Heraclitus of Halicarnassus
Heraclitus of Halicarnassus ( ancient Greek Ἡράκλειτος ὁ Ἁλικαρνασσεύς , Latinized Heraclitus Halicarnassensis , * around 320 BC in.. Halicarnassus ; † around 260 BC..) Was a Hellenistic poet and writer of elegies of Caria in today's Turkey . Little is known about his life, especially since only one of his poems has survived; Heraclitus is also quoted by Diogenes Laertios in his work.
Heraclitus was a contemporary and friend of the famous Callimachus of Cyrene, who wrote an epitaph on him as his deceased friend.
Εἰπέ τις, Ἡράκλειτε, τεὸν μόρον ἐς δέ με δάκρυ
ἤγαγεν ἐμνήσθην δ᾿ ὁσσάκις ἀμφότεροι
ἠέλδιον λεσύ κατενννννν Ἀλλὰ σὺ μέν που,
ξεῖν Ἁλικαρνησεῦ, τετράπαλαι σποδιή,
αἱ δὲ τεαὶ ζώουσιν ἀηδόνες, ὁ πάντων ᾗσιν
ἁρπακτὴς Ἀίδης οὐκ ἐπὶ χεῖρα βαλεῖ.
I was told, Herakleitus, your death; it
drove me to tears when I remembered how often we both put
the sun to sleep in conversation. But you, it seems to me,
guest from Halicarnassus, a heap of ashes for a long time.
But they live, your nightingales, to which
robbers of all things , Hades, do not lay a hand.
A poem by William Cory is based on this epitaph .
literature
- Diogenes Laertius : Liber II , paginae 424-425.
Remarks
- ↑ Anthologia Palatina 7, 465.
- ↑ Callimachos XXXIV GP ( Anthologia Palatina 7.80).
personal data | |
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SURNAME | Heraclitus of Halicarnassus |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Herakleitos of Halicarnassus, Heraclitus Halicarnassensis; Heraclitus of Halicarnassus |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Poet, poet of elegance |
DATE OF BIRTH | around 320 BC Chr. |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Halicarnassus |
DATE OF DEATH | around 260 BC Chr. |