Listed 100 (total found 132) sub titles with search on: Biographies for wider area of: "WEST GREECE Region GREECE" .
OLYMPIA (Ancient sanctuary) ILIA
Libon. An architect of Elis, who built the temple of Olympian Zeus, in the sacred grove Altis, out of the proceeds of the spoil taken from the Pisaeans and some other people (Pausan. v. 10, 3). This temple was built in the Doric style, and it must have been erected about B.C. 444-440.
Libon, an Eleian, was the architect of the great temple of Zeus in the Altis at Olympia, which was built by the Eleians out of the spoils of Pisa and other neighbouring cities, which had revolted from them, and had been again subdued (Paus. v. 10. 2 or 3). This event is believed to have occurred about 01. 50, B. C. 580 (Ib. vi. 22, 2 or 4); but there is no reason to suppose that the temple was commenced immediately, or even soon, after this date. It seems more probable that the temple had not been very long completed when Phidias began to make in it his gold and ivory statue of Zeus (01. 85. 4, B. C. 437). Allowing for the time which so magnificent a work as this temple would occupy, we may safely place the architect's date somewhat before the middle of the fifth century B. C. The temple itself is described by Pausanias (v. 10). A few ruins of it remain. (Stanhope, Olympia, p. 9; Cockerell, Bibl. Ital. 1831, No. 191, p. 205; Blonet, Expedition Scient. de la Moroe, livr. 11, pl. 62, foll.)
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Oct 2006 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
PATRA (Town) ACHAIA
Born in Patras in April, 1964. He studied political science and international
relations at Panteios University in Athens and film directing at the Stavrakou
School. Upon completing his studies in 1987 he worked as assistant director and
production manager.He has also directed video clips and commercials.
This text is cited October 2004 from the Greek Film Center URL below
ETOLIKO (Town) IERA POLIS MESSOLONGIOU
1914 - 1988
1914 - 1988
AGRINIO (Town) ETOLOAKARNANIA
CHALKIOPOULI (Settlement) AMFILOCHIA
KATO LOUSSI (Village) KALAVRYTA
AMFILOCHIA (Municipality) ETOLOAKARNANIA
1793 - 1848
1790 - 1865
Οπλαρχηγός της Ελληνικής Επανάστασης και στρατιωτικός της οθωνικής
περιόδου. Πολέμησε στη Δυτική Στερεά
Ελλάδα. Στα χρόνια του ´Oθωνα εντάχτηκε στην Βασιλική Φάλαγγα. Μετά
την Eπανάσταση της 3ης Σεπτεμβρίου 1843 πολιτεύθηκε στο Βάλτο και εκλέχτηκε πληρεξούσιος
στην Α´ Εθνοσυνέλευση.Το 1854 πήρε μέρος στα λυτρωτικά κινήματα των υποδούλων
της Θεσσαλίας και της Ηπείρου.
Το κείμενο παρατίθεται τον Μάιο 2003 από την ακόλουθη ιστοσελίδα της Βουλής των Ελλήνων
MESSOLONGI (Town) ETOLOAKARNANIA
1751 - 1826
ELATOVRYSSI (Village) NAFPAKTOS
1908 - 1988
ACHAIA (Ancient country) GREECE
An Achaean general.
Critolaus (Kritolaos), an Achaean, who succeeded Diaeus, in B. C. 147, as strategus of the Achaeans, and was as bitter an enemy of the Romans as his predecessor. As soon as he entered upon his office, he began insulting the Roman ambassadors and breaking off all negotiations with them. After their departure for Italy, he had recourse to all the demagogic artifices that he could devise, in order to render the rupture between the Romans and Achaeans irremediable. During the ensuing winter he travelled from one town to another, inflaming the people by his furious speeches against the Romans. He tried especially to work upon the populace in the towns of Greece, and resorted to the most iniquitous means to obtain their favour. Thus he extorted a promise from the magistrates of several towns to take care that no debtor should be compelled to pay his debts before the war with Rome should be brought to a close. By these and similar means he won the enthusiastic admiration of the multitude, and when this was accomplished, he summoned an assembly of the Achaeans to meet at Corinth, which was attended by the dregs of the nation, and which conducted its proceedings in the most riotous and tumultuous manner. Four noble Romans, who attended the meeting and tried to speak, were driven from the place of assembly and treated with the grossest insults. It was in vain that the moderate men among the Achaeans endeavoured to bring Critolaus and his partizans to their senses. Critolaus surrounded himself with a body-guard, and threatened to use force against those who opposed his plans, and further depicted them to the multitude as traitors of their country. The moderate and well-meaning persons were thus intimidated, and withdrew. War was thereupon declared against Lacedaemon, which was under the especial protection of Rome. In order to get rid of all restraints, he carried a second decree, which conferred dictatorial power upon the strategi. The Romans, or rather Q. Caecilius Metellus, the praetor of Macedonia, had shewn all possible forbearance towards the Achaeans, and a willingness to come to a peaceable understanding with them. This conduct was explained by Critolaus as a consequence of weakness on the part of the Romans, who, he said, did not dare to venture upon a war with the Achaeans. In addition to this, he contrived to inspire the Achaeans with the prospect of forming alliances with powerful princes and states. But this hope was almost completely disappointed, and the Achaeans rushed into a war with the gigantic powers of Rome, in which every sensible person must have seen that destruction awaited them. In the spring of B. C. 146, Critolaus marched with a considerable army of Achaeans towards Thermopylae, partly to rouse all Greece to a general insurrection against Rome, and partly to chastise Heracleia, near mount Oeta, which had abandoned the cause of the Achaeans. Metellus even now offered his hand for reconciliation; but when his proposals were rejected, and he himself suddenly appeared in the neighbourhood of Heracleia, Critolaus at once raised the siege of the town, quitted his position, and fled southward. Metellus followed and overtook him near the town of Scarphea in Locris, where he gained an easy but brilliant victory over the Achaeans. A great number of the latter fell, and 1000 of them were made prisoners by the Romans. Critolaus himself was never heard of after this battle. Livy (Epit. 52) states, that he poisoned himself, but it seems more probable that he perished in the sea or the marshes on the coast. Critolaus was the immediate cause of the war which terminated in the destruction of Corinth and put an end to the political existence of Greece. His plan of opposing Rome at that time by force of arms was the offspring of a mad brain, and the way in which he proceeded in carrying it into effect shewed what a contemptible and cowardly demagogue he was (Polyb. xxxviii. 2, &c., xl. 1, &c.; Paus. vii. cc. 14 and 15; Florus, ii. 16; Cic. de Nat. Deor. iii. 38).
