Listed 80 sub titles with search on: Biographies for destination: "KORINTHOS Ancient city PELOPONNISOS".
668 - 584
Periander, (Periandros). Son of Cypselus, whom he succeeded
as tyrant of Corinth in B.C. 625, and reigned forty years, to B.C. 585. His rule
was mild and beneficent at first, but afterwards became oppressive. According
to the common story, this change was owing to the advice of Thrasybulus, tyrant
of Miletus, whom Periander had consulted on the best mode of maintaining his power,
and who is said to have taken the messenger through a cornfield, cutting off as
he went the tallest ears, and then to have dismissed him without committing himself
to a verbal answer. The action, however, was rightly interpreted by Periander,
who proceeded to rid himself of the most powerful nobles in the State. He made
his power respected abroad as well as at home; and besides his conquest of Epidaurus,
mentioned below, he kept Corcyra in subjection. He was, like many of the other
Greek tyrants, a patron of literature and philosophy, and Arion and Anacharsis
were in favor at his court. He was very commonly reckoned among the Seven Sages,
though by some he was excluded from their number, and Myson of Chenae in Laconia
was substituted in his place.
The private life of Periander was marked by misfortune and
cruelty. He married Melissa, daughter of Procles, tyrant of Epidaurus. She bore
him two sons, Cypselus and Lycophron, and was passionately beloved by him; but
he is said to have killed her by a blow during her pregnancy, having been roused
to a fit of anger by a false accusation brought against her. His wife's death
embittered the remainder of his days, partly through the remorse which he felt
for the deed, partly through the alienation of his younger son Lycophron, inexorably
exasperated by his mother's fate. The young man's anger had been chiefly excited
by Procles, and Periander, in revenge, attacked Epidaurus, and, having reduced
it, took his father-inlaw prisoner. Periander sent Lycophron to Corcyra; but when
he was himself advanced in years, he summoned Lycophron back to Corinth to succeed
to the tyranny, seeing that Cypselus, his elder son, was unfit to hold it, from
deficiency of understanding. Lycophron refused to return to Corinth as long as
his father was there; thereupon Periander offered to withdraw to Corcyra if Lycophron
would come home and take the government. To this he assented; but the Corcyraeans,
not wishing to have Periander among them, put Lycophron to death. Periander shortly
afterwards died of despondency, at the age of eighty, and after a reign of forty
years, according to Diogenes Laertius. He was succeeded by a relative, Psammetichus,
son of Gordias.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Nov 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Dictator of Corinth who succeeded his father Cypselos. Periander was
a very wise ruler, and was to be considered as one of the seven sages of Greece.
He was married to Melissa and they had at least two sons, one called Psammetichus.
Periander was a friend of Athens,
and also had strong ties with Miletus
and Lydia. He conquered Corcyra
and Epidaurus, and shared
Athens's animosity towards Aegina.
He also founded several colonies: Potidae
in Chalcidici, Apollonia
and Epidamnus by the Adriatic
Sea and established and enlarged the shipping routes to the Etruscans. He
also traded with Egypt.
Between the Saronic
and Corinthian Gulfs he had
a dragway for ships constructed (diolkos) which can be seen to this day. He also
made Corinth a cultural centre, and had poets like Arion at his court. He also
had buildings made in the Doric order, and it was during his rule the famous Corinthian
painted pottery was developed.
However, Periander was also slightly mad and cruel. He killed his
wife in a fit of jealousy, and when he realised what he had done he was filled
with remorse and had intercourse with her corpse. He surveilled his subjects,
and if he suspected someone of being a threat he had them executed. When on of
his sons was killed in Corcyra
he had 300 of the leading families' sons shipped to Lydia
as a gift. He told the Lydians the boys were to be eunuchised, but they were spared
his grim destiny.
Periander died at an old age, and was succeeded by his son Psammetichus,
who only ruled for three years, and then was overthrown by the oligarchs.
This text is cited Sept 2003 from the In2Greece URL below.
Bacchiadae (Bakchiadai), a Heracleid clan, derived their name from Bacchis, who was king of Corinth from 926 to 891 B. C., and retained the supreme rule in that state, first under a monarchical form of government, and next as a close oligarchy, till their deposition by Cypselus, about B. C. 657. Diodorus (Fragm. 6), in his list of the Heracleid kings, seems to imply that Bacchis was a lineal descendent from Aletes, who in B. C. 1074 deposed the Sisyphidae and made himself master of Corinth (Wess. ad Diod. l. c.; Pind. Olymp. xiii. 17; Schol. ad Pind. Nem. vii. 155; Paus. ii. 4; Mull. Dor. i. 5.9); while from Pausanias it would rather appear, that Bacchis was the founder of a new, though still a Heracleid, dynasty. In his line the throne continued till, in B. C. 748, Telestes was murdered by Arieus and Perantas, who were themselves Bacchiads, and were perhaps merely the instruments of a general conspiracy of the clan to gain for their body a larger share of power than they enjoyed under the regal constitution. From Diodorus, it would seem that a year, during which Automenes was king, elapsed before the actual establishment of oligarchy. According to the same author, this form of government, with annual prytanes elected from and by the Bacchiadae, lasted for ninety years (747-657); nor does it appear on what grounds a period of 200 years is assigned to it by Strabo. (Strab. viii.; Mull. Dor. Append. ix. note x.) It was indeed of too narrow and exclusive a kind to be of any very long duration; the members of the ruling clan intermarried only with one another (Herod. v. 92); and their downfall was moreover hastened by their excessive luxury (Ael. V. H. i. 19), as well as by their insolence and oppression, of which the atrocious outrage that drove Archias from Corinth, and led to the founding of Syracuse and Corcyra, is probably no very unfair specimen. (Diod. Exc. de Virt. et. Vit. 228; Plut. Amat ; Schol. ad Apollon. Rhod. iv. 1212.) On their deposition by Cypselus, with the help of the lower orders (Herod. v. 92; Aristot. Polit. v. 10, 12), they were for the most part driven into banishment, and are said to have taken refuge in different parts of Greece, and even Italy. (Plnt. Lysand. c. 1; Liv. i. 34) Some of them, however, appear to have still remained at Corinth, if we may consider as a Bacchiad the Heracleid Phalius, who led the colony to Epidamnus in B. C. 627. (Thuc. i. 24.) As men of the greatest distinction among the Bacchiadae, may be mentioned Philolaus, the legislator of Thebes, about B. C. 728 (Aristot. Polit. ii. 12, ed. Bekk.), and Eumelus, the cyclic poet (Paus. ii. 1, 3, iv. 33; Athen. i., c.; Schol. ad Pind. Olymp. xiii. 30) Strabo tells us also (vii.), that the Lyncestian kings claimed descent from the Bacchiadae.
