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

(Ἀριστόξενος).

1. Of Selinus in Sicily, a Greek poet, who is said to have been the first who wrote in anapaestic metres. Respecting the time at which he lived, it is expressly stated that he was older than Epicharnus, from about B. C. 540 to 445. (Schol. ad Aristoph. Plut. 487; Hephaestion, Enchirid. p. 45, ed. Gaisf.) Eusebius (Chron. p. 333, ed. Mai) places him in Ol. 29 (B. C. 664), but this statement requires some explanation. If he was born in that year, he cannot have been a Selinuntian, as Selinus was not founded tillabout B. C. 628. But Aristoxenus may perhaps have been among the first settlers at Selinus, and thus have come to be regarded as a Selinuntian.