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Nov 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Cycliadas (Kukliadas) was general of the Achaeans in B. C. 208, and, having joined Philip V. of Macedon at Dyme with the Achaean forces, aided him in that invasion of Elis which was checked by P. Sulpicius Galba. In B. C. 200, Cycliadas being made strategus instead of Philopoemen, whose military talents he by no means equalled, Nabis took advantage of the change to make war on the Achaeans. Philip offered to help them, and to carry the war into the enemy's country, if they would give him a sufficient number of their soldiers to garrison Chalcis, Oreus, and Corinth in the mean time; but they saw through his plan, which was to obtain hostages from them and so to force them into a war with the Romans. Cycliadas therefore answered, that their laws precluded them from discussing any proposal except that for which the assembly was summoned, and this conduct relieved him from the imputation, under which he had previously laboured, of being a mere creature of the king's. In B. C. 198 we find him an exile at the court of Philip, whom he attended in that year at his conference with Flamininus at Nicaea in Locris. After the battle of Cynoscephalae, B. C. 197, Cycliadas was sent with two others as ambassador from Philip to Flamininus, who granted the king a truce of 15 days with a view to the arrangement of a permanent peace (Polyb. xvii. 1, xviii. 17; Liv. xxvii. 31, xxxi. 25, xxxii. 19, 32, xxxiii. 11, 12).
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Nov 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
DYMI (Ancient city) PATRA
Aristaenetus(Aristainetos), of Dymae, an Achaean general, the commander of the Achaean cavalry on the right wing in the battle of Mantineia, B. C. 207. (Polyb. xi. 11)
EGHION (Ancient city) ACHAIA
Hyperbatas or Hyperbatus (Huperbatas, Plut.; Hgperbatos, Polyb.). General
of the Achaean league in B. C. 224, during the war with Cleomenes. It
was under his nominal command, though the real direction of affairs was in the
hands of Aratus, that the Achaeans met with the decisive defeat at Hecatomboeon.
(Plut. Cleom. 14.)
Hyperbatas. General of the Achaeans in B. C. 179. The Romans
having sent to require of the league the recal of all the Lacedaemonian exiles
without distinction, Hyperbatus held an assembly, in which he urged, in opposition
to Lycortas, the necessity of compliance with this request (Polyb. xxvi. 1.) On
this occasion he took the same side with Callicrates, and we find him again, in
B. C. 168, uniting with that unworthy statesman against the proposal of Lycortas
and his party, to send assistance to the two Ptolemies in their war against Antiochus
Epiphanes. (Id. xxix. 8.)
ETOLIA (Ancient area) ETOLOAKARNANIA
Agetas, commander-in-chief of the Aetolians in B. C. 217, made an incursion into Acarnania and Epirus, and ravaged both countries. (Polyb. v. 91. 96)
Alexamenus (Alexamenos), was general of the Aetolians, B. C. 196 (Polyb. xviii. 26), and was sent by the Aetolians, in B. C. 192, to obtain possession of Lacedaemon. He succeeded in his object, and killed Nabis, the tyrant of Lacedaemon; but the Lacedaemonians rising against him shortly after, he and most of his troops were killed. (Liv. xxxv. 34-36.)
Alexander (Alexandros), surnamed Isius, the chief commander of the Aetolians, was a man of considerable ability and eloquence for an Aetolian (Liv. xxxii. 33; Polyb. xvii. 3, &c.). In B. C. 198 he was present at a colloquy held at Nicaea on the Maliac gulf, and spoke against Philip III. of Macedonia, saying that the king ought to be compelled to quit Greece, and to restore to the Aetolians the towns which had formerly been subject to them. Philip, indignant at such a demand being made by an Aetolian, answered him in a speech from his ship (Liv. xxxii. 34). Soon after this meeting, he was sent as ambassador of the Aetolians to Rome, where, together with other envoys, he was to treat with the senate about peace, but at the same time to bring accusations against Philip (Polyb. xvii. 10). In B. C. 197, Alexander again took part in a meeting, at which T. Quinctius Flamininus with his allies and king Philip were present, and at which peace with Philip was discussed. Alexander dissuaded his friends from any peaceful arrangement with Philip (Polyb. xviii. 19, &c.; Appian, Maced. vii. 1). In B. C. 195, when a congress of all the Greek states that were allied with Rome was convoked by T. Quinctius Flamininus at Corinth, for the purpose of considering the war that was to be undertaken against Nabis, Alexander spoke against the Athenians, and also insinuated that the Romans were acting fraudulently towards Greece (Liv. xxxiv. 23). When in B. C. 189 M. Fulvius Nobilior, after his victory over Antiochus, was expected to march into Aetolia, the Aetolians sent envoys to Athens and Rhodes; and Alexander Isius, together with Phaneas and Lycopus, were sent to Rome to sue for peace. Alexander, now an old man, was at the head of the embassy; but he and his colleagues were made prisoners in Cephalenia by the Epeirots, for the purpose of extorting a heavy ransom. Alexander, however, although he was very wealthy, refused to pay it, and was accordingly kept in captivity for some days, after which he was liberated, at the command of the Romans, without any ransom (Polyb. xxii. 9).
