the
fragment quoted by Arrian (Dissert. Epictet. ii. 19) and Gellius (i. 2; comp.
Athen. xi., xv.) 2. Eis Ammonos anabasis, which is mentioned by Athenaeus (xiv.),
who, however, doubts its genuineness. 3. Barbarika nomima, which, even according
to the opinions of the ancients, was a compilation made from the works of Herodotus
and Damastes. (Euseb. Praep. Evang. ix.; comp. Suid. s.v. Zamolxis; Etymol. Mag.
p. 407. 48.) 4. Ethnon onomasiai, which seems to have been a similar compilation.
(Athen. xi. ; comp. Herod. iv. 190.) It may have been the same work as the one
which we find referred to under the name of Peri ethnon (Schol. ad Apollon. Rhod,
iv. 322), Ktiseis ethnon kai poleon, or simply ktiseis. (Steph. Byz. s. v. Charimatai;
Athen. x.) Stephanus of Byzantium refers to some other works under the name of
Hellanicus, such as Kupriaka, ta peri Ludian, and Skuthika, of which we cannot
say whether they were parts of another work, perhaps the Persika (of which we
shall speak presently). The Phoinikika mentioned by Cedrenus (Synops.), and the
historiai (Athen. ix., where hiereiais must probably be read for historiais; Theodoret,
de Aff.), probably never existed at all, and are wrong titles. There is one work
referred to by Fulgentius (Myth. i. 2), called Dios polutuchia, the very title
of which is a mystery, and is otherwise unknown.
Setting aside these works, which were spurious, or at least of very
doubtful character, we proceed to enumerate the genuine productions of Hellanicus,
according to the three divisions under which they are arranged by Preller, viz.
genealogical, chorographical, and chronological works.
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Nov 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
I. Genealogical works. It is a very probable opinion of Preller,
that Apollodorus, in writing his Bibliotheca, followed principally the genealogical
works of Hellanicus, and he accordingly arranges the latter in the following order,
agreeing with that in which Apollodorus treats of his subjects. 1. Deukalioneia,
in two books, containing the Thessalian traditions about the origin of man, and
about Deucalion and his descendants down to the time of the Argonauts. (Clem.
Alex. Strom. vi.) The Phettalika referred to by Harpoeration (s. v. tetrarchia)
were either the same work or a portion of it. 2. Phoronis, in two books, contained
the Pelasgian and Argive traditions from the time of Phoroneus and Ogyges down
to Heracles, perhaps even down to the return of the Heracleidae. (Dionys. i. 28.)
The works Peri Arkadias (Schol. ad Apollon. Rhod. i. 162), Argolika (Schol. ad
Hom. Il. iii. 75), and Boiotika (ibid. iii. 494) were either the same work as
the Phoronis or portions of it. 3. Atlantias, in two books, containing the stories
about Atlas and his descendants. (Harpocrat. s. v. Homeridai; Schol. ad Hom. Il.
xviii. 486.) 4. Troika, in two books, beginning with the time of Dardanus. (Harpocrat.
s. v. Krithote; Schol. ad Hom. Il.) The Adopis was only a portion of the Troica.
(Marcellin. Vit. Thue. § 4.)
II. Chorographical works. 1. Atthis, or a history of Attica,
consisting of at least four books. The first contained the history of the mythical
period ; the second was principally occupied with the history and antiquities
of the Attic demi; the contents of the third and fourth are little known, but
we know that Hellanicus treated of the Attic colonies established in Ionia, and
of the subsequent events down to his own time. (Preller; comp. Thuc. i. 97.) 2.
Aiolika, or the history of the Aeolians in Asia Minor and the islands of the Aegean.
The Lesbiaca and Peri Chiou ktiseos seem to have formed sections of the Aeolica.
(Tzetz. ad Lyeoph. 1374; Schol. ad Pind. Nem. xi. 43, ad Hom. Od. viii. 294.)
3. Persika, in two books, contained the history of Persia, Media, and Assyria
from the time of Ninus to that of Hellanicus himself, as we may gather from the
fragments still extant, and as is expressly stated by Cephalion in Syncellus (p.
315, ed. Dindorf).
III. Chronological works. 1. Hiereiai tes Heras in three books,
contained a chronological list of the priestesses of Hera at Argos. There existed
undonbtedly at Argos in the temple of Hera records in the form of annals, which
ascended to the earliest times for which they were made up from oral traditions.
Hellanicus made use of these records, but his work was not a mere meagre list,
but he incorporated in it a variety of traditions and historical events, for which
there was no room in any of his other works, and he thus produced a sort of chronicle.
It was one of the earliest attempts to regulate chronology, and was afterwards
made use of by Thucydides (ii. 2, iv. 1, 33), Timaeus (Polyb. xii. 12), and others.
(Comp. Plut. De Mus.; Preller, l. c.) 2. Karneonikai, or a chronological list
of the victors in the musical and poetical contests at the festival of the Carneia.
This work may be regarded as the first attempt towards a history of literature
in Greece. A part of this work, or perhaps an early edition of it, is said to
have been in verse. (Athen. xiv.) Suidas states that Hellanicus wrote many works
both in prose and in verse; but of the latter kind nothing is known.
