Listed 16 sub titles with search on: Biographies for wider area of: "TARANTO Ancient city PUGLIA" .
TARANTO (Ancient city) PUGLIA
A Greek comic poet, son of a potter of
Tarentum, who lived about B.C. 300, and invented a style of composition of his
own, which was much diffused in Magna Graecia, and is said to have been imitated
even by the Romans. It was called the Hilarotragoedia (Hilarotragoidia) -- cheerful
tragedy. It was a travesty of tragic myths by the intermixture of comic scenes.
The scanty fragments of the thirty-eight plays of Rhinthon do not give us any
adequate idea of this kind of composition.
Aristonicus, of Tarentum, the author of a mythological work which is often referred
to (Phot. Cod. 190; Serv. ad Aen. iii. 335; Caes. Germ. in Arat. Phaen. 327; Hygin.
Poet. Astr. ii. 34). He is perhaps the same as the one mentioned by Athenaeus
(i), but nothing is known about him.
Aristoxenus (Aristoxenos). A Greek philosopher and musician, a native of Tarentum, and a pupil of Aristotle. He lived about B.C. 330, and was a prolific writer on various subjects, but most particularly on music. In contrast with the Pythagoreans, who referred everything to the relations of numbers, he regarded music as founded on the difference of tones as perceived by the ear. Of his Harmonika Stoicheia three books are preserved, but they are neither complete nor in their original shape. Only a part of his Rhuthmika Stoicheia has survived.
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
. . .The "harmonic" Aristoxenus Tarentum, a pupil of Aristotle, was held by the ancients to be the greatest authority on music; from his numerous works was drawn the greatest part of subsequent musical literature. Of other writers on music we may mention the well-known mathematician Euclid, and the great astronomer Claudius Ptolemaeus, who perfected musical acoustics.
This extract is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Archytas. A famous Tarentine astronomer and geometrician, the son of Hestiaeus. He was seven times elected governor of his native city. He is said to have been instrumental in rescuing Plato from the tyrant Dionysius. Many stories are told of his ingenuity. For him is claimed the invention of the screw, of the pulley, and of a wooden pigeon that could fly. He is also reported to have attempted to calculate the number of the grains of sand upon the sea-shore. Only a single fragment of his writings has come down to us in Porphyry. He perished in a shipwreck about B.C. 394.
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
Archytas (Archutas), a Greek of Tarentum, who was distinguished as a philosopher, mathematician. general. and statesman and was no less admired for his integrity and virtue, both in public and in private life. Little is known of his history, since the lives of him by Aristoxenus and Aristotle (Athen. xii.) are lost. A brief account of him is given by Diogenes Laertius (viii. 79-83). His father's name was Mnasarchus, Mnesagoras, or Histiaeus. The time when he lived is disputed, but it was probably about 400 B. C., and onwards, so that he was contemporary with Plato, whose life he is said to have saved by his influence with the tyrant Dionysius (Tzetzes, Chil. x. 359, xi. 362; Suidas, s. v. Archutas), and with whom he kept up a familiar intercourse (Cic. de Senect. 