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Oct 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Archedemus. An Aetolian (called Archidamus by Livy), who commanded the Aetolian troops which assisted the Romans in their war with Philip. In B. C. 199 he compelled Philip to raise the siege of Thaumaci (Liv. xxxii. 4), and took an active part in the battle of Cynoscephalae, B. C. 197, in which Philip was defeated. (Polyb. xviii. 4.) When the war Broke out between the Romans and the Aetolians, he was sent as ambassador to the Achaeans to solicit their assistance, B. C. 192 (Liv. xxxv. 48); and on the defeat of Antiochus the Great in the following year, he went as ambassador to the consul M'. Acilius Glabrio to sue for peace. (Polyb. xx. 9.) In B. C. 169 he was denounced to the Romans by Lyciscus as one of their enemies. (Polyb. xxviii. 4.) he joined Perseus the same year, and accompanied the Macedonian King in his flight after his defeat in 168. (Liv. xliii. 23, 24, xliv. 43.)
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Oct 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Ariston, a strategus of the Aetoliansin B. C. 221, who, labouring under some bodily defect, left the command of the troops to Scopas and Dorimachus, while he himself remained at home. Notwithstanding the declarations of the Achaeans to regard every one as an enemy who should trespass upon the territories of Messenia or Achaia, the Aetolian commanders invaded Peloponnesus, and Ariston was stupid enough, in the face of this fact, to assert that the Aetolians and Achaeans were at peace with each other. (Polyb. iv. 5, 9, 17)
Eupolemus. A general of the Aetolians, who defended Ambracia against the Roman army under M. Fulvius, B. C. 189. (Liv. xxxviii. 4-10.) When peace was granted to the Aetolians, he was carried off a prisoner to Rome, together with the Aetolian general-in-chief, Nicander. (Polyb. xxviii. 4.) It is not improbable that this was the same person with the preceding.
Euripidas or Euripides, an Aetolian, who, when his countrymen, with the help of Scerdilaidas the Illyrian, had gained possession of Cynaetha, in Arcadia (B. C. 220), was at first appointed governor of the town; but the Aetolians soon after set fire to it, fearing the arrival of the Macedonian succours for which Aratus had applied. In the next year, B. C. 219, being sent as general to the Eleans, then allied with Aetolia, he ravaged the lands of Dyme, Pharae, and Tritaea, defeated Miccus, the lieutenant-general of the Achaeans, and seized an ancient stronghold, named Teichos, near Cape Araxus, whence he infested the enemy's territory more effectually. In the winter of the same year he advanced from Psophis, in Arcadia, where he had his head-quarters, to invade Sicyonia, having with him a body of 2200 foot and 100 horse. During the night he passed the encampment of the Macedonians, in the Phliasian territory, without being aware of their vicinity; on discovering which from some foragers in the morning, he hastened back, hoping to pass them again, and to arrive at Psophis without an engagement; but, falling in with them in the passes of Mount Apelaurus, between Phlius and Stymphalus, he basely deserted his troops, and made his escape to Psophis, with a small number of horsemen, while almost all the Eleans were either cut to pieces by the Macedonians, or perished among the mountains. Philip then advanced on Psophis, and compelled it to capitulate, Euripidas being allowed to return in safety to Aetolia. In B. C. 217 we find him acting again as general of the Eleans, who had requested that he might be sent to supersede Pyrrhias. He ravaged Achaia in this campaign, but was pursued and defeated by Lycus, the lieutenant-general of the Achaeans. (Polyb. iv. 19, 59, 69-72, v. 94, 95.)
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Oct 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Lyciscus. An Aetolian, a partisan of Rome, was made general of the Aetolians, in B. C. 171, through the influence of Q. Marcius and A. Atilius, two of the Roman commissioners sent to Greece in that year, (Liv. xlii. 38.) In B. C. 167, the Aetolians complained to Aemilius Paullus, then making a progress through Greece, that Lyciscus and Tisippus had caused 550 of their senators to be slain by Roman soldiers, lent them by Baebius for the purpose, while they had driven others into banishment and seized their property. But the murder and violence had been perpetrated against partisans of Perseus and opponents of Rome, and the Roman commissioners at Amphipolis decided that Lyciscus and Tisippus were justified in what they had done. Baebius only was condemned for having supplied Roman soldiers as the instruments of the murder. (Liv. xlv. 28, 31.)
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Oct 2006 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
FARES (Ancient city) PATRA
Eperatus, (Eperatos), of Pharae in Achaia, was elected general of the Achaeans
in B. C. 219, by the intrigues of Apelles, the adviser of Philip V. of Macedonia,
in opposition to Timoxenus, who was supported by Aratus. Eperatus was held universally
in low estimation, and was in fact totally unfit for his office, on which he entered
in B. C. 218, so that, when his year had expired, he left numerous difficulties
to Aratus, who succeeded him. (Polyb. iv. 82, v. 1, 5, 30, 91; Plut. Arat. 48.)
Lycus (Lukos). Of Pharae, in Achaia, lieutenant-general of the Achaeans, for Aratus, in B. C. 217, defeated EURIPIDAS, the Aetolian, who was acting as general of the Eleans. In the same year, Euripidas having marched with his Aetolians against Tritaea in Achaia, Lycus invaded Elis, and by a well-planned ambuscade slew 200 Eleans, and carried off 80 prisoners and much spoil. (Polyb. v. 94, 95.)
ILIA (Ancient country) GREECE
Amphidamas or Amphidamus (Amphidamos), general of the Eleans in B. C. 218, was taken prisoner by Philip, king of Macedonia, and carried to Olympia, but was set at liberty on his undertaking to bring over his countrymen to Philip's side. But not succeeding in his attempt, he went back to Philip, and is spoken of as defending Aratus against the charges of Apelles. (Polyb. iv. 75, 84, 86.)