All the productions of Hellanicus are lost, with the exception of
a considerable number of fragments. Although he belongs, strictly speaking, to
the logographers (Dionys. Jud. de Thuc. 5; Diod. i. 37), still he holds a much
higher place among the early Greek historians than any of those who are designated
by the name of logographers. He forms the transition from that class of writers
to the real historians; for he not only treated of the mythical ages, but, in
several instances, he carried history down to his own times. But, as far as the
form of history is concerned, he had not emancipated himself from the custom and
practice of other logographers, for, like them, he. treated history from local
points of view, and divided it into such portions as might be related in the form
of genealogies. Hence he wrote local histories and traditions. This circumstance,
and the many differences in his accounts from those of Herodotus, renders it highly
probable that these two writers worked quite independently of each other, and
that the one was unknown to the other. It cannot be matter of surprise that, in
regard to early traditions, he was deficient in historical criticism, and we may
believe Thucydides (i. 97), who says that Hellanicus wrote the history of later
times briefly, and that he was not accurate in his chronology. In his geographical
views, too, he seems to have been greatly dependent upon his predecessors, and
gave, for the most part, what he found in them; whence Agathemerus (i. 1), who
calls him an aner poluistor, remarks that he aplastos paredoke ten historian;
but the censure for falsehood and the like bestowed on him by such writers as
Ctesias (ap. Phot. Bibl. Cod. 72), Theopompus (ap. Strab. i.), Ephorus (up. Joseph.
c. Apion, i. 3; comp. Strab. viii.), and Strabo (x., xi., xiii.), is evidently
one-sided, and should not bias us in forming our judgment of his merits or demerits
as a writer; for there can be no doubt that he was a learned and diligent compiler,
and that so far as his sources went, he was a trustworthy one. His fragments are
collected in Sturz, Hellanici Lesbii Fragmenta, Lips. 1796, 8vo., 2d edition 11826;
in the Museum Criticum,vol.ii., Camb. 1826 ; and in C. and Th. Muller, Fragmenta
Histor. Graec. (Dahlmann, Herodot., Muller, Hist. of Greek Lit., and especially
the work of Preller above referred to.)
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Nov 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Chorizontes. "Separators." A name given to such of the ancient scholars
and critics as held the belief that the Iliad and Odyssey of Homer were written
by different authors. The names of only two of these critics -Xenon and Hellanicus-
have come down to us.
Of the historians, Hermeias of Methymne brought to a close with this year his narrative of Sicilian affairs, having composed ten books, or, as some divide the work, twelve.
Commentary: One fragment of the Sicilian history of Hermeias remains (Athenaeus 10.438c; also FHG, 2.80.1). The history seems to have dealt mainly with the Elder Dionysius with perhaps a brief introduction on earlier Sicilian affairs.
Hermeias. Of Methymna in Lesbos, the author of a history of Sicily, the third
book of which is quoted by Athenaeus (x. ); but we know from Diodorus Siculus
(xv. 37) that Hermeias related the history of Sicily down to the year B. C. 376,
and that the whole work was divided into ten or twelve books. Stephanus Byzantius
(s. v. Chalkis) speaks of a Periegesis of Hermeias, and Athenaeus (iv.) quotes
the second book of a work Peri tou Gruneion Apollonos, by one Hermeias, but whether
both or either of them is identical with the historian of Sicily is quite uncertain.
A Lesbian historical writer of uncertain date; one of the sources used by Dionysius of Halicarnassus in his account of the Pelasgians (i. 23).
ANTISSA (Ancient city) LESVOS
Aristocleides (Aristokleides), a celebrated player on the cithara, who traced his descent from Terpander, lived in the time of the Persian war. He was the master of Phrynis of Mytilene. (Schol. ad. Aristoph. Nub. 958; Suidas, s. v. Phrunis)
ERESSOS (Ancient city) LESVOS
372 - 387
The Greek philosopher. He was a native of Eresus in Lesbos,
and studied philosophy at Athens, first under Plato and afterwards under Aristotle.
He became the favourite pupil of Aristotle, who named Theophrastus his successor
in the presidency of the Lyceum, and in his will bequeathed to him his library
and the originals of his own writings. Theophrastus was a worthy successor of
his great master, and nobly sustained the character of the school. He is said
to have had two thousand disciples, and among them such men as the comic poet
Menander. He was highly esteemed by the kings Philippus, Cassander, and Ptolemy,
and was not the less the object of the regard of the Athenian people, as was decisively
shown when he was impeached of impiety; for he was not only acquitted, but his
accuser would have fallen a victim to his calumny had not Theophrastus generously
interfered to save him. He died in B.C. 287, having presided over the Academy
about thirty-five years. His age is variously stated. According to some accounts
he lived 85 years, according to others 107 years. He is said to have closed his
life with the complaint respecting the short duration of human existence, that
it ended just when the insight into its problems was beginning. He wrote a great
number of works, the great object of which was the development of the Aristotelian
philosophy. His Ethikoi Charakteres, in thirty chapters; his work on plants (Peri
Phuton Istorias), in ten books; his account of the causes of plants (Peri Phuton
Aition); and his treatise on stones (Peri Lithon), are extant.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Nov 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Both Theophrastus and Phanias, the peripatetic philosophers, disciples of Aristotle, were from Eressus. Theophrastus was at first called Tyrtamus, but Aristotle changed his name to Theophrastus, at the same time avoiding the cacophony of his name and signifying the fervor of his speech; for Aristotle made all his pupils eloquent, but Theophrastus most eloquent of all.
This extract is from: The Geography of Strabo (ed. H. L. Jones, 1924), Cambridge. Harvard University Press. Cited Feb 2003 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains comments & interesting hyperlinks.
Theophrastus, the successor of Aristotle in the Peripatetic school,
a native of Eresus in Lesbos,
was born c. 372 BC. His original name was Tyrtamus, but he later became known
by the nickname “Theophrastus,” given to him, it is said, by Aristotle
to indicate the grace of his conversation.
