(Bibl. Gr.
xi. p. 413, &c.), amounts to nearly one hundred, twenty of whom are recounted by Diogenes
Laertius. We subjoin a list of those who are mentioned by ancient authors, and exclude those
who are unknown except from unpublished MSS. scattered about in various libraries of
Europe.
1. Of ADRAMYTTIUM, surnamed IXION,
which surname is traced to various causes, among which we may mention, that he was said to
have committed a robbery in the temple of Hera at Alexandria. (Suidas, s.
v.
l.c.; Eudoc.,
p. 132; Schol. Venet. ad Il. 1.424, 3.18, 6.437 ; Villoison, Proleg. ad Apollon. Lex. p. 27.) 2. ad Aristoph. Birds 1568,
Ran. 78, 186, 310, 1001, 1021, 1227.) 6. On the Greek verbs terminating in
2. Of ALEXANDRIA, a Cynic philosopher, and a disciple of
Theombrotus. (
3. Of ALEXANDRIA, a Peripatetic philosopher. (
There is a work entitled
It was first printed in Rhetores Graeci, i. p. 573,
&c.Rhetor. Graec. vol. ix. init.
4. Of ASPENDUS, a Peripatetic philosopher, and a disciple of
Apollonius of Soli. (
5. Of BITHYNIA. See below.
6. Of BYZANTIUM, a Greek historian, was the author of two works
(de Fontibus Veterum in enarrand.
Exped. Gallorum, p. 14, &c.)
7. Of BYZANTIUM, a Peripatetic philosopher (Volum. Herculan. i. p. 106, &c., ed. Oxford.)
It is further not impossible that this philosopher may be the same as the one who tried to
dissuade Cato at Utica from committing suicide. (
8. Surnamed CALLATIANUS. [CALLATIANUS.]
9. CHOMATIANUS. [CHOMATIANUS.]
10. CHRYSOLORAS. [CHRYSOLORAS.]
11. Surnamed CHYTRAS, a Cynic philosopher at Alexandria, in the
reign of Constantius, who, suspecting him guilty of forbidden practices, ordered Orat. vii.) by the name of Chytron.
(Vales. ad Ammian. Marc. l.c.)
12. Of CNIDUS, apparently a mythographer, is referred to by the
Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius (1.1165).
13. COMIC
POET. See below.
14. Surnamed CYDONIUS, which surname was probably derived from
his living at Cydone (Comment. Urb. xv.; Allatius, de Consensu, p. 856.)
He flourished during the latter half of the fourteenth century. The emperor Joannes
Cantacuzenus was much attached to him, and raised him to high offices at his court. When the
emperor began to meditate upon embracing the monastic life, Demetrius joined him in his
design, and in
Demetrius is the author of a considerable number of theological and other works, many of which have not yet been published, and he also translated several works from the Latin into Greek. The following are the most important among the works which have appeared in print:
addressed to Nicephorus Gregoras and Philotheus.
On the procession of the Holy Ghost.
Lect. Antiq. vol. vi. p. 4,
&c., ed. Ingolstadt, 1604.
Wharton, Append. to Cave's Histor. Lit. vol. i. p. 47, &c.; Cave,
vol. i. p. 510, ed. Lond. 1688; Fabric. Bibl. Gr. xi. p. 398,
&c.
15. Of CYRENE, surnamed Stamnus (
16. Of CARTHAGE, a rhetorician, who lived previous to the time of
Thrasymachus. (
17. Metropolitan of CYZICUS, and surnamed SYNCELLUS. He is mentioned by Joannes Scylitza and Georgius Cedrenus in the
introductions to their works, from which we may infer, that he lived about the middle of the
eleventh century after Christ.
He wrote an exposition of the heresy of the Jacobites and Chatzitzarians.
Auctarium Nov. ii. p. 261.)
Another work on prohibited marriages is Jus Graeco-Rom. iv. p. 392.)
Some works of his are still extant in MS. in the libraries of Paris, Rome, and Milan.
Fabric. Bibl. Gr. xi. p. 414.
18. An EPIC poet, of whom, in the time of Diogenes Laertius (5.85), nothing was extant
except three verses on envious persons, which are still preserved. They are quoted by Suidas
also (s. v.