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Sep 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
695 - 627
of Corinth, was, according to Herodotus (v. 92), a son of Aetion, who traced his
descent to Caeneus, the companion of Peirithous. Pausanias (ii. 4.4, v. 2.4,17.2,
and c. 18) describes Cypselus as a descendant of Melas, who was a native of Gonusa
near Sicyon, and accompanied the Dorians against Corinth. The mother of Cypselus
belonged to the house of the Bacchiadae, that is, to the Doric nobility of Corinth.
According to the tradition followed by Herodotus, she married Aetion, because,
being ugly, she met with no one among the Bacchiadae who would have her as his
wife. Her marriage remained for some time without issue, and when Aetion consulted
the oracle of Delphi about it, a son was promised to him, who should prove formidable
to the ruling party at Corinth. When the Bacchiadae were informed of this oracle,
which at the same time threw light upon a previous mysterious oracle, they resolved
for their own security to murder the child-of Aetion. But the persons who were
sent out for this purpose were moved by the smiles of the infant, and spared his
life. Afterwards, however, they made a second attempt, but they now could not
find the child, for his mother had concealed him in a chest (kupsele), from which
he derived his name, Cypselus. When he had grown up to manhood, he came forward
as the champion of the demos against the nobles, and with the help of the people
he expelled the Bacchiadae, and then established himself as tyrant (Aristot. Polit.
v. 8, &c.). The cruelties which he is charged with at the beginning of his reign
were the result of the vehement opposition on the part of the Bacchiadae, for
afterwards his government was peaceful and popular, and Cypselus felt so safe
among the Corinthians that he could even dispense with a body-guard (Aristot.
Polit. v. 9; Polyaen. v. 31). Like most other Greek tyrants, Cypselus was very
fond of splendour and magnificence, and he appears to have accumulated great wealth.
He dedicated at Delphi the chapel of the Corinthians with a bronze palm-tree (Plut.
Conv. Sept Sap. 21, Symp. Quaest. viii. 4); and at Olympia he erected a golden
statue of Zeus, towards which the wealthy Corinthians were obliged to pay an extraordinary
tax for the space often years (Strab. viii.; comp. Pseud. Aristot. Oecon. ii.
2; Suid. and Phot. s. v. Kupselos). Cypselus ruled at Corinth for a period of
thirty years, the beginning of which is placed by some in B. C. 658, and by others
in 655. He was succeeded in the tyranny at Corinth by his son Periander. The celebrated
chest of Cypselus, consisting of cedar wood, ivory, and gold, and richly adorned
with figures in relief, of which Pausanias (v. 17, &c.) has preserved a description,
is said to have been acquired by one of the ancestors of Cypselus, who kept in
it his most costly treasures. It afterwards remained in the possession of his
descendants, and it was in this chest that young Cypselus was saved from the persecutions
of the Bacchiadae. His grateful descendants dedicated it in the temple of Hera
at Olympia, where it was seen by Pausanias about the end of the second century
after Christ.
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
360 - 292
Dinarchus, (Deinarchos). One of the ten Greek orators, for the
explanation of whose orations Harpocration compiled his lexicon. (See Canon Alexandrinus.)
He was a Corinthian by birth, but settled at Athens and became intimate with Theophrastus
and Demetrius Phalereus. Dionysius of Halicarnassus fixes his birth at B.C. 361.
The time of his highest reputation was after the death of Alexander, when Demosthenes
and other great orators were dead or banished. He seems to have made a living
by writing speeches for those who were in need of them. Having always been a friend
to the aristocratic party, he was involved in a charge of conspiracy against the
democracy and withdrew to Chalcis in Euboea. He was allowed to return to Athens
after an absence of fifteen years. On his arrival, Dinarchus lodged with one Proxenus,
an Athenian, a friend of his, who, however, if the story be true, robbed the old
man of his money. Dinarchus brought an action against him, and, for the first
time in his life, made his appearance in a court of justice. The charge against
Proxenus, which is drawn up with a kind of legal formality, is preserved by Dionysius
of Halicarnassus. Of the numerous orations of Dinarchus, only three remain, and
these are not entitled to any very high praise. One of them is against Demosthenes,
touching the affair of Harpalus. The best MSS. of Dinarchus are the Codex Cripsianus
and the Codex Oxoniensis. The extant orations of Dinarchus are found in the usual
collections of the Attic orators, especially Baiter and Sauppe's Oratores Attici;
and an edition by Thalheim (1887); elaborate commentary by Matzner (1842).
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Nov 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Deinarchus, (Deinarchos). The last and at the same time the least important among
the ten Attic orators, was born at Corinth about B. C. 361. (Dionys. Deinarch.
4.) His father's name was Sostratus, or, according to Suidas (s. v. Deinarchos),
Socrates. Though a native of Corinth, he lived at Athens from his early youth.