After receiving his first introduction to philosophy in Lesbos
from one Leucippus or Alcippus, he proceeded to Athens,
and became a member of the Platonic circle. After Plato's death he attached himself
to Aristotle, and in all probability accompanied him to Stagira.
The intimate friendship of Theophrastus with Callisthenes, the fellow-pupil of
Alexander the Great, the mention made in his will of an estate belonging to him
at Stagira, and the repeated
notices of the town and its museum in the History of Plants, are facts which point
to this conclusion.
Aristotle in his will made him guardian of his children, bequeathed
to him his library and the originals of his works, and designated him as his successor
at the Lyceum on his own removal to Chalcis.
Theophrastus presided over the Peripatetic school for thirty-five years, and died
in 287 BC. Under his guidance the school flourished greatly - there were at one
period more than 2000 students--and at his death he bequeathed to it his garden
with house and colonnades as a permanent seat of instruction.
His popularity was shown in the regard paid to him by Philip, Cassander
and Ptolemy, and by the complete failure of a charge of impiety brought against
him. He was honoured with a public funeral, and “the whole population of
Athens, honouring him greatly,
followed him to the grave” (Diog. Laert.).
From the lists of the ancients it appears that the activity of Theophrastus
extended over the whole field of contemporary knowledge. His writing probably
differed little from the Aristotelian treatment of the same themes, though supplementary
in details. He served his age mainly as a great popularizer of science. The most
important of his books are two large botanical treatises, On the History of Plants,
in nine books (originally ten), and On the Causes of Plants, in six books (originally
eight), which constitute the most important contribution to botanical science
during Antiquity and the middle ages. We also possess in fragments a History of
Physics, a treatise On Stones, and a work On Sensation, and certain metaphysical
Airoptai, which probably once formed part of a systematic treatise.
The Ethical Characters deserves a separate mention. The work consists
of brief, vigorous and trenchant delineations of moral types, which contain a
most valuable picture of the life of his time. They form the first recorded attempt
at systematic character writing. The book has been regarded by some as an independent
work; others incline to the view that the sketches were written from time to time
by Theophrastus, and collected and edited after his death; others, again, regard
the Characters as part of a larger systematic work, but the style of the book
is against this.
This text is cited June 2003 from the Malaspina Great Books URL below, which contains image.
Life of Theophrastus, by Diogenes Laertius
or Phaenias (Phainias). A native of Eresus in Lesbos, a pupil of Aristotle, and a countryman and friend of Theophrastus. He flourished about B.C. 336. He was a very prolific writer on philosophy, physics, and history. Only fragments of these works remain. He was also the author of a chronicle of his native city, entitled Prutaneis Eresioi. This is supposed to have been one of the principal authorities followed in the so-called Parian Chronicle.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Nov 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Parian Chronicle (Chronikon Parianon, or Marmor Parium). A marble tablet found at Paros in 1627, now placed among the Arundel Marbles in the University Galleries at Oxford. It is written chiefly in the Attic, but partly in the Ionian dialect, and consists of ninety-three lines, some of which are no longer complete. It originally contained a number of dates of the political, but chiefly of the religious and literary, history of the Greeks, from the Athenian king Cecrops to the Athenian archon Diognetus, B.C. 264; in its present condition, however, it only goes down to B.C. 354. All the dates are given according to Attic kings and archons, and the historical authorities on which it depends must have been Attic authors. The origin and aim of the tablet are unknown. It was first published by Selden in 1628; it has since been printed by Boeckh (C. I. G. ii. 2374), who considers the leading authority followed to be Phanias of Eresus.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Feb 2003 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
MITHYMNA (Ancient city) LESVOS
Echecratides, (Echekratides), a Peripatetic philosopher, who is mentioned among the disciples of Aristotle. He is spoken of only by Stephanus of Byzantium (s. v. Methumna), from whom we learn that he was a native of Methymna in Lesbos.
ANTISSA (Ancient city) LESVOS
712 - 645
Terpander (Terpandros), of Lesbos,
was the father of Greek music, and through it of lyric poetry,
although his own poetical compositions were few and in extremely simple rhythms.
Muller, whose account of Terpander is so excellent, that it is necessary to follow him to a great extent, has justly remarked that, setting aside the mythological traditions about early minstrels, such as Orpheus, Philammon, Chrysothemis, and others, the history of Greek music begins with Terpander. But Muller, and other scholars, have pointed out the fact, that Terpander may be connected with one of the most interesting and important of those traditions. The beautiful fable, which told how the head and lyre of Orpheus, cast upon the waves by the Thracian Maenads, were borne to Lesbos, and there received with religious honours, was doubtless an allegory, signifying the transference of the art of music to that island from Pieria, which the ancients afterwards confounded with Thrace; a transference which is confirmed by the undoubted tradition, that Lesbos was colonised by the Aeolians of Boeotia, who were of the same race as the Pierians, and who had among them one of the earliest seats of the worship of the Muses, upon Mount Helicon. Now the very town in Lesbos, at which the grave of Orpheus was shown, and where the nightingales were said to sing most sweetly, Antissa, was the birthplace of Terpander. The presumption that he belonged to one of those families in which, according to the Greek custom, the art was handed down from father to son, is strengthened by the significancy of his name; and this significant name, again, finds numerous parallels in the early history of other arts as well as music [Cheirisophus, Eucheirus, Eugrammus]. It is not unreasonable to suppose, further, that the race of musicians, from which Terpander was descended, preserved traditions and rules which they had originally derived from the Pierian bards. The tradition which made him a decendant of Hesiod (Suid. s. v.) furnishes incidentally a certain degree of confirmation of these views. What Terpander himself effected for the art is thus described by Muller: " Terpander appears to have been properly the founder of Greek music. He first reduced to rule the different modes of singing which prevailed in different countries, and formed, out of these rude strains, a connected system, from which the Greek music never departed throughout all the improvements and refinements of later ages. Though endowed with an inventive mind, and the commencer of a new era of music, he attempted no more than to systematize the musical styles which existed in the tunes of Greece and Asia Minor." (Hist. of the Lit. of Anc. Greece, vol. i. p. 149.)
