Favorinus

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Favorinus (* around 80 in Arelate ; † around 160) was a Roman philosopher and sophist during the reign of Hadrian . He was a student of Dion Chrysostom and is assigned to Academic Skepticism .

Favorinus made appearances in Rome, Athens, Ionia and Corinth and was a friend of Plutarch , who dedicated his work De primo frigido (About the primary cold) to him. His opponent was Polemon of Laodikeia ; therefore perhaps he was banished to Chios under Hadrian . Under Antoninus Pius Favorinus stayed again in Rome, where he enjoyed great popularity with the public, and finally lived permanently in Rome.

Favorinus wrote numerous writings with a philosophical, particularly popular-philosophical content, epideictic declamations and speeches, especially the ἀπομνημονεύματα (Memories) , a work of at least five volumes on the history of philosophy, and the παντοδαπὴ ἱστορία ( multiple history of books covering a wide range of realities ) that Diogenes Laërtius may have used. Apart from three speeches, only titles and fragments of his works have survived. He wrote an artificial, overloaded style with lots of classic quotes.

Three speeches, two of which have been handed down under Dion Chrysostom, are attributed to him: Κορυνθιακός ( The Corinthian ), a description of Corinth; περὶ τύχης ( About the Tyche ), Discussion of Fate; περὶ φυγῆς ( About exile ), written in Chios in exile (papyrus discovery).

Philostratus , who wrote a biography of Favorinus, called him ανδρόθηλυς ( androgynous ) and εὐνοῦχος ( eunuch ). This news is confirmed by Polemon . Gellius , who often names and cites Favorinus, and the Suda provide further information .

Editions and translations

  • Eckart Mensching (ed.): Favorin von Arelate: The first part of the fragments. Memorabilia and omnigena historia. De Gruyter, Berlin 1963 (critical edition with commentary)
  • Favorinos d'Arles: oeuvres. Les Belles Lettres, Paris 2005 ff. (Critical edition with French translation and commentary)
    • Volume 1: Introduction générale, témoignages, discours aux Corinthiens, Sur la Fortune , ed. by Eugenio Amato, 2005, ISBN 2-251-00528-5
    • Volume 3: Fragments , ed. by Eugenio Amato, 2010, ISBN 978-2-251-00557-7
  • Georg Luck (ed.): The wisdom of dogs. Texts of the ancient Cynics in German translation with explanations (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 484). Kröner, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-520-48401-3 , pp. 360-376.

literature

  • Damian Caluori, Richard Bett: Academic Skepticism. In: Christoph Riedweg et al. (Hrsg.): Philosophy of the imperial era and late antiquity (= outline of the history of philosophy . The philosophy of antiquity. Volume 5/1). Schwabe, Basel 2018, ISBN 978-3-7965-3698-4 , pp. 212-214, 249 f.
  • Simone Follet: Favorinus d'Arles. In: Richard Goulet (ed.): Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques . Volume 3, CNRS Éditions, Paris 2000, ISBN 2-271-05748-5 , pp. 418-422
  • Krystyna Stebnicka: Favorinus. In: Paweł Janiszewski, Krystyna Stebnicka, Elżbieta Szabat: Prosopography of Greek Rhetors and Sophists of the Roman Empire. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2015, ISBN 978-0-19-871340-1 , pp. 134 f.

Remarks

  1. ↑ Dion Chrysostom, or. 37.25.
  2. ↑ Dion Chrysostom, or. 37.
  3. ↑ Dion Chrysostom, or. 64.
  4. ↑ Philostratus, vit. soph. 1.8.
  5. ↑ Richard Foerster (Ed.): Scriptores physiognomonici , Vol. 1, Leipzig 1893, p. 160.
  6. ↑ For example Noctes Atticae 1,3,27; 2.12.5.
personal data
SURNAME Favorinus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Roman philosopher and orator
DATE OF BIRTH 1st century
DATE OF DEATH 2nd century