Himerios

Himerios (* around 320 in Prusias ad Hypium in Bithynia , † after 383 in Athens ) was an important Athenian rhetorician of late antiquity .

Life

Himerios was born around 320 as the son of the Bithynian rhetorician Ameinias. He spent his childhood in Prusias, his rhetoric studies in Athens; Whether he was a student of Proaeresius there, as has been suggested on various occasions , cannot be decided. After completing his studies, he first went to Constantinople and probably opened a school there in 343. He stayed in the capital until 352 before moving to Athens and taking up teaching there. In the winter of 361/362 he went to the court of Emperor Julianbecause he was obviously hoping for a position at court. However, the early death of the emperor destroyed this - probably exaggerated - hope. After the death of Emperor Julians, the trace of Himerios is initially lost; he does not appear to have returned to Athens until about 369 and to resume teaching. He would not have left Athens until his death.

plant

Overall, 74 speeches have been preserved either directly or in more or less detailed excerpts (extracts) from Photios . In terms of content, these are practice speeches from school operations, greetings to imperial officials and speeches on private occasions. Himerios is characterized by a decidedly Asian, sometimes almost poetic style, which was typical of the time, but later received little recognition.

Editions and translations

• Aristide Colonna (Ed.): Himerius: Declamationes et orationes cum deperditarum fragmentis . Accademia dei Lincei, Rome 1951
• Harald Völker : Himerios. Speeches and fragments . Wiesbaden 2003 (basic translation of Himerios' speeches with extensive introduction)

literature

• Jacques Schamp: Himérius de Prousias. In: Richard Goulet (ed.): Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques . Volume 3, CNRS Éditions, Paris 2000, ISBN 2-271-05748-5 , pp. 708-742
• Elżbieta Szabat: Himerios. 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. 174 f.