A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology

Smith, William

A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. William Smith, LLD, ed. 1890

(Ἀριστόνικος).

1. A tyrant of Methymnae in Lesbos. In B. C. 332, when the navarchs of Alexander the Great had already taken possession of the harbour of Chios, Aristonicus arrived during the night with some privateer ships, and entered it under the belief that it was still in the hands of the Persians. He was taken prisoner and delivered up to the Methymnaeans, who put him to death in a cruel manner. (Arrian, Arr. Anab. 3.2; Curtius, 4.4.)