His father's name is said to have been Derdeneus (Marm. Par. Ep. 34), while another account made him the son of Boeus, the son of Phoceus, the son of Homer (Suid. s. v.). There can be no doubt that he was a Lesbian, and that Antissa was his native town (Pind. ap. Ath. xiv. p. 635, d.; Marm. Par. l. c. ; Plut. de Mus. 30, p. 1141, c.; Clem. Alex. Strom. vol. i. p. 309; Steph. Byz. s. v. Antissa; Suid. s. vv. Terpandros, Meta Les-bion oidon). The other accounts, preserved by Suidas, which made him a native either of Arne in Boeotia, or of Cyme in Aeolis, are easily explained, and are connected with what has been already said in an interesting manner. Both Arne and Cyme were among the Aeolian cities which were said to have sent colonies to Lesbos, and both might therefore have claimed to reckon Terpander among their citizens, on the general principle by which the natives of Grecian colonies were regarded as citizens of the parent state; and, besides this, the tradition connecting him with Arne, one of the oldest cities of Boeotia, is another indication of his descent from the Pierians, while the claim of Cyme is probably connected with the traditions which derived his genealogy from Homer or from Hesiod (See Plehn, Lesbiaca, pp. 140--142). The statement of Diodorus (vi. 28, ap. Tzetz. Chil. i. 16) that he was a native of Methymna, must be regarded as simply a mistake.
The age at which Terpander flourished is generally considered one of the best ascertained dates of that remote period of chronology; although the still more important question of his relation, in point of time, to the other early musicians, Olympus and Clonas, and to the earliest iambic and elegiac poets, Archilochus and Callinus, and the lyric poets Tyrtaeus and Alcman, is allowed to present very great difficulties. As to the first point, C. O. Muller says that " it is one of the most certain dates of the more 1 ancient chronology, that in the 26th Olympiad (B. C. 676) musical contests were first introduced at the feast of Apollo Carneius [at Sparta], and at their first celebration Terpander was crowned victor." (Hist. Lit. Anc. Greece, vol. i. p. 150, vol. i. p. 268 of the German; comp. Dor. b. iv. c. 6. § 1; and Mr. Grote echoes the statement, that " this is one of the best ascertained points among the obscure chronology of the seventh century " (Hist. of Greece, vol. iv. p. 102); and in the two great chronological works of Clinton and Fischer (s. a. 676), the date is laid down as certain.) The ancient authorities for this statement are Hellanicus (Athen. xiv. p. 635, f., Fr. 122, ed. Car. Muller, Frag. Hist. vol. i. p. 627, in Didot's Bibliotheca), and Sosibius the Lacedaemonian (Ath. l. c., Fr. 3, ed. Muller, ibid. vol. ii. p. 625); of whom the former gives us only the fact, that Terpander was the first victor at the Carneia, without the date; and the latter gives us only the date of the institution of the Carneia, without mentioning the victory of Terpander: the combination of the two statements, on which the force of the chronological argument rests, is made by Athenaeus, whose only object, however, in making it is to prove that Terpander was older than Anacreon; and who, in the very same sentence, quotes the statement of Hieronymus (de Poetis), that Terpander was contemporary with Lycurgus. Mr. Grote says (p. 103, note), " That Terpander was victor at the Spartan festival of the Karneia, in 676, B. C., may well have been derived by Hellanikus from the Spartan registers; " and a similar meaning has been put upon the phrase used by Athenaeus, hos Hellanikos historei, en te tois emmetrois Karneonikais, kan tois katalogaden: but, granting this supposition its full force, Hellanicus does not say that Terpander was victor " in 676, B. C.; " but he does give us, in another fragment, a date irreconcileable with this, namely, that Terpander flourished in the time of Midas (Clem. Alex. Strom. vol. i. p. 398, Potter; Fr. 123, ed. Muller. l. c.). The date 676, B. C., for the institution of the Carneia, therefore, rests alone on the testimony of Sosibius, for it can hardly be doubted that the same date, as given by Africanus (Euseb. Chron. pars i. Ol. 26. p. 144, ed. Mai, vol. i. p. 285, ed. Aucher) was copied from the chronon anagraphe of Sosibius. Still Sosibius alone would undoubtedly be a very high authority; but, in addition to the caution which is required in dealing with indirect evidence, and in addition to the testimonies which assign a different date to Terpander, it may be questioned whether the date of Sosibius for the institution of the Carneia is to be understood literally, or whether it was not derived from some other epoch by a computation which, on a different chronological system, would have given a different result. There can be little doubt that the records of Sparta, which Sosibius "may well have" followed were kept, not by Olympiads, but by the reigns of the kings, and that, in turning the dates of those early kings into Olympiads, Sosibius computed from the date which he assumed for the Trojan War, namely B. C. 1180 ; and that, if he had taken a different date for the Trojan War, e.g. that of B. C. 1217, he would, by the same computation, have placed the institution of the Carneia at Ol. 16, a date which would agree well enough with that really given by Hellanicus (See Car. Muller, Frag. Hist. vol. ii. p. 626). On the whole, then, it seems probable that the date of B. C. 676 is not quite so certain as it has been represented.