Public oratory there reached its height about this tine, and Deinarchus devoted
himself to the study of it with great zeal under the guidance of Theophrastus,
though he also profited much by his intercourse with Demetrius Phalereus. (Dionys.
l. c. 2; Plut. Vit. X Orat.; Phot. Bibl., ed. Bekker; Suidas, l. c.) As he was
a foreigner, and did not possess the Athenian franchise, he was not allowed to
come forward himself as an orator on the great questions which then divided public
opinion at Athens, and he was therefore obliged to content himself with writing
orations for others. He appears to have commenced this career in his twenty-sixth
year, about B. C. 336, and as about that time the great Attic orators died away
one after another, Deinarchus soon acquired considerable reputation and great
wealth. He belonged to the friends of Phocion and the Macedonian party, and took
a very active part in the disputes as to whether Harpalus, who had openly deserted
the cause of Alexander the Great, should be tolerated at Athens or not. The time
of his greatest activity is from B. C. 317 to B. C. 307, during which time Demetrius
Phalereus conducted the administration of Athens. But when in B. C. 307 Demetrius
Poliorcetes advanced against Athens, and Demetrius Phalereus was obliged to take
to flight, Deinarchus, who was suspected on account of his equivocal political
conduct, and who was anxious to save his riches, fled to Chalcis in Euboea. It
was not till fifteen years after, B. C. 292, that, owing to the exertions of his
friend Theophrastus, he obtained permission to return to Athens, where he spent
the last years of his lift, and died at an advanced age. The last event of his
life of which we have any record, is a law-suit which he instituted against his
faithless friend, Proxenus, who lead robbed him of his property. But in what manner
the suit ended, is unknown. The principal source of information respecting the
life of Deinarchus is the treatise of Dionysius of Halicarnassus, from which is
derived the greater part of what is preserved in Plutarch (Vit. X Orat.), Photius
(Bibl., ed. Bekk), Suidas (l. c. ), and others.
The number of orations which Deinarchus wrote is uncertain, for Demetrius
of Magnesia (ap. Dionys. l. c. 1; comp. Suidas and Eudoc.) ascribed to him one
hundred and sixty, while Plutarch and Photius speak only of sixty-four genuine
orations; and Dionysius is of opinion, that among the eighty-seven which were
ascribed to him in his time, only sixty were genuine productions of Deinarchus.
Of all these orations three only have come down to us entire, and all three refer
to the question about Harpalus. One is directed against Philocles, the second
against Demosthenes, and the third against Aristogeiton. It is, however, not improbable
that the speech against Theocrincs, which is usually printed among those of Demosthenes,
is likewise a work of Deinarchus. (Dionys. Hal. l. c. 10; Liban. Argam.; Harpocrat.
s. v. agraphiou and Theokrines; Apostol. Proverb. xix. 49.) The titles and fragments
of the orations which are lost, are collected as far as can be by Fabricius (Bibl.
Gr. ii. ), and more complete by Westermann. (Gesch. der griech. Beredtsamk.) The
ancients, such as Dionysius who gives an accurate account of the oratory of Deinarchus,
and especially Hermogenes (de Form. Orat. ii. 11), speak in terms of high praise
of his orations; but there were others also who thought less favourably of him;
some grammarians would not even allow him a place in the canon of the ten Attic
orators (Bibl. Coislin, p. 597), and Dionysius mentions, that he was treated with
indifference by Callimachus and the grammarians of Pergamus. However, some of
the most eminent grammarians, such as Didymus of Alexandria and Heron of Athens,
did not disdain to write cormentaries upon him. (Harpocrat. s.v. martuleion; Suid.
s. v. Eron.) The orations still extant enable us to form an independent opinion
upon the merits of Deinarchus; and we find that Dionysius's judgment is, on the
whole, quite correct. chus was a man of no originality of mind, and it is difficult
to say whether he had any oratorical talent or not. His want of genius led him
to imitate others, such as Lysias, Hyperides, and more especially Demosthenes;
but he was unable to come up to his great model in any point, and was therefore
nicknamed Demosthenes ho agroikos or ho krithinos. Even Hermogenes, his greatest
admirer, does not deny that his style had a certain roughness, whence his orations
were thought to resemble those of Aristogeiton. Although it cannot be denied that
Deinarchus is the best among the many imitators of Demosthenes, he is far inferior
to him in power and energy, in the choice of his expressions, in invention, clearness,
and the arrangement of his subjects.
The orations of Deinarchus are contained in the various collections
of the Attic orators by Aldus (1513), Stephanus (1575), Gruter (1619), Reiske,
Ducas, Bekker, and Baiter and Sauppe. The best separate edition is that of C.
E. A. Schmidt (Leipzig, 1826, 8vo.), with a selection of the notes of his predecessors,
and some of his own. There is also a useful commentary on Deinarchus by C. Wurm,
" Commentarius in Dinarchi Orationes tres," Norimbergae, 1828, 8vo.
(Fabric. Bibl. Gr. ii.; Westermann, Gesch. der griech. Beredisamk.)
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
Editor's Information
The e-texts of the works by Dinarchus are found in Greece (ancient country) under the category Ancient Greek Writings.
Dinarchus: Various WebPages
a soothsayer, native of Corinth
His father was Nikosthenes. Two of his works are saved, namely a "Paean to Apollo" and a "Hymn to Hestia".
Emelus, (Eumelos). Of Corinth, the son of Amphilytus, a very ancient
Epic poet, belonged, according to some, to the Epic cycle. His name, like Eucheir,
Eugrammus, &c., is signifieant, referring to his skill in poetry. He was of the
noble house of the Bacchiadae, and flourished about the 5th Olympiad, according
to Eusebius (Chron. (1) ), who makes him contemporary with Arctinus. (Comp. Cyril,
c. Julian.i.; Clem. Alex. Strom. i.)