KALYDON (Ancient city) IERA POLIS MESSOLONGIOU
Damocritus, (Damokritos). Of Calydon in Aetolia, was strategus of the Aetolians
in B. C. 200, and in the discussions as to whether an alliance should be formed
with the Romans, Damocritus, who was believed to have been bribed by the Macedonian
king, opposed the party inclined to negotiate with Rome. The year after this he
was among the ambassadors of the various Greek states that went to Rome. In B.
C. 193 he was sent by the Aetolians to Nabis, the tyrant of Sparta, whom he urged
on to make war against the Romans. The year after, when T. Quinctius Flamininus
went himself to Aetolia, to make a last attempt to win them over, Damocritus not
only opposed him along with the majority of his countrymen, but insulted him by
saying that he would soon settle all disputes on the banks of the Tiber. But things
turned out differently from what he expected: in B. C. 191 the Aetolians were
defeated at Heracleia, near mount Oeta, and Damocritus fell into the hands of
the Romans. He and the other leaders of the Aetolians were escorted to Rome by
two cohorts, and he was imprisoned in the Lautumiae. A few days before the celebration
of the triumph, which he was intended to adorn, he escaped from his prison by
night, but finding that he could not escape the guards who pursued him, he threw
himself upon his own sword and thus put an end to his life. (Liv. xxxi. 32, xxxv.
12, 33, xxxvi. 24, xxxvii. 3, 46; Polyb. xvii. 10, xxii. 14; Appian, de Reb. Syr.
21; Brandstater, Die Gesch. des Aetol. Landes, &c.)
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Oct 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
KLITOR (Ancient city) KALAVRYTA
Of Clitor: general of Achaean League, defeats Lacedaemonians, condemned as traitor, Olympic victor.
TRICHONION (Ancient city) IERA POLIS MESSOLONGIOU
Alexander, of Trichonium in Aetolia, was commander of the Aetolians in B. C. 218
and 219. He attacked the rear of the army of Philip on his return from Thermus,
but the attempt was unsuccessful, and many Aetolians fell. (Polyb. v. 13)
AGRINIO (Town) ETOLOAKARNANIA
1868 - 1920
MESSOLONGI (Town) ETOLOAKARNANIA
1876 - 1967
NAFPAKTOS (Town) ETOLOAKARNANIA
1867 - 1945
ANDRITSENA (Small town) ILIA
1770 - 1854
ILIS (Ancient city) ILIA
Hieronymus, (Hieronumos). Of Elis, a lochagus in the army of the Ten Thousand Greeks, who is mentioned by Xenophon as taking a prominent part in the discussion that ensued after the death of Clearchus and the other generals, as well as on other occasions during the retreat and subsequent operations. (Xen. Anab. iii. 1.34, vi. 2.10, vii. 1.32, 4.18.)
SAMIKON (Ancient city) ILIA
An Aetolian, founds Samia.
TRICHONION (Ancient city) IERA POLIS MESSOLONGIOU
Dorimachus, (Dorimachos), less properly Dorymachus (Dorumachos), a native of Trichonium,
in Aetolia, and son of Nicostratus, was sent out, in B. C. 221, to Phigalea, on
the Messenian border, with which the Aetolians had a league of sympolity, ostensibly
to defend the place, but in reality to watch affairs in the Peloponnesus with
a view of fomenting a war, for which his restless countrymen were anxious. A number
of freebooters flocked together to him, and he connived at their plundering the
territory of the Messenians, with whom Aetolia was in alliance. All complaints
he received at first with neglect, and afterwards (when he had gone to Messene,
on pretence of investigating the matter) with insult. The Messenians, however,
and especially Sciron, one of their ephori, behaved with such spirit that Dorimachus
was compelled to yield, and to promise satisfaction for the injuries done; but
he had been treated with indignity, which he did not forget, and he resolved to
bring about a war with Messenia. This he was enabled to do through his kinsman
Scopas, who administered the Aetolian government at the time, and who, without
waiting for any decree of the Assembly, or for the sanction of the select council
(Apokletol; see Polyb. xx. 1; Liv. xxxv. 34), commenced hostilities, not against
Messenia only, but also against the Epeirots, Achaeans, Acarnanians, and Macedonians.
In the next year, B. C. 220, Dorimachus invaded the Peloponnesus with Scopas,
and defeated Aratus, at Caphyae. He took part also in the operations in which
the Aetolians were joined by Scerdilaidas, the Illyrian,--the capture and burning
of Cynaetha, in Arcadia, and the baffled attempt on Cleitor,--and he was one of
the leaders of the unsuccessful expedition against Aegeira in B. C. 219. In the
autumn of the same year, being chosen general of the Aetolians, he ravaged Epeirus,
and destroyed the temple at Dodona. In B. C. 218 he invaded Thessaly, in the hope
of drawing Philip away from the siege of Palus, in Cephallenia, which he was indeed
obliged to relinquish, in consequence of the treachery of Leontius, but he took
advantage of the absence of Dorimachus to make an incursion into Aetolia, advancing
to Thermum, the capital city, and plundering it. Dorimachus is mentioned by Livy
as one of the chiefs through whom M. Valerius Laevinus, in B. C. 211, concluded
a treaty of alliance with Aetolia against Philip, from whom he vainly attempted,
in B. C. 210, to save the town of Echinus, in Thessaly. In B. C. 204 he and Scopas
were appointed by the Aetolians to draw up new laws to meet the general distress,
occasioned by heavy debts, with which the two commissioners themselves were severely
burdened. In B. C. 196 Dorimachus was sent to Egypt to negotiate terms of peace
with Ptolemy V. (Epiphanes), his mission probably having reference to the conditions
of amity between Ptolemy and Antiochus the Great, to whom the Aetolians were now
looking for support against Rome. (Polyb. iv. 3-13, 16-19, 57,58, 67, 77; v. i.