With respect to the other testimonies, that of Hellanicus, already referred to, is rendered some-what indefinite by the, at least partly, mythological character of Midas; but, if the date has any historical value at all, it would place Terpander at least as high as Ol. 20, B. C. 700, the date of the death of Midas, according to Eusebius. confirmed by Herodotus (i. 14), who makes Midas a little older than Gyges. To the same effect is the testimony of the Lydian historian Xanthus, who lived before Hellanicus, and who placed Terpander at Ol. 18, B.C. 708 (Clem. Alex. Strom. vol. i. p. 398, Potter). Glaucus of Rhegium also, who lived not long after Hellanicus, stated that Terpander was older than Archilochus, and that he came next after those who first composed aulodic music, meaning perhaps Olympus and Clonas; and Plutarch, who quotes this statement (de Mus. iv. p. 1132, e.) introduces it with the remark, kai tois chronois de sphodra palaios esti, and presently afterwards (5, p. 1133, a) he adds, as a general historical tradition (paradidotai) that Archilochus flourished after Terpander and Clonas. Mr. Grote accepts these testimonies; but draws from them the inference, that Archilochus should be placed lower than he usually is, about B. C. 670 instead of 700. The statement of Hieronymus (Ath. l. c.) that Terpander was contemporary with Lycurgus, is perhaps only another form of the tradition that the laws of Lycurgus were aided by the music and poetry of Terpander and Tyrtaeus, which has evidently no chronological significance. On the other hand, Phanias made Terpander later than Archilochus (Clem. Alex. l. c.), and the chronologers place his musical reform at Ol. 33, 2, B. C. 647 (Euseb.) or Ol. 34. 1, B. C. 644. (Marm. Par. Ep. 34). Lastly, we are told that Terpander was victorious in the musical contest at four successive Pythian festivals ; but there is abundance of evidence to prove that these Pythian musical contests were not those established by the Amphictyons in Ol. 48. 3, but some which had existed long before, and which were celebrated, according to Muller, every eight years, a circumstance which throws doubt on the number of Terpander's victories (See Muller, Dor. b. iv. c. 6. § 2; Grote, Hist. of Greece. vol. iv. p. 103, note). These discrepancies will show the great uncertainty attending the chronology of so early a period, and the danger of resting even upon an apparently definite date; although in the present case, the general comparison of the testimonies makes it far from improbable that the date first assigned is about the right one. All that can be said, with any approach to certainty, is that Terpander flourished somewhere between B. C. 700 and 650, and that his career may possibly have extended either a little above the higher, or, less probably, a little below the lower, of those dates.
Fortunately, we have clearer information respecting the scene and the nature of his artistic labours. From motives which were variously stated by tradition, he removed from Lesbos to Sparta, and there introduced his new system of music, and established the first musical school or system (katastasis) that existed in Greece. (Plut. de Mus. 9, p. 1134, c.: the other authorities respecting the migration of Terpander, the powerful effect of his music on the Spartans, and the honour in which they held him, during his life and after his death, are collected by Plehn, Lesbiaca, p. 147)
In order to explain fully the musical improvements introduced by
Terpander, it would be necessary to enter into the subject of Greek music at
greater length than is consistent with the limits of this article, or the plan
of the work. A full account of the subject will be found in the Dictionary of
Antiquities, art. Musica, in Muller's History of the Literature of Ancient Greece,
c. 12, and in Bockh (de Metr. Pind. iii. 7). It will be enough here to state
that Terpander enlarged the compass of the lyre from a tetrachord to an octave;
but in a peculiar manner. The old lyre had four strings, which were so tuned
that the extreme notes had to one another the relation called by the Greeks
dia tessaron, the fourth, and the two intermediate notes were such, according
to the most ancient genus of music, namely, the diatonic, and the prevailing
mode, the Dorian, that the intervals were (ascending) semitone, tone, tone,
that is:
[Figure] To this tetrachord Terpander added another, the lowest
note of which was one tone above the highest of the other, and the intervals
of which the same as those of the former that is:
[Figure] But, in combining these two tetrachords, he omitted the third
string, reckoning from the highest, so that he intervals (ascending) were 1/2,
1, 1, 1, 11/2, 1 2 , that is :
[Figure] The interval between the extreme notes is an octave, or, as
the Greeks called it, dia pason. Plutarch (de Mus. 19) adduces arguments to
prove that the omission of the third string was intentional; but whether the
reason was, the opinion that it could well be dispensed with, or some theoretical
preference for the number 7, we are not informed. It was afterwards restored,
so that the lyre had eight strings. The following table (from Plehn) shows the
names of the strings, and the intervals between them, in the descending order,
for each lyre: Heptachord. Octachord.
E nete E nete ----------- 1 tone. ----------- 1 tone.
D paranete D paranete ----------- 1 " ----------- 11/2 "
C trite ----------- 1/2 "
B trite B paramese ----------- 1 " ----------- 1 "
A mese A mese ----------- 1 " ----------- 1 "
G lichanos G lichanos ----------- 1 " ----------- 1 "
F parupate F parupate ----------- 1/2 " ----------- 1/2 "
E hupate E hupate
The invention of the seven-stringed lyre, or heptachord, is not
only ascribed to Terpander by several ancient writers, but it is also referred
to in two verses of his own still extant (Eucl. Introd. Harm. p. 19; Strab.
xiii. p. 618):
Soi d hemeis tetragerun aposterxantes aoidan
heptatonoi phormingi neous keladesomen humnous.