Those of the poems ascribed to him, which appear pretty certainly
genuine, were genealogical and historical legends. To this class belonged his
(Corinthian History (Paus. ii. 1.1, 2.2, 3.8 Schol. ad Apoll. Rhod. i. 148; Tzetz.
Schol. ad Lytcophr. 1024, comp. 174, 480), his prosodion es Delon, from which
some lines are quoted by Pausanias, who considered it the only genuine work of
Eumelus (iv. 4.1, 33.2, 3, v. 19.2), and the Europia (Euseb. l. e. Clem. Alex.
Strom. i.; Schol. ad Hom. Il. ii.) He also wrote Bougonia, a poem on bees, which
the Greeks called bougonai and bougeneis. (Euseb. l. c.; Varro. R. R. ii. 5.5,
ed. Schneid.) Some writers ascribed to him a Titanomachia, which also was attributed
to Arctinus. (Athen. vii., comp. i.; Schol. ad Apoll. Rhod. i. 1165.)
The cyclic poem on the return of the Greeks from Troy (nostos) is
ascribed to Eumelus by a Scholiast on Pindar (Ol. xiii. 31), who writes the name
wrongly, Eumolpus. The lines quoted by this Scholiast are also given by Pausanias,
under the name of Eumelus. (Vossius, de Hist. Graec., ed. Westermann; Welcker,
die Epische Cyclus)
(1) A little lower, Eusebius places him again at Ol. 9, but the former date seems
the more correct.
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
Dionysius. Of Corinth, an epic poet, who wrote some metrical works, such as Advice for Life (hupothekai), on Causes (aitia; Suid. s.. v. Dionusios; Plut. Amat. 17), and Meteorologica. In prose he wrote a commentary on Hesiod. Suidas also mentions a periegesis of the earth, but this is in all probability the production of a different person, Dionysius Periegetes. (Eudoc. p. 132.) Somne also believe that he was the author of a metrical work, Aithika, which was likewise the work of a different person. (Bernhardy, in his edit. of Dionys. Perieg.)
Of Corinth: writes history of Orchomenus. (Paus. 9.29.2, Paus. 9.38.10)
Demaratus. A Corinthian author of uncertain date, who is quoted by Plutarch. (Ages. 15.) He is perhaps the same whose work called tragoidoumena, on the subjects of Greek tragedy, is referred to by Clement of Alexandria, Stobaeus, and the Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius. Plutarch also quotes works of Demaratus on rivers, on Phrygia, and on Arcadia. (Plnt. Parall. Min. 16, de Fluv. ix.5; Clem. Alex. Protrept. c. 3; Stob. Floril. xxxix. 32, 33; Schol. ad Apoll. Rhod. i. 45, 1289; Fabric. Bibl. Graec. ii.; Vossius, de Hist. Graec., ed. Westermann.)
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
Shipbuilder of the 3rd cent. BC.
It is said that the Corinthians were the first to approach the modern style of naval architecture, and that Corinth was the first place in Hellas where galleys were built;and we have Ameinocles, a Corinthian shipwright, making four ships for the Samians.
Ameinocles (Ameinokles), a Corinthian shipbuilder, who visited Samos about B. C. 704, and built four ships for the Samians (Thuc. i. 13). Pliny (H. N. vii. 56) says, that Thucydides mentioned Ameinocles as the inventor of the trireme; but this is a mistake, for Thucydides merely states that triremes were first built at Corinth in Greece, without ascribing their invention to Ameinocles. According to Syncellus, triremes were first built at Athens by Ameinocles.
Perseus Encyclopedia
In 330 BC he rebuilt, along with Spinthar and Xenodorus, the temple of Apollo at Delphi, which had been destroyed by earthquakes.
Amyclaeus (Amuklaios), a Corinthian sculptor, who, in conjunction with Diylius, executed in bronze a group which the Phocians dedicated at Delphi, after their victory over the Thessalians at the beginning of the Persian war, B. C. 480 (Paus. x. 1.4, 13.4; Herod. viii. 27). The subject of this piece of sculpture was the contest of Heracles with Apollo for the sacred tripod. Heracles and Apollo were represented as both having hold of the tripod, while Leto and Artemis supported Apollo, and Heracles was encouraged by Athene. The legend to which the group referred is related by Pausanias (x. 13.4); the reason for such a subject being chosen by the Phocians on this occasion, seems to be their own connexion with Apollo as guardians of the Delphic oracle, and, on the other hand, because the Thessalian chiefs were Heracleidae, and their war-cry "Athene Itonia". The attempt of Heracles to carry off the tripod seems to have been a favourite subject with the Greek artists: two or three representations of it are still extant.
