Apollodorus of Athens ( el, Ἀπολλόδωρος ὁ Ἀθηναῖος, ''Apollodoros ho Athenaios''; c. 180 BC – after 120 BC) son of
Asclepiades, was a
Greek scholar, historian, and grammarian. He was a pupil of
Diogenes of Babylon,
Panaetius the Stoic, and the grammarian
Aristarchus of Samothrace
Aristarchus of Samothrace ( grc-gre, Ἀρίσταρχος ὁ Σαμόθραξ ''Aristarchos o Samothrax''; c. 220 – c. 143 BC) was an ancient Greek grammarian, noted as the most influential of all scholars of Homeric poetry. He was the h ...
, under whom he appears to have studied together with his contemporary
Dionysius Thrax
Dionysius Thrax ( grc-gre, Διονύσιος ὁ Θρᾷξ ''Dionýsios ho Thrâix'', 170–90 BC) was a Greek grammarian and a pupil of Aristarchus of Samothrace. He was long considered to be the author of the earliest grammatical text on the Gr ...
. He left (perhaps fled)
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...
around 146 BC, most likely for
Pergamon, and eventually settled in
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...
.
Literary works
* ''Chronicle'' (''Χρονικά'', ''Chronika''), a Greek history in verse from the fall of
Troy
Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in present-day Turkey, south-west of Ç ...
in the 12th century BC to roughly 143 BC (although later it was extended as far as 109 BC), and based on previous works by
Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Its dates are reckoned by its references to the
archons of Athens. As most archons only held office for one year, scholars have been able to pin down the years to which Apollodorus was referring. The poem is written in comic
trimeter
In poetry, a trimeter (Greek for "three measure") is a metre of three metrical feet per line. Examples:
: When here // the spring // we see,
: Fresh green // upon // the tree.
See also
* Anapaest
* Dactyl
* Tristich
A tercet is composed of ...
s and is dedicated to the second century BC king of Pergamon,
Attalus II Philadelphus.
* ''On the Gods'' (''Περὶ θεῶν'', ''Peri theon'', prose, in 24 books), lost but known through quotes to have included
etymologies
Etymology () The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the form of words a ...
of the names and
epithet
An epithet (, ), also byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) known for accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, di ...
s of the gods, rifled and quoted by the Roman Epicurean
Philodemus
Philodemus of Gadara ( grc-gre, Φιλόδημος ὁ Γαδαρεύς, ''Philodēmos'', "love of the people"; c. 110 – prob. c. 40 or 35 BC) was an Arabic Epicurean philosopher and poet. He studied under Zeno of Sidon in Athens, before movin ...
; further fragments appear in
Oxyrhynchus papyri
The Oxyrhynchus Papyri are a group of manuscripts discovered during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by papyrologists Bernard Pyne Grenfell and Arthur Surridge Hunt at an ancient rubbish dump near Oxyrhynchus in Egypt (, moder ...
.
* A twelve-book essay about Homer's
Catalogue of Ships
The Catalogue of Ships ( grc, νεῶν κατάλογος, ''neōn katálogos'') is an epic catalogue in Book 2 of Homer's ''Iliad'' (2.494–759), which lists the contingents of the Achaean army that sailed to Troy. The catalogue gives the na ...
, also based on
Eratosthenes of Cyrene and
Demetrius of Scepsis, dealing with Homeric geography and how it has changed along the centuries.
Strabo
Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called " Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could s ...
relied greatly on this for books 8 through 10 of his own ''
Geographica
The ''Geographica'' (Ancient Greek: Γεωγραφικά ''Geōgraphiká''), or ''Geography'', is an encyclopedia of geographical knowledge, consisting of 17 'books', written in Greek and attributed to Strabo, an educated citizen of the Roman ...
''.
* Other possible works include an early
etymology
Etymology () The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the form of words ...
(possibly the earliest by an Alexandrian writer), and analyses of the poets
Epicharmus of Kos
Epicharmus of Kos or Epicharmus Comicus or Epicharmus Comicus Syracusanus ( grc-gre, Ἐπίχαρμος ὁ Κῷος), thought to have lived between c. 550 and c. 460 BC, was a Greek dramatist and philosopher who is often credited ...
and
Sophron.
* Apollodorus produced numerous other critical and grammatical writings, which have not survived.
* His eminence as a scholar gave rise to several imitations, forgeries and misattributions. The encyclopedia of
Greek mythology
A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities o ...
called ''
Bibliotheca'', or ''Library'', was traditionally attributed to him, but it cannot be his; as it cites
Castor the Annalist, who was a contemporary of
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the esta ...
.
[Perseus Encyclopedia] Rather, the author of the ''Bibliotheca'' is now designated
Pseudo-Apollodorus.
References
*
*
* Bravo, Benedetto. ''La Chronique d'Apollodore et le Pseudo-Skymnos: érudition antiquaire et littérature géographique dans la seconde moitié du IIe siècle av. J.-C.'' (Leuven: Peeters, 2009) (Studia Hellenistica, 46).
* Fleischer, Kilian
''The Original Verses of Apollodorus' Chronica: edition, translation and commentary''(Berlin/New York, De Gruyter 2020) (Sozomena 19).
* Παπαθωμόπουλος, Μανόλης ed. ''Απολλόδωρου Βιβλιοθήκη / Apollodori Bibliotheca, post Richardum Wagnerum recognita. Εισαγωγή – Κείμενο – Πίνακες'' (Αθήνα: Εκδοσεις Αλήθεια, 2010) (Λόγος Ελληνικός, 4).
External links
*
ABEL: Apollodori Bibliotheca ELectronica a scholarly bibliography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Apollodorus
Ancient Alexandrians
Roman-era Athenians
Ancient Greek essayists
Ancient Greek grammarians
Ancient Greek poets
Hellenistic-era philosophers from Africa
Roman-era philosophers in Athens
Stoic philosophers
2nd-century BC Greek people
2nd-century BC writers
2nd-century BC historians
2nd-century BC poets
2nd-century BC philosophers
180s BC births
110s BC deaths