12). Two letters which are said to have passed between them are preserved by Diogenes. He was seven times the general of his city, though it was the custom for the office to be held for no more than a year, and he commanded in several campaigns, in all of which he was victorious. Civil affairs of the greatest consequence were entrusted to him by his fellow-citizens. After a life which secured to him a place among the very greatest men of antiquity, he was drowned while upon a voyage on the Adriatic (Hor. Carm. i. 28). He was greatly admired for his domestic virtues. He paid particular attention to the comfort and education of his slaves. The interest which he took in the education of children is proved by the mention of a child's rattle (platage) among his mechanical inventions (Aelian, V. H. xiv. 19; Aristot. Pol. viii. 6.1). As a philosopher, he belonged to the Pythagorean school, and he appears to have been himself the founder of a new sect. Like the Pythagoreans in general, he paid much attention to mathematics. Horace calls him "maris et terrae numeroque carentis arenae Mensorem". He solved the problem of the doubling of the cube, (Vitruv. ix. praef.) and invented the method of analytical geometry. He was the first who applied the principles of mathematics to mechanics. To his theoretical science he added the skill of a practical mechanician, and constructed various machines and automatons, among which his wooden flying dove in particular was the wonder of antiquity (Gell. x. 12). He also applied mathematics with success to musical science, and even to metaphysical philosophy. His influence as a philosopher was so great, that Plato was undoubtedly indebted to him for some of his views; and Aristotle is thought by some writers to have borrowed the idea of his categories, as well as some of his ethical principles, from Archytas. The fragments and titles of works ascribed to Archytas are very numerous, but the genuineness of many of them is greatly doubted. lost of them are found in Stobaeus. They relate to physics, metaphysics, logic, and ethics. A catalogue of them is given by Fabricius (Bib. Graec. i.). Several of the fragments of Archytas are published in Gale, Opusc. Mythol. Cantab. 1671, Amst. 1688. A work ascribed to him "on the 10 Categories", was published by Camerarius, in Greek, under the title Archutou pheromenoi deka logoi katholikoi, Lips. 1564; and in Greek and Latin, Ven. 1571. From the statement of Iamblichus (Vit. Pyth. 23), that Archytas was a hearer of Pythagoras, some writers have thought that there were two Pythagorean philosophers of this name. But Iamblichus was undoubtedly mistaken. The writers of this name on agriculture (Diog Laert. l. c.; Varro, R. R. i. 1; Columella, R. R. i. 1), on cookery (opsartutika, Iamblich, Vit. Pyth. 29, 34; Athen. xii.), and on architecture , are most probably identical with the philosopher, to whom the most various attainments are ascribed. Busts of Archytas are engraved in Gronovius' Thesaur. Antiq. Graec. ii. tab. 49, and in the Andichita d'Ercolano, v. tab. 29, 30.
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
Cleinias (Kleinias), a Pythagorean philosopher, of Tarentum, was a contemporary and friend
of Plato's, as appears from the story (perhaps otherwise worthless) which Diogenes
Laertius (ix. 40) gives on the authority of Aristoxenus, to the effect that Plato
wished to burn all the writings of Democritus which he could collect, but was
prevented by Amyclas and Cleinias. In his practice, Cleinias was a true Pythagorean.
Thus we hear that he used to assuage his anger by playing on his harp; and, when
Prorus of Cyrene had lost all his fortune through a political revolution, Cleinias,
who knew nothing of him except that he was a Pythagorean, took on himself the
risk of a voyage to Cyrene, and supplied him with money to the full extent of
his loss.
Dicaearchus. Of Tarentum, is mentioned by Iamblichus (de Vit. Pythag. 36) among the celebrated Pythagorean philosophers. Some writers have been inclined to attribute to him the Bioi which are mentioned among the works of the Peripatetic Dicaearchus.
Eurymedon. Of Tarentum, a Pythagorean philosopher mentioned by Iamblichus. (Vit. Pyth. 36.)
Histiaeus. According to Aristoxenus (in Diog. Laert. viii. 79), the father of Archytas of Tarentum was named Hestiaeus. And the name occurs in the list of Pythagoreans in Iamblichus (Vit. Pythay. c. 36.267).
