Mnaseas

Mnaseas of Patara ( Greek Μνασέας ὁ Παταρεύς ) was a Greek historian and geographer of the late 3rd century BC. BC, who was active in Alexandria . Only a few fragments of his works, in which he dealt with Greek myths and oracles , have survived, which go back to quotations from later authors.

In terms of the designation of origin, the manuscripts vary between Patrai and Patara (Πατρεύς or Παταρεύς); That the latter is preferable is shown by the quote "Μνα [σέας ὁ] Παταρ [εύς" of a papyrus from Oxyrhynchos published in 1919 . After the Suda , Mnaseas was a student of Eratosthenes , on which the determination of his creative time is based.

The most frequently cited work of Mnaseas dealt with myths and stories of miracles in geographical order and was apparently entitled " Periplus ". Since the individual books are also cited in the plural as “ Periegeseis ”, the work was apparently arranged according to landscapes. The individual books are listed either with numbers or alternatively with titles such as “Europe”, “European”, “About Asia” or “About Libya” (Africa). The fragments show that Mnaseas processed the material of older mythographers (such as Pherecydes of Athens , Xanthos the Lydians and Hellanikos of Lesbos ) in a manner customary for Hellenistic scholars , tried to establish genealogical connections and rationalized fabulous narratives in the style of euhemerism . The fragments of the second work “On oracle sayings” (περὶ χρησμῶν) also show similar tendencies.

The fragments of Mnaseas were last collected, edited and commented on by Pietro Cappelletto in 2003. The collection replaces the outdated and incomplete ones by Eugen Mehler and Karl Müller ( Fragmenta historicorum Graecorum ).

Text output

Pietro Cappelletto: I frammenti di Mnasea. Introduzione, testo e commento . Edizioni Universitarie di Lettere Economia Diritto, Milan 2003, ISBN 88-7916-209-8 .

literature

Richard Laqueur : Mnaseas 6th In: Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume XV, 2, Stuttgart 1932, Col. 2250-2252.
Gregor Damschen : Mnaseas 2. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 8, Metzler, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-476-01478-9 , column 301.

Individual evidence

↑ Grenfell-Hunt: The Oxyrhynchus Papyri , Volume 13, London 1919, pp. 128-135 (POxy XIII 1611: Digitized in the Internet Archive ).
↑ Suda, article “Eratosthenes” (ε 2898).
↑ Mnaseae Patarensis fragmenta. Collegit et commentario instruxit Eugenius Mehler . Leiden 1847. Karl Müller: Fragmenta historicorum Graecorum . Volume 3, Paris 1849, pp. 149-158; Volume 4, Paris 1851, pp. 659-660.

personal data
SURNAME	Mnaseas
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Mnaseas of Patara; Mnaseas from Patrai
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	ancient Greek geographer and historian
DATE OF BIRTH	3rd century BC Chr.
PLACE OF BIRTH	Patara
DATE OF DEATH	2nd century BC Chr.

[1] Grenfell-Hunt: The Oxyrhynchus Papyri , Volume 13, London 1919, pp. 128-135 (POxy XIII 1611: Digitized in the Internet Archive ).

[2] Suda, article “Eratosthenes” (ε 2898).

[3] Mnaseae Patarensis fragmenta. Collegit et commentario instruxit Eugenius Mehler . Leiden 1847. Karl Müller: Fragmenta historicorum Graecorum . Volume 3, Paris 1849, pp. 149-158; Volume 4, Paris 1851, pp. 659-660.