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Ephorus of Cyme (; grc-gre, Ἔφορος ὁ Κυμαῖος, ''Ephoros ho Kymaios''; c. 400330 BC) was an
ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic pe ...
historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...
known for his
universal history A universal history is a work aiming at the presentation of a history of all of mankind as a whole, coherent unit. A universal chronicle or world chronicle typically traces history from the beginning of written information about the past up to t ...
.


Biography

Information on his biography is limited. He was born in Cyme, Aeolia, and together with the historian Theopompus was a pupil of
Isocrates Isocrates (; grc, Ἰσοκράτης ; 436–338 BC) was an ancient Greek rhetorician, one of the ten Attic orators. Among the most influential Greek rhetoricians of his time, Isocrates made many contributions to rhetoric and education throu ...
in
rhetoric Rhetoric () is the art of persuasion, which along with grammar and logic (or dialectic), is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the techniques writers or speakers utilize to inform, persuade, or motivate par ...
. He does not seem to have made much progress as a speaker, and at the suggestion of Isocrates himself he took up literary composition and the study of
history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
. According to
Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for hi ...
, Ephorus declined
Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...
's offer to join him on his Persian campaign as the official historiographer. His son Demophilus followed in his footsteps as a historian.


Main works

Ephorus' ''magnum opus'' was a set of 29 books recounting a
universal history A universal history is a work aiming at the presentation of a history of all of mankind as a whole, coherent unit. A universal chronicle or world chronicle typically traces history from the beginning of written information about the past up to t ...
. The whole work, edited by his son Demophilus—who added a 30th book—contained a summary description of the Sacred Wars, along with other narratives from the days of the
Heraclids The Heracleidae (; grc, Ἡρακλεῖδαι) or Heraclids were the numerous descendants of Heracles (Hercules), especially applied in a narrower sense to the descendants of Hyllus, the eldest of his four sons by Deianira (Hyllus was also ...
up until the taking of Perinthus in 340 BC by Philip of Macedon, covering a time span of more than seven hundred years. According to
Polybius Polybius (; grc-gre, Πολύβιος, ; ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , which covered the period of 264–146 BC and the Punic Wars in detail. Polybius is important for his analysis of the mixed ...
, Ephorus was the first historian to ever author a universal history. For each of the 29 separate books, Ephorus wrote a ''prooimion''. The work was probably simply named ''Historiai'', and followed a thematic, rather than a strictly chronological order in its narrative. These writings are generally believed to be the main or sole source for
Diodorus Siculus Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ;  1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history '' Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which ...
' account of the history of Greece between 480 and 340 BC, which is one of only two continuous narratives of this period that survive. It is clear that Ephorus made critical use of the best authorities. His history was highly praised and read in
antiquity Antiquity or Antiquities may refer to: Historical objects or periods Artifacts *Antiquities, objects or artifacts surviving from ancient cultures Eras Any period before the European Middle Ages (5th to 15th centuries) but still within the histo ...
, and later ancient historians freely drew upon his work. Large parts of the history of
Diodorus Siculus Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ;  1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history '' Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which ...
may have originated in Ephorus's history.
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 ...
attached much importance to Euphorus's geographical investigations, and praised him for being the first to separate the historical from the simply geographical element. In his ''
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 ...
'', Strabo quoted Ephorus at length.
Polybius Polybius (; grc-gre, Πολύβιος, ; ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , which covered the period of 264–146 BC and the Punic Wars in detail. Polybius is important for his analysis of the mixed ...
, while crediting him with a knowledge of the conditions of naval warfare, ridiculed his description of the 362 BCE Battle of Mantinea as showing ignorance of the nature of land operations.


Additional works

Besides the universal history, Ephorus wrote an ''Epichorios logos'' (Ἐπιχώριος λόγος), a patriotic essay in which he praised the traditions of Cyme. He also wrote ''Peri heurematon'' (Περὶ εὑρημάτων), a book about inventions, and (Περὶ λέξεως), "On Style". Other works attributed to him were: * ''A Treatise on Discoveries'' * ''Respecting Good and Evil Things'' * ''The Remarkable Recipes'' * ''On Remarkable Things in Various Countries'' (it is doubtful whether these were separate works, or just extracts from the Histories) * ''A Treatise on my Country'', on the history and antiquities of Cyme * ''The Book of Goodness'', his manual on achieving happiness and pleasing others. * ''An Essay on Style'', his only rhetorical work, which is occasionally mentioned by the rhetorician Theon (rhetorician). Despite having written all these works, nothing but isolated fragments survived from the ancient world. His entire work has been lost.


Critiques

According to the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Eleventh Edition, his surviving writings all show a certain lack of passion, in spite of his keen interest in matters of style, and of political partisanship, except for his enthusiasm for Cyme. According to ancient writers, he was respected as an able and thorough, though somewhat dull historiographer. He was commended for drawing (though not always) a sharp line of demarcation between the mythical and historical; he even recognized that a profusion of detail, though lending corroborative force to accounts of recent events, is ground for suspicion, in reports of far-distant history. His style was high-flown and artificial, as was natural considering his early training, and he frequently sacrificed truth to rhetoric effect. However, according to
Dionysius of Halicarnassus Dionysius of Halicarnassus ( grc, Διονύσιος Ἀλεξάνδρου Ἁλικαρνασσεύς, ; – after 7 BC) was a Greek historian and teacher of rhetoric, who flourished during the reign of Emperor Augustus. His literary styl ...
, he and Theopompus were the only historical writers whose language was accurate and complete.


Ephorus and astronomy

Ephorus reported that a
comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ...
split apart as far back as the winter of 372–373 BC. The Roman philosopher
Seneca the Younger Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger (; 65 AD), usually known mononymously as Seneca, was a Stoic philosopher of Ancient Rome, a statesman, dramatist, and, in one work, satirist, from the post-Augustan age of Latin literature. Seneca was born ...
, whose '' Naturales quaestiones'' is the ancient source for Ephorus's comet report, is severe in his judgment (7.16):


References


Bibliography

* {{Authority control Classical-era Greek historians 4th-century BC historians Historians from ancient Anatolia Aeolians 330 BC deaths Year of birth unknown