Andronicus, Livius. The earliest Roman poet, as far as poetical literature is concerned; for whatever popular poetry there may have existed at Rome, its poetical literature begins with this writer (Quintil. x. 2.7). He was a Greek and probably a native of Tarentum, and was made prisoner by the Romans during their wars in southern Italy. He then became the slave of M. Livius Salinator, perhaps the same who was consul in B. C. 219, and again in B. C. 207. Andronicus instructed the children of his master, but was after-wards restored to freedom, and received from his patron the Roman name Livius (Hieron. in Euseb. Chron. ad Ol. 148.) During his stay at Rome, Andronicus made himself a perfect master of the Latin language, and appears to have exerted himself chiefly in creating a taste for regular dramatic representations. His first drama was acted in B. C. 240, in the consulship of C. Claudius and M. Tuditanus (Cic. Brut.. 18, comp. Tusc. Quaest. i. 1, de Senect. 14; Liv. vii. 2; Gellius, xvii. 21); but whether it was a tragedy or a comedy is uncertain. That he wrote comedies as well as tragedies, is attested beyond all doubt (Diomedes, iii.; Flavius Vopisc. Numerian, 13; the author of the work de Comoed. et Trag.). The number of his dramas was considerable, and we still possess the titles and fragments of at least fourteen. The subjects of them were all Greek, and they were little more than translations or imitations of Greek dramas. Andronicus is said to have died in B. C. 221, and cannot have lived beyond B. C. 214. As to the poetical merit of these compositions we are unable to form an accurate idea, since the extant fragments are few and short. The language in them appears yet in a rude and undeveloped form, but it has nevertheless a solid basis for further development. Cicero (Brut. 18) says, that in his time they were no longer worth reading, and that the 600 mules in the Clytemnestra and the 3000 craters in the Equus Trojanus could not afford any pleasure upon the stage (ad Famil. vii. 1). In the time of Horace, the poems of Andronicus were read and explained in schools; and Horace, although not an admirer of early Roman poetry, says, that he should not like to see the works of Andronicus destroyed (Horat. Epist. ii. 1. 69). Besides his dramas, Livius Andronicus wrote: 1. A Latin Odyssey in the Saturnian verse (Cic. Brut. 18), but it is uncertain whether the poem was an imitation or a mere translation of the Homeric poem. 2. Hymns (Liv. xxvii. 37; Fest. s.v. Sribas), of which no fragments are extant. The statement of some writers, that he wrote versified Annals, is founded upon a confusion of Livius Andronicus and Ennius. The fragments of Livius Andronicus are contained in the collections of the fragments of the Roman dramatists mentioned under ACCIUS. The fragments of the Odyssea Latina are collected in H. Duntzer et L. Lersch, de Versu quem vocant Saturnino; all the fragments are contained in Duntzer's Livii Andronici Fragmenta collecta et illustrata, &c. Berlin, 1835.
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
The first half of the 3rd century B.C. was the period at which the influence of Greek literature began to be directly felt by the Romans. Tarentum was the greatest of the Greek colonies in Southern Italy. After the fall of Tarentum in 272 B.C., the intercourse between Romans and Greeks became more familiar. In the First Punic War (263-241 B.C.) Sicily was the principal battle-ground; and in Sicily the Romans had ample facilities for improving their acquaintance with the Greek language. They had also frequent opportunities of witnessing Greek plays. Just after the close of the war the first attempt at a Latin reproduction of Greek tragedy was made by Livius Andronicus (240 B.C.). He was a Greek, probably of Tarentum, and had received his freedom from his master, M. Livius Salinator, whose sons he had educated. He then settled at Rome, and devoted the rest of his life to literary work. It may be conjectured that most of his plays were translated from the Greek. All of them, so far as we know, were on Greek subjects. Among the titles are Aegisthus, Ecus Trojanus, Ajax, Tereus, Hermione. His Latin style appears to have been harsh and crude. Livianae fabulae non satis dignae quae iterum legantur is Cicero's concise verdict (Brutus, 18, 71).
This extract is from: A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890) (eds. William Smith, LLD, William Wayte, G. E. Marindin). Cited August 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Eugenes, the author of an epigram, in the Greek Anthology, upon the statue of Anacreon intoxicated. (Brunck, Anal. vol. ii.; Jacobs, Anth. Graec. vol. iii.; Paus. i. 93.1). The epigram seems to be an imitation of one by Leonidas Tarentinus on the same subject.
They were saying that he was safe in Italy and that they had left him flourishing at Tarentum
Hegesippus. Of Tarentum, a writer ofOpsartutika (Athen. x. p. 429, d.; xii. p. 516, c.; Pollux, vi. 10.)
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