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
Callimachus (Kallimachos). A Greek artist, who flourished in the second half of the fifth century B.C. He was the inventor of the Corinthian order of pillar; and the art of boring marble is also attributed to him, though perhaps he did no more than bring it to perfection. The ancient critics represent him as unwearied in polishing and perfecting his work; indeed, they allege that his productions lost something through their excessive refinement and purity. One of his celebrated works was the golden chandelier in the Erechtheum at Athens.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Nov 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Callimachus (Kallimachos), an artist of uncertain country, who is said to have invented the Corinthian column (Vitruv. iv. 1.10). As Scopas built a temple of Athene at Tegea with Corinthian columns in B. C. 396, Callimachus must have lived before that time. Pausanias (i. 26.7) calls him the inventor of the art of boring marble (tous lithous trotos etrupese), which Thiersch thinks is to be understood of a mere perfection of that art, which could not have been entirely unknown to so late a period. By these inventions as well as by his other productions, Callimachus stood in good reputation with his contemporaries, although he did not belong to the first-rate artists. He was so anxious to give his works tilt last touch of perfection, by elaborating the details with too much care, that he lost the grand and sublime. Dionysius therefore compares him and Calamis to the orator Lysias (tes leptotetos heneka kai tes charitos), whilst he draws a parallel between Polycletus and Phidias and Isocrates, on account of the semnon kai megalotechnon kai axiomatikon (Jiudic. Isocr. c. 3). Callimachus was never satisfied with himself and therefore received the epithet "kakizotechnos" (Paus. i. 26.7). Pliny (H. N. xxxiv. 8. s. 19) says the same, and gives an exact interpretation of the suriame: "Semper calummiator sui nec finem habens diligentiae; ob id kakizotechnos appellatus". Vitruvius says, that Callimachus "propter elegantiam et subtilitatem artis marmoreae ab Atheniensibus katatechnos fuerat nominatus". Sillig (Cat. Art.) conjectures, after some MMS., that katatexitechnos must be read instead of kakixotechnos; but this is quite improbable on account of Pliny's translation, "calumniator sui". Whether the katatechnos of Vitruvius is corrupt or a second surname (as Siebelis supposes, ad Paus. i. 26.7), cannot be decided. So much is certain, that Callimachus' style was too artificial. Pliny, speaking of a work representing some dancing Lacedaemonian women, says, that his excessive elaboration of the work had destroyed all its beauty Pausanias (i. 26.7) describes a golden lamp, a work of Callimachus dedicated to Athene, which if filled with oil, burnt precisely one whole year without ever going out. It is scarcely probable that the painter Callimachus, mentioned by Pliny, should be our statuary, although he is generally identified with him.
This text is from: A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890) (eds. William Smith, LLD, William Wayte, G. E. Marindin). Cited Nov 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Callimachus Kallimachos. His nationality and patronymic are unrecorded; his known
works are:
1. "Bridal" Hera at Plataia
2. "Laconian Dancers", in bronze (Pliny, N.H. 34.92)
3. Golden lamp with a bronze chimney in the shape of a palm-tree for
the Erechtheion at Athens (Pausanias 1.26.7)
4. The first Corinthian capital, at Corinth, in marble
The temple of Hera at Plataia (1) was built just after 427 (Thuc. 3.68; cf. Paus.
9.2.7), and (3) cannot have been made before the Erechtheion received its roof
and interior fittings in ca. 409-406; so he was an exact contemporary of Alkamenes
and Agorakritos.
A virtuoso carver and metal-smith, he was notorious in antiquity for
his extremely finicky technique:
Pliny, N.H. 34.92: Of all sculptors, though, Callimachus is the most
remarkable for his surname: he always deprecated his own work, and made no end
of attention to detail, so that he was called the Niggler (katatexitechnos), a
memorable example of the need to limit meticulousness. He made the Laconian Women
Dancing, a flawless work, but one in which meticulousness has taken away all charm.
He is said also to have been a painter.
The meaning of katatexitechnos , though generally clear from the text, is secured
by Dionysios of Halikarnassos, Demosthenes 51, where sculptors and painters obsessed
with petty details are said to "fritter away" (katatekein) their art. The charge
is repeated by Vitruvius 4.1.10 and garbled by Pausanias:
Pausanias 1.26.7: Kallimachos made the golden lamp for the goddess
[Athena in the Erechtheion on the Akropolis] . . . and though he was inferior
to the foremost practitioners of the art, he was nevertheless cleverer than all,
so that he became the first to drill stone and so named himself katatexitechnos
, unless others did so and he adopted it for his own.
For Kallimachos' innovations with the drill see Stewart 1975. In Isokrates
3, however, Dionysios strikes a more positive note, in words remarkably similar
to Vitruvius': since the two were contemporaries, they presumably drew on a common
(Hellenistic?) source that valued such refinement and took it as support for similar
trends in rhetoric: cf. Pollitt 1974, 364-65.
What little we know of his style broadly supports the testimonia:
though the Hera is lost, and the lamp and prototype Corinthian capital (Vitruvius
4.1.10) are only vaguely to be imagined from later developments in these genres,
his "Laconian Dancers" (2) have been recognized in a series of Neo-Attic reliefs.
Extremely refined in both posture and drapery, they seem typical of late fifth
century Attic mannerism. The stylistic judgments of Dionysios (Isokrates
3), Pliny (N.H. 34.92) and the rest have also prompted further attributions,
including the work of Master "A" from the Nike temple parapet (Athens, Acropolis
973). Others prefer Master "E", the "Genetrix" Aphrodite (Louvre MA 525), and
the Neo-Attic Maenad reliefs (Rome, Palazzo dei Conservatori 1094; Madrid, Prado
42; Stewart 1990, figs. 420, 426, 436-37). This relatively compact group may indeed
originate in the same workshop, though its extreme purity of line distances it
somewhat both from the crosscut, finicky treatment of the Dancers and maybe also
from Pliny's criticisms.
This extract is from: Andrew Stewart, One Hundred Greek Sculptors: Their Careers and Extant Works. Cited Nov 2005 from Perseus Project URL below, which contains extracts from the ancient literature, bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
Chion of Corinth, a sculptor, who attained to no distinction, not from the want of industry or skill, but of good fortune. (Vitruv. iii. Praef.)
Chionis, a statuary of Corinth, about B. C. 480, executed, in conjunction with Amyclaeus and Dyillus, the group which the Phocians dedicated at Delphi. Chionis made in it the statues of Athene and Artemis. (Paus. x. 13.4)
Diyllus, (Diullos), a Corinthian statuary, who, in conjunction with Amyclaeus, executed the greater part of the bronze group which the Phocians dedicated at Delphi. (Paus. x. 13. 4)
Euchirus. A modeller, styled also Euchirus, and one of the most ancient. He and Eugrammus are said to have accompanied Demaratus in his flight from Corinth to Etruria. Here again both names are figurative.
