Agatharchides
Agatharchides ( Greek Ἀγαθαρχίδης Agatharchídēs ; * around 208 BC; † after 132/131 BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer. His works were created during the reign of the Egyptian king Ptolemy VI. (180-145 BC).
Agatharchides came from Knidos in Asia Minor . He wrote two extensive historical works on Europe and Asia, which have only been preserved in fragments: the Asian ( Άσιατικά ), a history of Asia in 10 books (excerpts from Diodorus about the causes of the Nile threshold , description of Arabia and Ethiopia) and the Europika ( Εὐροπικά ), a history of “Europe” in 49 books (some fragments in Athenaios ). Apparently these works showed a tendency towards social criticism. In addition, Agatharchides wrote a treatise on the Red Sea ( Περὶ Πόντου Έρυθροῦ Peri Pontou Erythrou ) in 5 books, in which he discussed the work in the Egyptian gold mines. Extracts from this work, which has also been lost, have been preserved in Diodorus and Photios . Only the titles of other works are known.
Agatharchides was used by later authors such as Artemidor of Ephesus and Diodorus.
In 1935 the lunar crater Agatharchides was named after him.
expenditure
- The Fragments of the Greek Historians , No. 86.
- Agatharchides of Knidos: Across the Red Sea. Translation and commentary by Dieter Woelk. Bamberg 1966 (also dissertation, Freiburg im Breisgau 1966).
- Agatharchides of Cnidus: On the Erythraean Sea (= Works issued by the Hakluyt Society . Vol. 172). Edited and translated by Stanley M. Burstein. London 1989, ISBN 0-904180-28-X .
literature
- Richard Goulet: Agatharchidès de Cnide. In: Richard Goulet (ed.): Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques. Volume 1, CNRS, Paris 1989, ISBN 2-222-04042-6 , pp. 63-64.
- Manfred Landfester: Agatharchides from Knidos. In: Manfred Landfester (ed.): History of ancient texts. Lexicon of authors and works (= Der Neue Pauly . Supplements. Volume 2). Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 2007, ISBN 978-3-476-02030-7 , p. 3.
- Eduard Schwartz : Agatharchides 3 . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume I, 1, Stuttgart 1893, Col. 739-741 (outdated research status).
personal data | |
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SURNAME | Agatharchides |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Greek historian and geographer |
DATE OF BIRTH | around 208 BC Chr. |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Knidos |
DATE OF DEATH | after 132 BC Chr. |