19. An EPICUREAN philosopher, and a disciple of Protarchus, was a
native of Laconia. (Pyrrhon. Hypoth. § 137,
with the note of Fabric.)
20. Of ERYTHRAE, a Greek poet, whom Diogenes Laertius (5.85)
calls a s. v.
21. Of ERYTHRAE, a Greek grammarian, who obtained the civic
franchise in Temnus. (
22. Surnamed Venet. ad Hom. Il.
8.233, 13.137.)
23. Of ILIUM, wrote a history of Troy, which is referred to by
Eustathius (ad Hom. Od. xi. p. 452) and Eudocia (p. 128).
24. The author of a work on the kings of the JEWS, from which a
statement respecting the captivity of the Jews is quoted. (Hieronym. Catal.
Ill. Script. 38;
25. Of MAGNESIA, a Greek grammarian, a contemporary of Cicero and
Atticus. (
He had, in Cicero's recollection, sent Atticus a work of his on concord,
A second work of his, which is often referred to, was of an historical and philological
nature, and treated of poets and other authors who bore the same name. (Vit. X Oral. pp. 844, b., 847, a., Demosth. 15, 27,
28, 30; Harpocrat. s. v.
Deinarch. 1.) This
important work, to judge from what is quoted from it, contained the lives of the persons
treated of, and a critical examination of their merits.
26. Surnamed MOSCHUS, a Greek grammarian, who is the author of
the argumentum to the Bibl. Gr. xi. p.
418.)
27. Of ODESSA, is mentioned as the author of a work on his native
city. (Steph. Byz. s. v.
28. PHALEREUS, the most distinguished among all the literary
persons of this name. He was at once an orator, a statesman, a philosopher, and a poet. His
surname Phalereus is given him from his birthplace, the Attic demos of Phalerus, where he was
born about Ol. 108 or 109, l.c.;
Miltiad. 6.) Cicero
says of his administration, "Atheniensium rem publicam exsanguem jam et jacentem
sustentavit." (De Re Publ. 2.1.) But during the latter period of his
administration he seems to have become intoxicated with his extraordinary good fortune, and
he abandoned himself to every kind of dissipation. (Deinarch. 3.) His enemies even contrived to
induce the people of Athens to pass sentence of death upon him, in consequence of which his
friend Menander nearly fell a victim. All his statues, with the exception of one, were
demolished. Demetrius Phalereus first went to Thebes (Plut. Demnetr. 9;
de
Exil. p. 602f.) The successor of Ptolemy Lagi, however, was hostile towards Demetrius,
probably for having advised his father to appoint another of his sons as his successor, and
Demetrius was sent into exile to Upper Egypt, where he is said to have died of the bite of a
snake. (pro Rabir. Post.
9.) His death appears to have taken place soon after the year
Demetrius Phalereus was the last among the Attic orators worthy of the name (de Orat. 2.23, Orat. 27;
Demetrius' numerous writings, the greater part of which he probably composed during his
residence in Egypt (Cic. de Fin. 5.9), embraced subjects of the most
varied kinds, and the list of them given by Diogenes Laertius (
His literary merits are not confined to what he wrote, for he was a man of a practical
turn of mind, and not a mere scholar of the closet; whatever he learned or knew was applied
to the practical business of life, of which the following facts are illustrations. The
performance of tragedy had greatly fallen into disuse at that time at Athens, on account of
the great expenses involved in it; and in order to afford the people less costly and yet
intellectual amusement, he caused the Homeric and other poems to be recited on the stage by
rhapsodists. (
Among the modern works upon him and his merits, see Bonamy, in the
29. A PLATONIC philosopher who lived in the reign of Ptolemy
Dionysus, about de Calumn.
16.) He was opposed to the extravagant luxuries of the court of Ptolemy, and was charged with
drinking water and not appearing in woman's dress at the Dionysia. He was punished by being
compelled publicly to drink a quantity of wine and to appear in woman's clothes. He is
probably the same as the Demetrius mentioned by M. Aurelius Antoninus (8.25), whom Gataker
confounds with Demetrius Phalereus.
30. Surnamed PUGIL, a Greek grammarian, is mentioned as the
author of a work s. v.
s. v.