Eucheir or Euecheir, of Corinth, who, with Eugrammus, followed Demaratus into Italy (B. C. 664), and introduced the plastic art into Italy, should probably be considered also a mythical personage, designatiing the period of Etruscan art to which the earliest painted vases belong. (Plin. xxxv. 12. s. 43, comp. xxxv. 5; Thiersch, Epochen)
is said to have accompanied Demaratus in his flight from Corinth to Etruria.
Cleanthes of Corinth is by Pliny ranked among the inventors of linear drawing; but Pliny's order cannot be accepted here, for it seems clear that the place of Cleanthes is at least posterior to that of Ecphantus. In this case we are not left to Pliny's information alone. Strabo (viii. 343) notes two works by this master in the temple of Artemis Alpheia: an Iliupersis, and a Birth of Athene. Of the first of these pictures we know nothing more: the Birth of Athene, however, is further mentioned by Athenaeus (viii. 346 c), who describes in this picture the figure of Poseidon offering a tunny fish to Zeus in travail. This is of course an error; the tunny is merely the attribute of Poseidon, whose type is thus distinguished on the Penteskuphia pinakes; and the whole description seems to point to a votive pinax of this kind, dating probably from the seventh century. In all probability it was one among many in this temple. Strabo couples with this picture another from the same temple by AREGON, representing Artemis on a Gryphon; this type, however, seems inconsistent with what we know of the methods of this period, and it is likely that either Aregon was of a much later date, or that Strabo's information was incorrect.
This extract is from: A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890) (eds. William Smith, LLD, William Wayte, G. E. Marindin). Cited July 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Cleanthes, an ancient painter of Corinth, mentioned among the inventors of that art by Pliny (H. N. xxxv. 5) and Athenagoras (Legat. pro Christ. c. 17). A picture by him representing the birth of Minerva was seen in the temple of Diana near the Alpheus (Strab. viii.; Athen. viii.). This work was not, as Gerhard says, confounding our artist with Ctesilochus (Plin. xxxv. 40), in a ludicrous style, but rather in the severe style of ancient art.
Cleophantus, one of the mythic inventors of painting at Corinth, who is said to have followed Demaratus in his flight from Corinth to Etruria. (Plin. H. N. xxxv. 5.)
Ardices of Corinth and Telephanes of Sicyon, were, according to Pliny (xxxv. 5), the first artists who practised the monogram, or drawing in outline with an indication also of the parts within the external outline, but without colour, as in the designs of Flaxman and Retzsch. Pliny, after stating that the invention of the earliest form of drawing, namely, the external outline, as marked by the edge of the shadow (umbra hominis lineis circumducta, or pictura linearis), was claimed by the Egyptians, the Corinthians, and the Sicyonians, adds, that it was said to have been invented by Philocles, an Egyptian, or by Cleanthes, a Corinthian, and that the next step was made by Ardices and Telephanes, who first added the inner lines of the figure (spargentes lineas intus).
Next comes Ecphantus of Corinth, with whose name are associated the pictures of the colour of pounded potsherd: probably this expression merely refers to the deep purple colour which is added in the earliest vase-paintings of Corinthian style, and which to Pliny's authority may have seemed their most striking characteristic: that writer may have seen some early painting signed by Ecphantus, and was thus led to connect this improvement with his name. Like Eucheir and Eugrammus, he is said to have come out of Corinth with Demaratus. Pliny tries to explain away this difficulty by the stock method of imagining two Ecphanti; but while the journey is of course legendary, there is no reason why we should not accept Ecphantus as a real personality; it is even possible that we possess a monumental record of this very artist in the Columna Naniana (Lowy, Inschr. Gr. Bildh. No. 5), of which the inscription runs thus:-- Pai Dios, Ekphantoi dexai tod' amemphes agalma
soi gar epeuchomenos tout' etelesse graphon.
It seems likely that this column, which was found at Melos, and which, from its inscription, dates from the seventh century, supported a painting; possibly this was a Melian vase-painting, by the artist Ecphantus, who thus dedicates his own handiwork.
This extract is from: A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890) (eds. William Smith, LLD, William Wayte, G. E. Marindin). Cited July 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Aregon, a Corinthian painter, who, in conjunction with Cleanthes, ornamented the temple of Artemis Alpheionia at the mouth of the Alpheius in Elis. He painted Artemis riding on a griffin (Strab. vii.). If Cleanthes be the artist mentioned by Pliny (xxxv. 5), Aregon must be placed at the very earliest period of the rise of art in Greece.
Glaucion, a painter of Corinth, and the teacher of Athenion. (Plin. H.N. xxxv. 11. s. 40.29.)
Iphion of Corinth, a painter, who is only known by two epigrams, which are ascribed, on doubtful grounds, to Simonides. (Anth. Pal. ix. 757, xiii. 1; Brunck, Anal. vol. i.)