It remained in use even as late as the time of Pindar (Pyth. ii. 70, Ncm. v.
22). The invention of the barbiton or magadis, an instrument of greater compass
than an octave, is ascribed to Terpander by Pindar, but probably erroneously
(Pind. ap. Ath. xiv. p. 635, d.; Plehn, Lesb. p. 153). It is impossible here
to enter on the question whether the lyre of Terpander could be adapted, by
tuning its strings differently, to the different modes and genera of Greek music;
and whether his own compositions were in any other mode than the Dorian (See
Dict. of Ant. art. Musica)>
While Terpander thus enlarged the compass of the lyre, he appears
to have been the first who regularly set poetry to music (Clem. Alex. Strom.
vol. i. p. 364, b.). Plutarch (de Mus. 3) tells us that he set his own verses
and those of Homer to certain citharoedic nomes, and sang them in the musical
contests; and that he was the first who gave names to the various citharoedic
nomes. These nomes were simple tunes, from which others could be derived by
slight variations; and these latter were called mele. That the nomes of Terpander
were entirely of his own composition, is not very probable, and indeed there
is evidence to prove that some of them were derived from old tunes, ascribed
to the ancient bards, and others from national melodies. Neither were they all
adapted to the rhythm of the heroic hexameter; for among them we find mention
made of Trochaic nomes and of Orthian nomes, which consisted in a great extension
of certain feet; and there is still extant a fragment of Terpander, which affords
a good specimen of those Spondaic hymns which were sung at festivals of peculiar
solemnity, and the music of which would of course be in keeping with the gravity
of the rhythm and of the meaning (Clem. Alex. Strom. vi. p. 784):
Zeu, panton archa, panton agetor,
Zeu, soi pempo tautan humnon archan.
The question, whether any of Terpander's nomes were aulodic, cannot
be decided with absolute certainty. Nearly all that we know of him is any connection
with citharoedic music; and the arguments adduced to prove that he also used
the flute are by no means conclusive; while, on the other hand, the improvement
of that species of music is expressly ascribed to other composers, as Olympus
and Clonas, who stand in much the same relation to aulodic music as Terpander
does to that of the lyre. It is also uncertain whether his nomes were embodied
in any written system of musical notation, or whether they were handed down
by tradition in the school which he founded. Be this as it may, they remained
for a very long period the standard melodies used at religious festivals, and
the school of Terpander flourished for many generations at Sparta,
and in Lesbos, and throughout
Greece. At the festival of the Carneia, where Terpander had been the first to
obtain a victory, the prize for lyric music was gained in regular succession
by members of his school down to Pericleitus, about B. C. 550. Respecting the
improvements in citharoedic music after the time of Terpander, see Thaletas
at Gortyna.
The remains of Terpander's poetry, which no doubt consisted entirely of religious hymns, are comprised in the two fragments already quoted, and in two others, the one of one hexameter verse (Schol. Arist. Nub. 591), and the other of one and a half (Plut. Lyc. 21), and one reference (Bockh, Plehn, and Muller, as above quoted; Ulrici, Gesch. d. Hellen Dichtk. vol. ii. pp. 341, foll.; Bode, vol. ii. passim; Bergk, Poet. Lyr. Graec. pp. 537, 538).
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited April 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ERESSOS (Ancient city) LESVOS
630 - 570
Sappho ( Aeolic, Psappha). One of the two great leaders of the Aeolian
school of lyric poetry, Alcaeus being the other. She was a native of Mitylene,
or, as some said, of Eresos in Lesbos, and flourished towards the end of
the seventh century B.C. Her father's name was Scamandronymus, who died when she
was only six years old. She had three brothers, Charaxus, Larichus, and Eurigius.
Charaxus was violently upbraided by his sister in a poem, because he became so
enamoured of the courtesan Rhodopis at Naucratis in Egypt as to ransom her from
slavery at an immense price. Sappho was contemporary with Alcaeus, Stesichorus,
and Pittacus. That she was not only contemporary, but lived in friendly intercourse,
with Alcaeus is shown by existing fragments of the poetry of both. Of the events
of her life we have no other information than an obscure allusion in the Parian
Marble and in Ovid ( Her.xv. 51) to her flight from Mitylene to Sicily to escape
some unknown danger, between B.C. 604 and 592; and the common story that being
in love with Phaon, and finding her love unrequited, she leaped down from the
Leucadian Rock. This story, however, seems to have been an invention of later
times. The name of Phaon does not occur in one of Sappho's fragments, and there
is no evidence that he was mentioned in her poems. As for the leap from the Leucadian
Rock, it is a mere metaphor, taken from an expiatory rite connected with the worship
of Apollo, which seems to have been a frequent poetical image. At Mitylene Sappho
appears to have been the leader of a feminine literary set, most of the members
of which were her pupils in poetry, fashion, and gallantry, so that from this
association later writers have attempted to prove that the moral character of
Sappho was not free from all reproach; and it is difficult to read the fragments
which remain of her verse without being forced to come to the conclusion that
a woman who could write such poetry could not be the pure woman that her modern
apologists would have her. (See the defence of Sappho by Welcker [1816] and the
various papers in the Rheinisches Museum for 1857-58.) Of her poetical genius,
however, there cannot be a question. The ancient writers agree in expressing the
most unbounded admiration for the passion, sincerity, and grace of her poetry.