3, 4-9. 11, 17; ix. 42; xiii. 1; xviii. 37; xx. 1; Fragm. Hist. 68; Liv. xxvi.
24; Brandstater, Gesch. des Aetol. Landes.)
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Oct 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
AMFILOCHIA (Town) ETOLOAKARNANIA
PATRA (Town) ACHAIA
Andreas Karbone was born in Patras in 1926. He studied the violin
and higher theoretics at the Athens Conservatoire with J.de Bustinduy and Ph.
Economidis. He then became the pupil of the distinguished composer, professor
Yannis A.Papaioannou, at the Greek Conservatoire, where he obtained a diploma
in harmony, counterpoint and fugue.
In 1957-1958, having been granted a scholarship by the Italian government,
he resided in Rome, where he perfected his knowledge in composition under the
well known Italian composer and conductor Ennio Porrino. Since then, various works
of Karbone's for orchestra and choir, chamber music and single voice, have often
been broadcast over the Greek Radio-Television, or performed in public concerts.
This text is cited Apr 2003 from the Friends of Music Society "Lilian Voudouri" URL below, which contains image.
ETOLIKO (Town) IERA POLIS MESSOLONGIOU
1901 - 1982
KALLITHEA (Village) ETOLOAKARNANIA
16/04/1944
The founder of the Sceptical or Pyrrhonian School of philosophy, a native of Elis in the Peloponnesus. He is said to have been poor, and to have followed at first the profession of a painter. He is then said to have been attracted to philosophy by the books of Democritus, to have attended the lectures of Bryson, a disciple of Stilpon, to have attached himself closely to Anaxarchus, and with him to have joined the expedition of Alexander the Great. During the greater part of his life he lived in retirement, and endeavoured to render himself independent of all external circumstances. His disciple Timon extolled with admiration his supreme repose of soul and his indifference to pleasure or pain. So highly was he valued by his fellow-citizens that they made him their high-priest, and erected a monument to him after his death. The Athenians conferred upon him the rights of citizenship. We know little respecting the principles of his sceptical philosophy, and the tales told about him by Diogenes Laertius are probably the invention of his enemies. He asserted that certain knowledge on any subject was unattainable, and that the great object of man ought to be to lead a virtuous life. Pyrrho wrote no works, except a poem addressed to Alexander, which was rewarded by the latter in a royal manner. Pyrrho's philosophical system was first reduced to writing by his disciple Timon the Sillographer. He reached the age of ninety years, but his dates are uncertain.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Pyrrho was the starting-point for a philosophical movement known as Pyrrhonism
that flourished several centuries after his own time. This later Pyrrhonism was
one of the two major traditions of sceptical thought in the Greco-Roman world
(the other being located in Plato's Academy during much of the Hellenistic period).
Perhaps the central question about Pyrrho is whether or to what extent he himself
was a sceptic in the later Pyrrhonist mold. The later Pyrrhonists claimed inspiration
from him; and, as we shall see, there is undeniably some basis for this. But it
does not follow that Pyrrho's philosophy was identical to that of this later movement,
or even that the later Pyrrhonists thought that it was identical; the claims of
indebtedness that are expressed by or attributed to members of the later Pyrrhonist
tradition are broad and general in character (and in Sextus Empiricus' case notably
cautious -- see Outlines of Pyrrhonism 1.7), and do not in themselves point to
any particular reconstruction of Pyrrho's thought. It is necessary, therefore,
to focus on the meager evidence bearing explicitly upon Pyrrho's own ideas and
attitudes. How we read this evidence will also, of course, affect our conception
of Pyrrho's relations with his philosophical contemporaries and predecessors.
1. Life
2. The Nature of the Evidence
3. The Aristocles Passage
4. Other Reports on Pyrrho's
General Approach
5. Reports on Pyrrho's Demeanor
and Lifestyle
6. "The Nature of the
Divine and the Good"
7. Influences on Pyrrho
8. Pyrrho's Influence
Bibliography
Other Internet Resources
Related Entries
Richard Bett, ed.
Sextus Empiricus, Translated by Rev. R.G. Bury, Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1933
Pyrrhonism is a system of scepticism, the founder of which was Pyrrho,
a Greek philosopher, about whom very little is known except that he died in 270
B. C. The best known of Pyrrho's disciples was Timon of Philius, known as the
sillographer.
Pyrrho's scepticism was so complete and comprehensive that the word
Pyrrhonism is sometimes used as a synonym for scepticism. The scepticism of Pyrrho's
school covered three points.
(1) All the dogmatists, that is to say, all the philosophers who believed
that truth and certitude can be attained, were mere sophists; they were self-deceived
and deceivers of others.
(2) Certitude is impossible of attainment, not only because of the
possibility that our faculties deceive us, but also because, in themselves, things
are neither one thing nor the other, neither good nor evil, beautiful nor ugly,
large nor small. Or, rather, things are both good and evil, beautiful and ugly,
large and small, so that there is no reason why we should affirm that they are
one thing rather than the other. This conviction was expressed in the famous saying,
ouden mallon, nothing is more one thing than another; the paper is not more white
than black, the piece of sugar is not more sweet than bitter, and so forth.
(3) The reality of things being inaccessible to the human mind, and certitude
being impossible of attainment, the wise man doubts about everything; that is,
he recognizes the futility of inquiry into reality and abstains from judging.
This abstention is called apoche. It is the foundation of happiness. Because he
alone can attain happiness who cultivates imperturbability, ataraxia; and then
only is the mind proof against disquietude when we realize that every attempt
to attain the truth is doomed to failure.