Lives, by Plutarch
Timoleon, (Timoleon). The son of Timodemus or Timaenetus and Demariste. He belonged to one of the noblest families at Corinth. His early life was stained by a dreadful deed of blood. We are told that so ardent was his love of liberty that when his brother Timophanes endeavoured to make himself tyrant of their native city, Timoleon murdered him rather than allow him to destroy the liberty of the State. At the request of the Greek cities of Sicily, the Corinthians despatched Timoleon with a small force in B.C. 344 to repel the Carthaginians from that island. He obtained possession of Syracuse, and then proceeded to expel the tyrants from the other Greek cities of Sicily, but was interrupted in this undertaking by a formidable invasion of the Carthaginians, who landed at Lilybaeum, in 339, with an immense army, under the command of Hasdrubal and Hamilcar, consisting of 70,000 foot and 10,000 horse. Timoleon could only induce 12,000 men to march with him against the Carthaginians; but with this small force he gained a brilliant victory over the Carthaginians on the river Crimissus (339). The Carthaginians were glad to conclude a treaty with Timoleon in 338, by which the river Halycus was fixed as the boundary of the Carthaginian and Greek dominions in Sicily. Subsequently he expelled almost all the tyrants from the Greek cities in Sicily, and established democracies instead. Timoleon, however, was in reality the ruler of Sicily, for all the States consulted him on every matter of importance; and the wisdom of his rule is attested by the flourishing condition of the island for several years even after his death. He died in 337. His life was written by Plutarch.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Nov 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Nepos: Timoleon
Timoleon: Perseus Project index
Perseus Project index
Corinthian general, slain by Aristomenes
Corinthian general
a Corinthian, bribed by Persians
Aristeus, or Aristeas, a Corinthian, son of Adeimantus, commanded the troops sent by Corinth to maintain Potidaca in its revolt, B. C. 432. With Potidaea he was connected, and of the troops the greater number were volunteers, serving chiefly from attachment to him. Appointed on his arrival commander-in-chief of the allied infantry, he encountered the Athenian Callias, butwas outmanoeuvred and defeated. With his own division he was successful, and with it on returning from the pursuit he found himself cut off, but byy a bold course made his way with slight loss into the town. This was now blockaded, and Aristeus, seeing no hope, bid them leave himself with a garrison of 500, and the rest make their way to sea. This escape was effected, and he himself induced to join in it; after which he was occupied in petty warfare in Chalcidice, and negotiations for aid from Peloponnesus. Finally, not long before the surrender of Potidaea, in the second year of the war, B. C. 430, he set out with other ambassadors from Peloponnesus for the court of Persia; but visiting Sitalces the Odrysian in their way, they were given to Athenian ambassadors there by Sadocus, his son, and sent to Athens; and at Athens, partly from fear of the energy and ability of Aristeus, partly in retaliation for the cruelties practised by Sparta, he was immediately put to death. (Thuc. i. 60-65, ii. 67; Herod. vii. 137)
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
Androsthenes of Corinth, who defended Corinth against the Romans in B. C. 198, and was defeated in the following year by the Achaeans. (Liv. xxxii. 23 ; xxxiii. 14, 15)
Eumachus, (Eumachos). A Corinthian, son of Chrysis, was one of the generals sent by the Corinthians in the winter of B. C. 431 in command of an armament to restore Evarchus, tyrant of Astacus, who had been recently expelled by the Athenians. (Thuc. ii. 33.)
Adeimantus (Adeimantos). The son of Ocytus, the Corinthian commander in the invasion
of Greece by Xerxes. Before the battle of Artemisium he threatened to sail away,
but was bribed by Themistocles to remain. He opposed Themistocles with great insolence
in the council which the commanders held before the battle of Salamis. According
to the Athenians he took to flight at the very commencement of the battle, but
this was denied by the Corinthians and the other Greeks. (Herod. viii. 5, 56,
61, 94; Plut. Them. 11)
Ariston, son of Pyrrhichus, a Corinthian, one of those apparently who made their way into Syracuse in the second year of the Sicilian expedition, 414 B. C., is named once by Thucydides, in his account of the sea-fight preceding the arrival of the second armament (413 B. C.), and styled the most skilful steersman on the side of the Syracusans. He suggested to them the stratagem of retiring early, giving the men their meal on the shore, and then renewing the combat unexpectedly, which in that battle gave them their first naval victory. (vii. 39; comp. Polyaen. v. 13.) Plutarch (Nicias, 20, 25) and Diodorus (xiii. 10) ascribe to him further the invention or introduction at Syracuse of the important alterations in the build of their galleys' bows, mentioned by Thucydides (vii. 34), and said by him to have been previously used by the Corinthians in the action off Erineus. Plutarch adds, that he fell when the victory was just won, in the last and decisive sea-fight.
But in this nick of time and crisis of their peril Gongylus came to them from Corinth with a single trireme. All flocking to meet him, as was natural, he told them that Gylippus would come speedily, and that other ships of war were sailing to their aid.
Gongylus. A Corinthian captain, who in the eighteenth year of the Peloponnesian war, B. C. 414, took charge of a single ship of reinforcements for Syracuse. He left Leucas after Gylippus, but, sailing direct for Syracuse itself, arrived there first. It was a critical juncture: the besieged were on the point of holding an assembly for discussion of terms of surrender. His arrival, and his news of the approach of Gylippus, put a stop to all thought of this; the Syracusans took heart, and presently moved out to support the advance of their future deliverer. Thucydides seems to regard this as the moment of the turn of the tide. On the safe arrival of Gongylus at that especial crisis depended the issue of the Sicilian expedition, and with it the destiny of Syracuse, Athens, and all Greece. Gongylus fell, says Plutarch, in the first battle on Epipolae, after the arrival of Gylippus. (Thuc. vii. 2; Plut. Nicias, 19.)