Already in her own age the recitation of one of her poems so affected Solon that
he expressed an earnest desire to learn it before he died. Her lyric poems formed
nine books, but of these only fragments have come down to us. The most important
is a splendid ode to Aphrodite, of which we perhaps possess the whole. The best
editions of the fragments is by Neue (Berlin, 1827), and that in Bergk's Poet.
Lyrici Graeci, vol. iii. (4th ed. 1882). The fragments are all collected and translated
into English by Wharton with a full bibliography in his Sappho (Chicago, 1895).
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Feb 2003 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Phaon. A boatman at Mitylene who is said to have been originally an ugly old man; but in consequence of his carrying Aphrodite across the sea without accepting payment, the goddess gave him youth and beauty. After this Sappho is said to have fallen in love with him, and to have leaped from the Leucadian rock, when he slighted her.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Feb 2003 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Sappho to Phaon, P. Ovidius Naso, The Epistles of Ovid
Leucatas, is a rock of white 14 color jutting out from Leucas into the sea and towards Cephallenia and therefore it took its name from its color. It contains the temple of Apollo Leucatas, and also the "Leap," which was believed to put an end to the longings of love. Where Sappho is said to have been the first, as Menander says, when through frantic longing she was chasing the haughty Phaon, to fling herself with a leap from the far-seen rock, calling upon thee in prayer, O lord and master.
This extract is from: The Geography of Strabo (ed. H. L. Jones, 1924), Cambridge. Harvard University Press. Cited Feb 2003 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains comments & interesting hyperlinks.
Gorgo, a lyric poetess, a contemporary and rival of Sappho, who often attacked her in her poems. (Max. Tyr. Diss. xxiv. 9)
Damophila (Damophile). A poetess of Lesbos, intimate with Sappho. She composed a hymn on the worship of the Pergaean Artemis (Philostrat. Vit. Apollon. i. 20).
(Arion). A Greek poet and musician, of Methymna in Lesbos, who flourished about B.C. 625. In the course of a roving life he spent a considerable time at the court of Periander, tyrant of Corinth. Here he first gave the dithyramb (q.v.) an artistic form, and was therefore regarded as the inventor of that style in general. He is best known by the story of his rescue on the back of a dolphin. Returning from a journey through Lower Italy and Sicily, he trusted himself to a crew of Corinthian sailors, who resolved to kill him on the open sea for the sake of his treasures. As a last favour he extorted the permission to sing his songs once more to the lyre, and then to throw himself into the sea.
His strains drew a number of dolphins around him, one of which took him on its back, and carried him safe to land at the foot of the foreland of Taenarum. Thence he hastened to Corinth, and convicted the sailors, who were telling Periander that they had left the minstrel safe at Tarentum ( Hyg. Fab.194). A bronze statue of a man on a dolphin, which stood on the top of Taenarum, was supposed to be his thank-offering to Poseidon ( Herod.i. 24). A hymn of thanksgiving to the god of the sea, preserved under his name, belongs to a later time.
Arion, an ancient Greek bard and great master on the cithara, was a native of Methymna in Lesbos, and, according to some accounts, a son of Cyclon or of Poseidon and the nymph Oncaea. He is called the inventor of the dithyrambic poetry, and of the name dithyramb (Herod. i. 23; Schol. ad Pind. Ol. xiii. 25). All traditions about him agree in describing him as a contemporary and friend of Periander, tyrant of Corinth, so that he must have lived about B. C. 700. He appears to have spent a great part of his life at the court of Periander, but respecting his life and his poetical or musical productions, scarcely anything is known beyond the beautiful story of his escape from the sailors with whom he sailed from Sicily to Corinth. On one occasion, thus runs the story, Arion went to Sicily to take part in some musical contest. He won the prize, and, laden with presents, he embarked in a Corinthian ship to return to his friend Periander. The rude sailors coveted his treasures, and meditated his murder. Apollo, in a dream, informed his beloved bard of the plot. After having tried in vain to save his life, he at length obtained permission once more to seek delight in his song and playing on the cithara. In festal attire he placed himself in the prow of the ship and invoked the gods in inspired strains, and then threw himself into the sea. But many song-loving dolphins had assembled round the vessel, and one of them now took the bard on its back and carried him to Taenarus, from whence he returned to Corinth in safety, and related his adventure to Periander. When the Corinthian vessel arrived likewise, Periander inquired of the sailors after Arion, and they said that he had remained behind at Tarentum; but when Arion, at the bidding of Periander, came forward, the sailors owned their guilt and were punished according to their desert (Herod. i. 24; Gellius, xvi. 19; Hygin. Fab. 194; Paus. iii. 25.5.) In the time of Herodotus and Pausanias there existed on Taenarus a brass monument, which was dedicated there either by Periander or Arion himself, and which represented him riding on a dolphin. Arion and his cithara (lyre) were placed among the stars (Hygin. l. c.; Serv. ad Virg. Eclog. viii. 54; Aelian, H. A. xii. 45).
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
...Periander, who disclosed the oracle's answer to Thrasybulus, was the son of
Cypselus, and sovereign of Corinth. The Corinthians say (and the Lesbians agree)
that the most marvellous thing that happened to him in his life was the landing
on Taenarus of Arion of Methymna, brought there by a dolphin. This Arion was a
lyre-player second to none in that age; he was the first man whom we know to compose
and name the dithyramb which he afterwards taught at Corinth.