From this account of the principles of Pyrrhonism, it is evident that
Pyrrho's aim was ethical. Like all the philosophers of the period in which he
lived, he concerned himself principally with the problem of happiness. The Stoics
sought to find happiness on the realization of the reign of law in human nature
as well as in nature. The Epicureans grounded happiness on the conviction that
transitory feeling is the one important phenomenon in human life. The Eclectics
placed the intellectual basis of happiness in the conviction that all systems
of philosophy are equally true. The Pyrrhonist, as well as the other sceptics
of that period, believed that there is no possibility of attaining happiness unless
one first realizes that all systems of philosophy are equally false and that the
real truth of things cannot be attained. Pyrrhonism is, therefore, an abdication
of all the supposed rights of the mind, and cannot be dealt with by the ordinary
rules of logic or by the customary canons of philosophical criticism.
William Turner, ed.
Transcribed by: Douglas J. Potter
This text is cited June 2003 from The Catholic Encyclopedia, New Advent online edition URL below.
Although all skeptics in some way cast doubt on our ability to gain
knowledge of the world, the term 'skeptic' actually covers a wide range of attitudes
and positions. There are skeptical elements in the views of many Greek philosophers,
but the term 'ancient skeptic' is generally applied either to a member of Plato's
Academy during its skeptical period (c. 273 B.C.E to 1st century B.C.E.) or to
a follower of Pyrrho (c. 365 to 270 B.C.E.). Pyrrhonian skepticism flourished
from Aenesidemus' revival (1st century B.C.E.) to Sextus Empiricus, who lived
sometime in the 2nd or 3rd centuries C.E. Thus the two main varieties of ancient
skepticism: Academic and Pyrrhonian. The term 'skeptic' derives from a Greek noun,
skepsis, which means examination, inquiry, consideration. What leads most skeptics
to begin to examine and then eventually to be at a loss as to what one should
believe, if anything, is the fact of widespread and seemingly endless disagreement
regarding issues of fundamental importance. Many of the arguments of the ancient
skeptics were developed in response to the positive views of their contemporaries,
especially the Stoics and
Epicureans, but these arguments
have been highly influential for subsequent philosophers and will continue to
be of great interest as long as there is widespread disagreement regarding important
philosophical issues.
Nearly every variety of ancient skepticism includes a thesis about
our epistemic limitations and a thesis about suspending judgment. The two most
frequently made objections to skepticism target these theses. The first is that
the skeptic's commitment to our epistemic limitations is inconsistent. He cannot
consistently claim to know, for example, that knowledge is not possible; neither
can he consistently claim that we should suspend judgment regarding all matters
insofar as this claim is itself a judgment. Either such claims will refute themselves,
since they fall under their own scope, or the skeptic will have to make an apparently
arbitrary exemption. The second sort of objection is that the alleged epistemic
limitations and/or the suggestion that we should suspend judgment would make life
unlivable. For, the business of day-to-day life requires that we make choices
and this requires making judgments. Similarly, one might point out that our apparent
success in interacting with the world and each other entails that we must know
some things. Some responses by ancient skeptics to these objections are considered
in the following discussion.
(Hankinson [1995] is a comprehensive and detailed examination of ancient skeptical
views. See Schmitt [1972] and Popkin [1979] for discussion of the historical impact
of ancient skepticism, beginning with its rediscovery in the 16th Century, and
Fogelin [1994] for an assessment of Pyrrhonian skepticism in light of contemporary
epistemology. The differences between ancient and modern forms of skepticism has
been a controversial topic in recent years-see especially, Annas [1986], [1996],
Burnyeat [1984], and Bett [1993].)
Table of Contents (Clicking on the links below will take you to those parts of
this article)
1. The Distinction
Between Academic and Pyrrhonian Skepticism
2. Academic Skepticism
- a. Arcesilaus
i. Platonic innovator
ii. Attack
on the Stoics
iii. On
suspending judgment
iv. Dialectical
Interpretation
v. Practical
Criterion: to eulogon
- b. Carneades
i. Socratic
Dialectic
ii. On
ethical theory
iii. On
the Stoic sage
iv. On
epistemology
v. Practical
criterion: to pithanon
vi. Dialectical
skeptic or fallibilist?
- c. Philo and Antiochus
- d. Cicero
3. Pyrrhonian Skepticism
- a. Pyrrho and Timon
- b. Aenesidemus
i. Revival
of Pyrrhonism
ii. The
Ten Modes
iii. Tranquility
- c. Sextus Empiricus
i. General
Account of Skepticism
ii. The
path to skepticism
iii. The
Modes of Agrippa
iv. Skepticism
versus relativism
v. The
skeptical life
4. Skepticism and
the Examined Life
5. Greek and Latin
texts, commentaries, and translations
6. Select Bibliography
Harold Thorsrud, ed.
Assistant Professor of Philosophy
New Mexico State University
Ancient skepticism encompasses two schools of ancient philosophy.
One is Pyrrhonism, which claims Pyrrho of Elis (4th-3rd c. B.C.) as its founder,
though Pyrrho's ties to "Pyrrhonism" are loose and indirect. The other
school is Academic Skepticism, which comprises a skeptical phase of Plato's Academy
that stretches from the 3rd to the early 1st century B.C. The latter influences
many later thinkers associated with the Academy (most notably, Cicero and Plutarch).
Its relationship to subsequent phases of the Academy has been studied by Tarrant.
The figures associated with these two schools include Pyrrho, Timon
of Phlius, Arcesilaus, Carneades, Clitomachus, Philo of Larissa, Cicero, Aenesidemus,
Agrippa and Sextus Empiricus. Cicero and Sextus are significant because their
works have served as vehicles that convey skeptical arguments and views to medieval,
renaissance, modern and contemporary philosophy (Diogenes Laertius is another
ancient author who plays an important role in this regard). Their influence is
well documented in Floridi, Popkin and Schmitt (see the bibliography below).