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
Lais (celebrated Grecian hetaera). The elder, a native probably of Corinth, lived in the time of the Peloponnesian War, and was celebrated as the most beautiful woman of that age. She was notorious also for her avarice and caprice. One of her lovers was the Cyrenaic philosopher Aristippus, two of whose works were inscribed with her name. In her old age she took to drink. At her death she was buried in Corinth, and over her was placed a monument representing a lioness tearing a ram. So much was her reputation a part of that of her city that there arose the proverb ou Korinthos oute Lais. A number of anecdotes regarding her are preserved in Athenaeus.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Nov 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Lais: The elder Lais, a native probably of Corinth. Athenaeus (xiii.) says that she was born at Hyccara, in Sicily, but he has probably confounded her with her younger namesake, the daughter of Timandra (Athen. xii, xiii.); for Timandra, as we know from Plutarch (Alcib. 39), was a native of Hyccara. The elder Lais lived in the time of the Peloponnesian war, and was celebrated as the most beautiful woman of her age. Her figure was especially admired. She was notorious also for her avarice and caprice. Amongst her numerous lovers she numbered the philosopher Aristippus, two of whose works were entitled Pros Laida, and Pros Laida peri tou katoptrou (Diog. Laεrt. ii. 84). She fell in love with and offered her hand to Eubotas, of Cyrene, who, after his victory at Olympia, fulfilled his promise of taking her with him to Cyrene, in word only--he took with him her portrait (Aelian, V. H. x. 2; Clemens Alex. Strom. iii.). In her old age she became addicted to drinking. Of her death various stories were told (Athen. xiii.; Phot. cod. cxc.). She died at Corinth, where a monument (a lioness tearing a ram) was erected to her, in the cypress grove called the Kraneion (Paus. ii. 2. Β 4; Athen. xiii.). Numerous anecdotes of her were current, but they are not worth relating here. (Athen. xiii.; Auson. Epig. 17). Lais presenting her looking-glass to Aphrodite was a frequent subject of epigrams (Brunck. Anal. i., ii.; Anthol. Pal. vi. 1, 19). Her fame was still fresh at Corinth in the time of Pausanias (ii. 2. Β 5), and ou Korinthos oute Lais became a proverb. (Athen. iv.)
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
Lais. The younger Lais was the daughter of Timandra, who is sportively called Damasandra in Athenaeus (xiii.). Lais was probably born at Hyccara in Sicily. According to some accounts she was brought to Corinth when seven years old, having been taken prisoner in the Athenian expedition to Sicily, and bought by a Corinthian (Plut. l. c.; Paus. ii. 2. Β 5; Schol. ad Aristoph. Plut. 179; Athen. xiii.). This story however, which involves numerous difficulties, is rejected by Jacobs, who attributes it to a confusion between this Lais and the elder one of the same name. The story of Apelles having induced her to enter upon the life of a courtezan must have reference to the younger Lais. She was a contemporary and rival of Phryne. She became enamoured of a Thessalian named Hippolochus, or Hippostratus, and accompanied him to Thessaly. Here, it is said, some Thessalian women, jealous of her beauty, enticed her into a temple of Aphrodite, and there stoned her to death. (Paus. ii. 2 Β 5; Plut. vol. ii; Athen. xiii.). According to the scholiast on Aristophanes (Plut. 179), a pestilence ensued, which did not abate till a temple was dedicated to Aphrodite Anosia. She was buried on the banks of the Peneus. The inscription on her monument is preserved by Athenaeus (xiii.).
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
Further information concerning Arion can be found in Mithymna (ancient city) .
The Corinthian Phidon1 in fact, one of the most ancient lawgivers, thought that the house-holds and the citizen population ought to remain at the same numbers, even though at the outset the estates of all were unequal in size; but in Plato's Laws the opposite is the case
(2) An ancient Corinthian legislator of uncertain date.
Callippus, a Stoic philosopher of Corinth, who was a pupil of Zeno, the founder of the school. (Diog. Laert. vii. 38.) He seems to be the same person as the Callippus mentioned by Pausanias (ix. 29.2, 38.10) as the author of a work entitled sungraphe heis Orchomenious, of which a few fragments are preserved there.
Damis. An Epicurean, introduced several times by Lucian as an irreligious and profligate
man. He appears to be the same who is spoken of (Dial. Mort. 27) as a wealthy
Corinthian, and who is said to have been poisoned by his own son. Harles however
supposes, that the Damis in question may have been a fictitious character. (Ad
Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. iii., and the passages of Lucian there referred to.)
Lycophron (Lukophron). The younger son of Periander, tyrant of Corinth, by his wife Lyside or Melissa. Melissa having been killed by Periander, her father Procles, tyrant of Epidaurus. asked her two sons, while staying at his court, if they knew who had slain their mother. This rankled in the mind of Lycophron, and, on his return to Corinth, he refused to hold any communication with his father. Periander drove him from his house, and forbade any one to receive him or address him under the penalty of the confiscation of a certain sum to the service of Apollo; but the misery to which he was thus reduced had no effect on Lycophron's resolution, and even his father's entreaties, that he would recede from his obstinacy and return home, called forth from him only the remark that Periander, by speaking to him, had subjected himself to the threatened penalty. Periander then sent him away to Corcyra; but, when he was himself advanced in years, he summoned him back to Corinth to succeed to the tyranny, seeing that Cypselus, his elder son, was unfit to hold it from deficiency of understanding. The summons was disregarded, and, notwithstanding a second message to the same effect, conveyed by Lycophron's sister, and backed by her earnest entreaties, he persisted in refusing to return to Corinth as long as his father was there. Periander then offered to withdraw to Corcyra, if Lycophron would come home and take the government. To this he assented; but the Corcyraeans, not wishing to have Periander among them, put Lycophron to death, probably about B. C. 586. (Herod. iii. 50-53; Diog. Laert. i. 94, 95; comp. Paus. ii. 28)
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
Demaratus. A Corinthian, in the time of Philip and his son Alexander. He had connections of hospitality with the royal family of Macedon, and, having paid a visit to Philip, succeeded in reconciling that monarch to his son. After Alexander had overthrown the Persian Empire, Demaratus, though advanced in years, made a voyage to the east in order to see the conqueror, and, when he beheld him, exclaimed, "What a pleasure have those Greeks missed, who died without seeing Alexander seated on the throne of Darius!" He died soon after, and was honoured with a magnificent funeral.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Nov 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Receive our daily Newsletter with all the latest updates on the Greek Travel industry.
Subscribe now!
