Christodorus

Christodoros ( Greek  Χριστόδωρος ) from Koptos near Thebes was a Greek poet from late antiquity who lived under the Eastern Roman emperor Anastasios I (ruled 491-518).

Christodoros, the son of a certain Paniskos, came from the Egyptian Koptos. He grew up with a considerable education and, above all, acquired an extensive knowledge of epic poetry and mythology . However, his rather extensive writings have largely been lost.

He wrote numerous epic poems in which he dealt with the founding history of various cities and landscapes ( a treatise in 12 books on Constantinople , 25 books on Thessaloniki , plus historical works on Nakle , Miletus , Lydia , Tralleis and Aphrodisias ) or contemporary events. His Isauriká ( Ἰσαυρικά ) described in six books the conquest of Isauria by Emperor Anastasios. He also wrote a work on the students of the Neoplatonic philosopher Proclus . In his epigrams (three books) and epistles (four books) he most likely negotiated contemporary people and events. In the Anthologia Palatine two of its Epigramme are obtained ( Anthologia Palatine VII 697. 698).

He should not with the poet Christodorus Thebaîos Illústrios ( Χριοτόδωρος Θηβαῖος Ἰλλούστριος be confused), which according to the Suda a didactic poem Ixeutiká ( Ἰξευτικά catch) on the art of birds with lime-twigs, and a treatise on the wonders of St. Cosmas and Damian , and " many other works ”( ἄλλα πολλά ) wrote.

The most extensive preserved work of Christodorus is the Ἔκφρασις τῶν ἀγαλμάτων τῶν εἰς τὸ δημόσιον γυμνάσιον τοῦ ἐπικαλουμένου Ζευξίππου ( Ekphrasis ton agalmátōn ton ice to dēmósion gymnasium epikalouménou Zeuxíppou ) describes in which he destroyed 80 statues in the 532 in verse Zeuxippos Baths to Konstantin Opel. 416 verses of the work have survived in the second book of the Anthologia Palatina. According to research, these descriptions are not relevant to the history of art of antiquity as they aim at rhetorical elegance and mythographic erudition rather than the exact description of locations or works of art. In terms of verse, Christodoros follows his predecessor Nonnos von Panopolis : At caesuras , for example, the penthemimers can be found in every verse; He avoids spurious feet. In the legend versions, he proves a great knowledge of Homeric , but also of Alexandrian mythology. Christodoros also refers to his role model Homer through the choice of words (with a preference for rare expressions, hapax legomena ).

The few historical sources are collected in The Fragments of the Greek Historians (No. 283) or in Brill's New Jacoby (there with English translation and commentary by Anthony Kaldellis).

literature

• Francesco Tissoni: Cristodoro. Un'introduzione e un commento . Alessandria 2000.