Pyrrhonism, which flourished during and after the 1st c. B.C., is
the most mature variant of ancient skepticism. In part this is because Pyrrhonians
like Sextus freely borrow and incorporate the arguments, themes and opinions they
find in earlier skeptics and in other skeptically inclined philosophers. The latter
include figures like Protagoras, Socrates, Gorgias, Democritus, Aristippus and
Diogenes of Sinope (Diogenes "the Cynic"). In Sextus, the result is
a rich collection of sceptically inclined arguments on a broad array of topics.
Recent editions of his works make these arguments increasingly available for detailed
scrutiny and discussion.
1. Overview
2. The Historical
Context
3. Pyrrho
and Equanimity
4. Appearances
5. Arcesilaus
and the Academy
6. Carneades
7. Carneades
as Dialectician
8. Carneades
and Practical Life
9. The Arguments
for Pyrrhonism
10. The
Practical Criterion
11. The
Logic of Ancient Skepticism
Bibliography
Other Internet
Resources
Related
Entries
Comprehensive Bibliography on Skeptical Thought in the Ancient World (1998), by Richard Carrier
485 - 415
Hippias. A Greek sophist of Elis and a contemporary of Socrates. He taught in the towns of Greece, especially at Athens. He had the advantage of a prodigious memory, and was deeply versed in all the learning of his day. He attempted literature in every form which was then extant. He was among the first to undertake the composition of dialogues. In the two Platonic dialogues named after him (Hippias Maior and Hippias Minor), he is represented as excessively vain and arrogant.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Hippias, the Sophist, was a native of Elis, and a son of Diopeithes. He was a disciple of Hegesidamus (Suid. s. v.), and the contemporary of Protagoras and Socrates. Owing to his talent and skill, his fellow-citizens availed themselves of his services in political matters, and in a diplomatic mission to Sparta (Plat. Hipp. maj.; Philostr. Vit. Soph. i. 11). But he was in every respect like the other sophists of the time: he travelled about in various towns and districts of Greece for the purpose of acquiring wealth and celebrity, by teaching and public speaking. His character as a sophist, his vanity, and his boastful arrogance, are well described in two dialogues of Plato, the Hippias meizon and the Hippias elatton (Hippias major and Hippias minor). The former treats of the question about the beautiful, and in a manner which gives ample scope for putting the knowledge and presumption of Hiippias in a ludicrous light; the other handles the deficiency of our knowledge, and exposes the ridiculous vanity of the sophist. The latter dialogue is considered by Schleiermacher and Ast to be spurious. Ast even goes so far as to reject the Hippias major also; but it is not easy to get over the difficulty which arises from the fact of Aristotle (Metaphys. v. 29) and Cicero (de Orat. iii. 32) mentioning it, though without expressly ascribing it to Plato; but however this may be, the dialogues must at any rate have been written by a person and at a time when there was no difficulty in forming a correct estimate of the character of Hippias. If we compare the accounts of Plato with those given by other writers, it cannot be denied that Hippias was a man of very extensive knowledge, that he occupied himself not only with rhetorical, philosophical, and political studies, but was also well versed in poetry, music, mathematics, painting and sculpture, nay, that to a certain extent he had a practical skill in the ordinary arts of life, for he used to boast of wearing on his body nothing that he had not made himself with his own hands, such as his seal-ring, his cloak, and shoes (Plat. Hipp. maj., Hipp. min., Protag.; Philostr. l. c.; Themist. Orat. xxix). But it is at the same time evident that his knowledge of all these things was of a superficial kind, that he did not enter into the details of any particular art or science, and that he was satisfied with certain generalities, which enabled him to speak on everything without a thorough knowledge of any. This arrogance, combined with ignorance, is the main cause which provoked Plato to his severe criticism of Hippias, in which he is the more justified, as the sophist enjoyed a very extensive reputation, and thus had a proportionate influence upon the education of the youths of the higher classes. His great forte seems to have consisted in delivering extempore show speeches; and once his sophistic vanity led him to declare that he would travel to Olympia, and there deliver before the assembled Greeks an oration on any subject that might be proposed to him (Plat. Hipp. min.); and Philostratus in fact speaks of several such orations delivered at Olympia, and which created great sensation. Such speeches must have been published by Hippias, but no specimen has come down to us. Socrates (ap. Plat. Hipp. min.) speaks of epic poetry, tragedies, dithyrambs, and various orations, as the productions of Hippias; nay, his literary vanity seems not to have scrupled to write on grammar, music, rhythm, harmony, and a variety of other subjects (Plat. Hipp. maj.; comp. Philostr. l. c.; Plat. Num. 1, 23; Dion Chrys. Orat. lxxi.). He seems to have been especially fond of choosing antiquarian and mythical subjects for his show speeches. Athenaeus (xiii.) mentions a work of Hippias under the title Sunagoge, which is otherwise unknown. An epigram of his is preserved in Pausanias (v. 25). His style and language are not censured for any thing particular by the ancients.
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Jan 2006 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Antinomian: A name often given to the sophist Hippias of Elis because of his argument against the observance of law (nomos), which was as follows: Whatever is contrary to nature is an evil: Law forces men to many things that are contrary to their inclinations, and hence to their nature: Law, therefore, is an evil and should not be respected.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Dividing one angle into three equal angles seems a trivial problem. That is probably why it irked the Greeks so. Instead of being a simple problem, it is a complex, non-planar problem, as the Greeks soon discovered ..
One of the earliest ways discovered was that of Hippias of Elis(circa 425 BC). Hippias used a curve he had invented, called the quadratrix. With this curve, the problem of trisecting an angle could be reduced to the trisection of a line segment. The following picture is one construction of such segment trisect. The great benefit of this method was that it could be generalized to divide any angle into any number of parts..