31. Of SAGALASSUS, the author of a work entitled
32. Of SALAMIS, wrote a work on the island of Cyprus. (Steph.
Byz. s. v.
33. Of SCEPSIS, was a Greek grammarian of the time of Aristarchus
and Crates. (
He was the author of a very extensive work which is very often referred to, and bore the title
De Hist. Graec. p. 179,
&c.
34. Of SMYRNA, a Greek rhetorician of uncertain date. (
35. Of SUNIUM, a Cynic philosopher, was educated in the school of
the sophist Rhodius, and was an intimate friend of the physician Antiphilus. He is said to
have travelled up the Nile for the purpose of seeing the pyramids and the statue of Memnon.
(Lucian, Toxar. 27, ad v. Indoct. 19.) He appears,
however, to have spent some part of his life at Corinth, where he acquired great celebrity as
a teacher of the Cynic philosophy, and was a strong opponent of Apollonius of Tyana.
(Philostr. Vit. Apoll. 4.25.) His life falls in the reigns of Caligula,
Claudius, Nero, Vespasian, and Domitian. He was a frank and open-hearted man, who did not
scruple to censure even the most powerful when he thought that they deserved it. In
consequence of this, he was sent into exile, but he preserved the same noble freedom and
independence, notwithstanding his poverty and sufferings; and on one occasion, when the
emperor Vespasian during a journey met him, Demetrius did not shew the slightest symptom of
respect. Vespasian was indulgent enough to take no other vengeance except by calling him a
dog. (Senec. de Benef. 7.1, 8; Suet. Vespas. 13;
Hist. 4.40; Lucian, de Saltat. 63.)
36. SYNCELLUS. See No. 17.
37. A SYRIAN, a Greek rhetorician, who lectured on rhetoric at
Athens. Cicero, during his stay there in
38. Of TARSUS, a poet who wrote Satyric dramas. (de Satyr. Poes.
p. 153, &c. ed. Ramshorn) to refer to a peculiar kind of poetry rather than to the native
place of Demetrius. Another Demetrius of Tarsus is introduced as a speaker in Plutarch's work
" de Oraculorum Defectu," where he is described as returning home from Britain, but nothing
further is known about him.
39. A TRAGIC actor, mentioned by Hesychius (s. v.
ad Horat. Sat. 1.10. 18, 79) describes as a " i. e. modulator, histrio,
actor fabularum." Horace himself treats him with contempt, and calls him an ape. Weichert
(de Horat. Obtrect. p. 283, &c.) supposes that he was only a person
who lived at Rome in the time of Horace and taught the art of scenic declamation; while
others consider him to be the Sicilian, Demetrius Megas, who obtained the Roman franchise
from J. Caesar through the influence of Dolabella, and who is often mentioned under the name
of P. Cornelius.
40. Of TROEZENE, a Greek grammarian, who is referred to by
Athenaeus. (i. p. 29, iv. p. 139.) He is probably the same as the one who, according to
Diogenes Laertius (8.74), wrote against the sophists.
Besides these, there are some writers of the name of Demetrius who cannot be identified
with any of those here mentioned, as neither their native places nor any surnames are
mentioned by which they might be recognized. For example, Demetrius the author of
"Pamphyliaca." (Tzetz. ad Lycoph. 440), Demetrius, the author of
"Argolica" (Clem. Alex. Protrept. p. 14), and Demetrius the author of a
work entitled
(BITHYNIA, an epigrammatic poet, the author of two distiches on the cow
of Myron, in the Greek Anthology. (Brunck, Anal. 2.65; Jacobs, 2.64.) It
is not known whether he was the same person as the philosopher Demetrius of Bithynia, son of
Diphilus, whom Diogenes Laertius mentions (5.84). Diogenes (5.85) also mentions an epic poet
named Demetrius, three of whose verses he preserves; and also a Demetrius of Tarsus, a
satyric poet [see above, No. 38], and another Demetrius, an iambic poet, whom he calls
(COMIC POET of the old comedy. (s. v.
s. v.
Florileg. 2.1). The only fragment of the younger Demetrius is that
mentioned above, from the F. H. sub ann.; Meineke, Frag. Com. Graec. i. pp. 264-266, ii.
pp. 876-878, iv. pp. 539, 540.)