They say that this Arion, who spent most of his time with Periander,
wished to sail to Italy and Sicily, and that after he had made a lot of money
there he wanted to come back to Corinth. Trusting none more than the Corinthians,
he hired a Corinthian vessel to carry him from Tarentum.But when they were out
at sea, the crew plotted to take Arion's money and cast him overboard. Discovering
this, he earnestly entreated them, asking for his life and offering them his money.
But the crew would not listen to him, and told him either to kill himself and
so receive burial on land or else to jump into the sea at once. Abandoned to this
extremity, Arion asked that, since they had made up their minds, they would let
him stand on the half-deck in all his regalia and sing; and he promised that after
he had sung he would do himself in. The men, pleased at the thought of hearing
the best singer in the world, drew away toward the waist of the vessel from the
stern. Arion, putting on all his regalia and taking his lyre, stood up on the
half-deck and sang the "Stirring Song," and when the
song was finished he threw himself into the sea, as he was with all his regalia.
So the crew sailed away to Corinth; but a dolphin (so the story goes) took Arion
on his back and bore him to Taenarus. Landing there, he went to Corinth in his
regalia, and when he arrived, he related all that had happened. Periander, skeptical,
kept him in confinement, letting him go nowhere, and waited for the sailors. When
they arrived, they were summoned and asked what news they brought of Arion. While
they were saying that he was safe in Italy and that they had left him flourishing
at Tarentum, Arion appeared before them, just as he was when he jumped from the
ship; astonished, they could no longer deny what was proved against them. This
is what the Corinthians and Lesbians say, and there is a little bronze memorial
of Arion on Taenarus, the figure of a man riding upon a dolphin.
Commentary:
1. The dithyramb was a kind of dance-music particularly associated with the cult
of Dionysus.
2. Stirring Song (orthios nomos) was a high-pitched (and apparently very well-known)
song or hymn in honor of Apollo.
This extract is from: Herodotus. The Histories (ed. A. D. Godley, 1920), Cambridge. Harvard University Press. Cited Oct 2003 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains comments & interesting hyperlinks.
Methymna, whence came Arion, who, according to a myth told by Herodotus and his followers, safely escaped on a dolphin to Taenarum after being thrown into the sea by the pirates. Now Arion played, and sang to, the cithara; and Terpander, also, is said to have been an artist in the same music and to have been born in the same island, having been the first person to use the seven-stringed instead of the four-stringed lyre, as we are told in the verses attributed to him:
For thee I, having dismissed four-toned song, shall sing new hymns to the tune of a seven-stringed cithara
This extract is from: The Geography of Strabo (ed. H. L. Jones, 1924), Cambridge. Harvard University Press. Cited Oct 2003 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains comments & interesting hyperlinks.
The Dithyramb.The Dorian worship of the gods, and especially of Apollo, had been accompanied from an early time by choral lyrics, to which an artistic development was given by Alcman of Sparta (660 B.C.) and Stesichorus of Himera (620 B.C.). It was reserved for a man of Aeolian origin to perfect one particular species of the poetry which Dorians had made their own.Arion, of Methymna in Lesbos, lived about 600 B.C. He gave a finished form to the dithurambos, or choral hymn in honour of Dionysus. The kuklios choros--i. e. the chorus which stood, or danced, round the altar of Dionysus--received from him a more complete organisation, its number being fixed at fifty. The earliest kuklioi choroi of this kind were trained and produced by Arion at Corinth in the reign of Periander. Pindar alludes to this when he speaks of Corinth as the place where the graces of Dionysus --the joyous song and dance of his festival--were first shown forth, sun boelatai . . . dithuramboi (Olymp. xiii. 19). The epithet boelates which is there given to the dithyramb probably refers to the fact that an ox was the prize, rather than to a symbolical identification of Dionysus with that animal. In one of his lost poems Pindar had connected the origin of the dithyramb with Naxos, and, in another, with Thebes. This is quite consistent with Corinth having been the first home of the matured dithyramb. It is well known that the dithyramb had existed before Arion's time. The earliest occurrence of the word is in Archilochus (circ. 670 B.C.), fr. 79: hos Dionusoi' anaktos kalon exarxai melos | oida dithurambon, oinoi sunkeraunotheis phrenas--a testimony to the impassioned character of the song. Herodotus speaks of Arion as not merely the developer, but the inventor (i. 23); and Aristotle made a similar statement, if we can trust the citation in Photius (ton de arxamenon tes oides Aristoteles Ariona phesin einai, hos protos ton kuklion egage choron: Biblioth. Cod. 239). But it was natural that the man who developed and popularised the dithyramb should have come to figure in tradition as its inventor. The etymology of dithurambos is unknown. Plato conjectures that its original theme was the birth of Dionysus (Legg. p. 700 B). If this was so, at any rate the scope must soon have been enlarged, so as to include all the fortunes of the god.
This extract is from: A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890) (eds. William Smith, LLD, William Wayte, G. E. Marindin). Cited August 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Arion: Various WebPages
Epic poet
MITHYMNA (Ancient city) LESVOS
In the course of it, we happened to meet with a storm which forced us to put in at a place within the territory of Methymna, where the boat on to which Herodes transhipped, and on which the prosecution maintain that he met his end, lay at anchor.
(Athenian) lost his life at Methymna while serving as trierarch.
Aristonicus (Aristonikos), a tyrant of Methymnae in Lesbos. In B. C. 332, when the navarchs of Alexander the Great had already taken possession of the harbour of Chios, Aristonicus arrived during the night with some privateer ships, and entered it under the belief that it was still in the hands of the Persians. He was taken prisoner and delivered up to the Methymnaeans, who put him to death in a cruel manner. (Arrian, Anab. iii. 2; Curtius, iv. 4)
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