420 - 360
Phaedon. A Greek philosopher, was a native of Elis, and of high birth, but was taken prisoner, probably about B.C. 400, and was brought to Athens. It is said that he ran away from his master to Socrates, and was ransomed by one of the friends of the latter. Phaedon was present at the death of Socrates, while he was still quite a youth. He appears to have lived in Athens some time after the death of Socrates, and then returned to Elis, where he became the founder of a school of philosophy. He was succeeded by Plistanus, after whom the Elean School was merged in the Eretrian. The dialogue of Plato, which contains an account of the death of Socrates, bears the name of Phaedon.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
A follower of Eubulides, who attacked Aristotle and Zeno the Stoic.
Among the different people who succeeded Eubulides, was Alexinus of Elis, a man
very fond of argument, on which account he was nicknamed Elenchinos. He had an
especial quarrel with Zeno; and Hermippus relates of him that he went from Elis
to Olympia, and studied philosophy there; and that when his pupils asked him why
he lived there, he said that he wished to establish a school which should be called
the Olympic school; but that his pupils being in distress, through want of means
of support and finding the situation unhealthy for them, left him; and that after
that Alexinus lived by himself, with only one servant. And after that, when swimming
in the Alpheus, he was pricked by a reed, and the injury proved fatal, and he
died. And we have written an epigram on him which runs thus :
Then the report, alas! was true,
That an unhappy man,
While swimming tore his foot against a nail;
For the illustrious sage,
Good Alexinus, swimming in the Alpheus,
Died from a hostile reed.
And he wrote not only against Zeno, but he composed other works also, especially
one against Ephorus the historian.
This extract is from the Life of Euclides by Diogenis Laertius, translated
by C.D. Yonge
Cited Nov2004 from the URL below
Alexinus (Alexinos), a philosopher of the Dialectic or Megarian school and a disciple of Eubulides, from his eristic propensities facetiously named Elenxinos, who lived about the beginning of the third century before Christ. He was a native of Elis, and a contemporary of Zeno. From Elis he went to Olympia, in the vain hope, it is said, of founding a sect which might be called the Olympian; but his disciples soon became disgusted with the unhealthiness of the place and their scanty means of subsistence, and left him with a single attendant. None of his doctrines have been preserved to us, but from the brief mention made of him by Cicero (Acad. ii. 24), he seems to have dealt in sophistical puzzles, like the rest of his sect. Athenaeus (xv.) mentions a paean which he wrote in honour of Craterus, the Macedonian, and which was sung at Delphi to the sound of the lyre. Alexinus also wrote against Zeno, whose professed antagonist he was, and against Ephorus the historian. Diogenes Laertius has preserved some lines on his death, which was occasioned by his being pierced with a reed while swimming in the Alpheus. (Diog. Laert. ii. 109, 110).
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Oct 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
PATRAI (Ancient city) ACHAIA
Decrianus, a sophist of Patrae, who is mentioned with great praise by Lucian. (Asin. 2.) Nothing more is known of him.
NAFPAKTOS (Town) ETOLOAKARNANIA
1882 - 1966
Isokrates .. marrying Plathane, the widow of Hippias of Elis, he adopted Aphareus,
one of her three sons,--afterwards a rhetorician and a tragic poet of some mark.
It was a somewhat rare distinction for an eminent Athenian to have had only one
lawsuit;-- and in this--a challenge to take the trierarchy, or exchange properties,
offered to him in 345 by one Megakleides--Isokrates, who was ill at the time,
was represented in court by Aphareus.
This extract is from Isokrates life, The Attic Orators from Antiphon to
Isaeos, by Sir Richard C. Jebb
Cited Nov2004 from the URL below
MESSOLONGI (Town) ETOLOAKARNANIA
1788 - 1824
1859 - 1943
1869 - 1943
1886 - 1958
NAFPAKTOS (Town) ETOLOAKARNANIA
1893 - 1987
NAFPAKTOS (Ancient city) ETOLOAKARNANIA
Carcinus, of Naupactus, is mentioned by Pausanias (x. 38.6) among the cyclic poets; and Charon of Lampsacus, before whose time Carcinus must have lived, attributed to him the epic poem Naupaktria, which all others ascribed to a Milesian poet.
PLEVRON (Ancient city) ETOLOAKARNANIA
Alexander Aetolus (Alexandros ho Aitolos), a Greek poet and grammarian, who lived in the reign of
Ptolemaeus Philadelphus. He was the son of Satyrus and Stratocleia, and a native
of Pleuron in Aetolia, but spent the greater part of his life at Alexandria, where
he was reckoned one of the seven tragic poets who constituted the tragic pleiad
(Suid. s. v.; Eudoc. p. 62; Paus. ii. 22.7; Schol. ad Hom. Il. xvi. 233). He had
an office in the library at Alexandria, and was commissioned by the king to make
a collection of all the tragedies and satyric dramas that were extant. He spent
some time, together with Antagoras and Aratus, at the court of Antigonus Gonatas.Notwithstanding
the distinction he enjoyed as a tragic poet, he appears to have had greater merit
as a writer of epic poems, elegies, epigrams, and cynaedi. Among his epic poems,
we possess the titles and some fragments of three pieces: the Fisherman (halieus,
Athen. vii.), Kirka or Krika (Athen. vii.), which, however, is designated by Athenaeus
as doubtful, and Helena. Of his elegies, some beautiful fragments are still extant.
His Cynaedi, or Ionika poiemata, are mentioned by Strabo (xiv.) and Athenaeus.
(xiv.). Some anapaestic verses in praise of Euripides are preserved in Gellius
(xv. 20).
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Oct 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
AGIOS GEORGIOS (Village) KALENTZI
1935
ASTAKOS (Small town) ETOLOAKARNANIA
1792 - 1880
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