Apollodorus of Athens (writer)

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Apollodor of Athens ( Greek  Ἀπολλόδωρος [ὁ Ἀθηναῖος] Apollódōros [ho Athēnaíos] ; born around 180 BC † after 120/119 BC, probably after 110/109 BC) was an important grammarian and influential Writer from the second half of the 2nd century BC BC, who worked in Alexandria , Pergamon and Athens .

Life

Apollodorus was the son of Asclepiades from Athens and a student of the Stoic Diogenes of Babylon and Aristarchus of Samothrace . In Athens he was friends with Panaitios , but probably not his pupil.

His Χρονικά ( Chronicle ) is dedicated to Attalus II of Pergamon and is the first didactic poem in iambic trimeters. His Περὶ θεῶν (“About Gods”) in 22 books is also significant along with numerous philological works. From his philological work at the Museion it is known, among other things, that he edited the text of the Comedies of Epicharmos . The persecution of scholars under Ptolemy VIII Physkon (145/144 BC) probably put an end to his stay in Alexandria . Apollodorus first lived in Athens, then went to Alexandria, then to Pergamon, before he returned to Athens and probably died there. From 120-118 he taught Philo of Larissa in Athens.

Works

None of his works have survived (except in fragments). The 356 fragments are mainly preserved in Homer's scholia .

The works of Apollodor who are known by title include:

  • Χρονικά ( Chronika ), a world history in four books from the capture of Troy to the year 110 BC B.C., written in iambic trimeters .
  • Περὶ θεῶν ( Peri theōn , "About Gods"), a philological-theological work in 24 books as a representation of the Greek religion
  • Περὶ τοῦ νεῶν καταλόγου , a commentary on Homer's ship catalog in Canto 2 of the Iliad in 12 books
  • Περὶ τῶν Αθήνησιν ἑταιρίδων ("About the Athens Hetaera ")
  • Περὶ Ἐπιχάρμου , the above-mentioned Epicharmos commentary in 10 books
  • Περὶ Σώφρονος ("About Sophron ", at least 4 books)
  • Ἐτυμολογίαι ("etymologies")

The most well-known work in antiquity and today that is associated with his name, the so-called Library of Apollodorus , probably dates from the 1st century CE (at the earliest 61/60 BC) and therefore cannot have Apollodorus as its author . As a compilation of mythological knowledge from the early imperial era, however, it is a valuable source of Greek mythology .

Text output

literature

  • Tiziano Dorandi: Apollodore d'Athènes . In: Richard Goulet (ed.): Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques , Vol. 1, CNRS, Paris 1989, ISBN 2-222-04042-6 , pp. 271-274
  • Kilian Fleischer: The Original Verses of Apollodorus' Chronica ("Edition, Translation and Commentary on the First Iambic Didactic Poem in the Light of New Evidence"). De Gruyter, Berlin / Boston 2020, ISBN 978-3-11-070338-2 .
  • Peter M. Fraser : Ptolemaic Alexandria . Sandpiper Books, London 2001, ISBN 0-19-814278-1 , p. 471 (reprint of Oxford 1972 edition)
  • Robert Münzel , Eduard Schwartz : Apollodoros (61) . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume I, 2, Stuttgart 1894, Col. 2856-2875.
  • Günther Neumann: Fragments of Apollodor's commentary on the Homeric ship catalog in the Lexicon of Stephanos of Byzantium . Dissertation, University of Göttingen 1953
  • Rudolf Pfeiffer : History of Classical Philology. From the beginnings to the end of Hellenism ("A History of Classical Scholarship"). 2nd edition, Beck, Munich 1978, ISBN 3-406-03751-8
  • Eduard Schwartz: Greek historian . 2nd edition, Koehler & Amelang, Leipzig 1959, pp. 253-281

Web links

Wikisource: Apollodorus of Athens  - Sources and full texts

Footnotes

  1. ↑ See Suda , keyword Apollodoros ( Ἀπολλόδωρος ), Adler number: alpha 3407 , Suda-Online and Pseduo-Scymnus, V. 16-21.
  2. ^ MF Williams: Apollodoros of Athens (244) . Brill's New Jacoby online, 2018.
  3. ^ Kilian Fleischer: The Original Verses of Apollodorus' Chronica ("Edition, Translation and Commentary on the First Iambic Didactic Poem in the Light of New Evidence"). De Gruyter, Berlin / Boston 2020, ISBN 978-3-11-070338-2 , pp. 7-23. We have recently learned that he was a teacher of Philo from a new reading in a papyrus (Philodems Index Academicorum).
personal data
SURNAME Apollodorus of Athens
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ἀπολλόδωρος ὁ Αθηναῖος (ancient Greek); Apollódōros ho Athenaîos (ancient Greek)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Greek grammarian
DATE OF BIRTH 2nd century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH after 120/119 BC Chr.