Herakleides of Kyme

Herakleides of Kyme was an ancient Greek historian . He lived around the middle of the 4th century BC. Chr.

Herakleides came from Kyme in Asia Minor . Nothing is known about his life. It is only known that he wrote a "Persian story" ( Persika ) in five books. Only fragments of the work have survived, but they contain important information, especially since the Persika was also used by Plutarch and Athenaeus . Plutarch used the work in his Vita of the Great King Artaxerxes II , Athenaios in his work Deipnosophistai . While in the first part of Persica , probably in the first two books, especially Persia itself and the customs there were presented, the second part deals with Persian history.

Herakleides offers a very detailed (and non-moralizing) insight into life at the Persian court of the great king Artaxerxes II. He describes the splendid court life and tells of the king's concubines hunting (pallakides) and of 300 women in the harem who slept during the day , but during the night they entertained the king with singing and playing the harp ( Dinon von Kolophon speaks of 360 women). The festivities at court are also described, when the guests and the great king did not sit at the same table, but were separated from each other by curtains. The great king's circle of friends and the honors Artaxerxes bestowed on him by well-meaning Greeks are also mentioned.

Although the credibility of Heraclide was often doubted, especially in older research, the value of the descriptions is recognized in modern research.

Editions and translations

The Fragments of the Greek Historians No. 689
Dominique Lenfant (ed.): Les "Histoires perses" de Dinon et d'Héraclide (= Persika. 13). Fragments édités, traduits et commentés. De Boccard, Paris 2009, ISBN 978-2-7018-0255-8 .

literature

Eran Almagor: Plutarch and the Persica. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh 2018.
Gabriele Marasco: Ctesia, Dinone, Eraclide di Cuma e le origini della storiografia tragica. In: Studi italiani di filologia classica 6, 1988, pp. 48-67.
Rosemary B. Stevenson: Persica. Greek Writing about Persia in the Fourth Century BC (= Scottish Classical Studies. Vol. 5). Scottish Academic Press, Edinburgh 1997, ISBN 0-7073-0719-8 .

Remarks

↑ In older research, the dates of Herakleides' life were dated to the 3rd century BC. It was published by Franz Rühl in: Yearbooks for Classical Philology. Vol. 34, 1888, ZDB -ID 220563-4 , p. 121f .; this has also established itself in modern research.
↑ Cf. in general Rainer Bernhardt : Luxury criticism and expenditure restrictions in the Greek world (= Historia . Individual writings 168). Steiner, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-515-08320-0 , pp. 130ff .; Josef Wiesehöfer : Ancient Persia. From 550 BC Until 650 AD Albatros, Düsseldorf 2005, ISBN 3-491-96151-3 , p. 67ff.
↑ See the explanations in Pierre Briant : From Cyrus to Alexander. A History of the Persian Empire. Eisenbrauns, Winona Lake IN 2002, ISBN 1-57506-031-0 , pp. 255ff.

personal data
SURNAME	Herakleides of Kyme
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	ancient Greek historian
DATE OF BIRTH	5th century BC BC or 4th century BC Chr.
PLACE OF BIRTH	Kyme , Asia Minor
DATE OF DEATH	4th century BC BC or 3rd century BC Chr.

[1] In older research, the dates of Herakleides' life were dated to the 3rd century BC. It was published by Franz Rühl in: Yearbooks for Classical Philology. Vol. 34, 1888, ZDB -ID 220563-4 , p. 121f .; this has also established itself in modern research.

[2] Cf. in general Rainer Bernhardt : Luxury criticism and expenditure restrictions in the Greek world (= Historia . Individual writings 168). Steiner, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-515-08320-0 , pp. 130ff .; Josef Wiesehöfer : Ancient Persia. From 550 BC Until 650 AD Albatros, Düsseldorf 2005, ISBN 3-491-96151-3 , p. 67ff.

[3] See the explanations in Pierre Briant : From Cyrus to Alexander. A History of the Persian Empire. Eisenbrauns, Winona Lake IN 2002, ISBN 1-57506-031-0 , pp. 255ff.