Hypereides or Hyperides ( grc-gre, Ὑπερείδης, ''Hypereidēs''; c. 390 – 322 BC; English pronunciation with the stress variably on the penultimate or antepenultimate syllable) was an
Athenian
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 ...
logographer (speech writer). He was one of the ten
Attic orators
The ten Attic orators were considered the greatest orators and logographers of the classical era (5th–4th century BC). They are included in the "Canon of Ten", which probably originated in Alexandria. A.E. Douglas has argued, however, that it ...
included in the "Alexandrian canon" compiled by
Aristophanes of Byzantium
__NOTOC__
Aristophanes of Byzantium ( grc-gre, Ἀριστοφάνης ὁ Βυζάντιος ; BC) was a Hellenistic Greek scholar, critic and grammarian, particularly renowned for his work in Homeric scholarship, but also for work on other ...
and
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 ...
in the third century BC.
He was a leader of the Athenian resistance to King Philip II of Macedon and
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 ...
. He was associated with Lycurgus and
Demosthenes
Demosthenes (; el, Δημοσθένης, translit=Dēmosthénēs; ; 384 – 12 October 322 BC) was a Greek statesman and orator in ancient Athens. His orations constitute a significant expression of contemporary Athenian intellectual pr ...
in exposing pro-
Macedon
Macedonia (; grc-gre, Μακεδονία), also called Macedon (), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, and later the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled ...
ian sympathizers. He is known for prosecuting
Philippides of Paiania
Philippides, son of Philomelos, of Paiania was an Athenian aristocratic oligarch.
He is identified with the Philippides prosecuted by Hypereides in 336/5 B.C. who proposed honours for Macedonians after the Battle of Chaeronea, among them Alexan ...
for his pro-Macedonian measures and his decree in honoring Alexander the Great.
Rise to power
Little is known about his early life except that he was the son of Glaucippus, of the
deme
In Ancient Greece, a deme or ( grc, δῆμος, plural: demoi, δημοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Athens and other city-states. Demes as simple subdivisions of land in the countryside seem to have existed in the 6th century BC and ear ...
of
Collytus Collytus or Kollytos ( grc, Κολλυτός) was a deme of ancient Attica, located in the city of Athens. It was located within the walls of Themistocles, south of the Areopagus and southwest of Acropolis. It was famed due to its association with ...
and that he studied
logography
In a written language, a logogram, logograph, or lexigraph is a written character that represents a word or morpheme. Chinese characters (pronounced ''hanzi'' in Mandarin, ''kanji'' in Japanese, ''hanja'' in Korean) are generally logograms, as ...
under
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 360 BC, he prosecuted
Autocles for treason. During the
Social War (358–355 BC) he accused
Aristophon, then one of the most influential men at
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 ...
, of malpractices, and impeached
Philocrates (343 BC) for high treason. Although Hypereides supported
Demosthenes
Demosthenes (; el, Δημοσθένης, translit=Dēmosthénēs; ; 384 – 12 October 322 BC) was a Greek statesman and orator in ancient Athens. His orations constitute a significant expression of contemporary Athenian intellectual pr ...
in the struggle against
Philip II of Macedon
Philip II of Macedon ( grc-gre, Φίλιππος ; 382 – 21 October 336 BC) was the king ('' basileus'') of the ancient kingdom of Macedonia from 359 BC until his death in 336 BC. He was a member of the Argead dynasty, founders of the ...
; that support was withdrawn after the
Harpalus affair. After Demosthenes' exile Hypereides became the head of the patriotic party (324 BC).
Downfall
After the death of
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 ...
, Hypereides was one of the chief promoters of war against Macedonian rule. His speeches are believed to have led to the outbreak of the
Lamian War
The Lamian War, or the Hellenic War (323–322 BC) was fought by a coalition of cities including Athens and the Aetolian League against Macedon and its ally Boeotia. The war broke out after the death of the King of Macedon, Alexander the Great, ...
(323–322 BC) in which Athens,
Aetolia
Aetolia ( el, Αἰτωλία, Aἰtōlía) is a mountainous region of Greece on the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth, forming the eastern part of the modern regional unit of Aetolia-Acarnania.
Geography
The Achelous River separates Aetoli ...
, and
Thessaly
Thessaly ( el, Θεσσαλία, translit=Thessalía, ; ancient Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thes ...
revolted against Macedonian rule. After the decisive
defeat at Crannon (322 BC) in which Athens and her allies lost their independence, Hypereides and the other orators were captured by
Archias of Thurii
Archias ( grc, Ἀρχίας) of Thurii was an actor turned military agent of the Macedonian general Antipater in the 4th century BCE in ancient Greece. He was nicknamed "the hunter of the exiles" (φυγαδοθήρας).
History
Archias was or ...
and condemned to death by the Athenian supporters of
Macedon
Macedonia (; grc-gre, Μακεδονία), also called Macedon (), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, and later the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled ...
.
Hypereides fled to
Aegina
Aegina (; el, Αίγινα, ''Aígina'' ; grc, Αἴγῑνα) is one of the Saronic Islands of Greece in the Saronic Gulf, from Athens. Tradition derives the name from Aegina, the mother of the hero Aeacus, who was born on the island an ...
only to be captured at the temple of
Poseidon
Poseidon (; grc-gre, Ποσειδῶν) was one of the Twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and myth, god of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, he was venerated as ...
. After being put to death, his body (according to others) was taken to
Cleonae and shown to the Macedonian general
Antipater
Antipater (; grc, , translit=Antipatros, lit=like the father; c. 400 BC319 BC) was a Macedonian general and statesman under the subsequent kingships of Philip II of Macedon and his son, Alexander the Great. In the wake of the collaps ...
before being returned to Athens for burial.
Personality and oratorical style
Hypereides was an ardent pursuer of "the beautiful," which in his time generally meant pleasure and luxury. He was a flamboyant figure, unwavering in public his hostility to Macedon. He was a well-known epicure given to fine food and women. He engaged in countless affairs with prostitutes, some of whom he defended in court. His temper was easy-going and humorous. Though in his development of the
periodic sentence A periodic sentence is a sentence with a stylistic device featuring syntactical subordination to a single main idea, which usually is not complete until the very end of the sentence. The periodic sentence emphasizes its main idea by placing it at ...
he followed
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 ...
, the essential tendencies of his style are those of
Lysias
Lysias (; el, Λυσίας; c. 445 – c. 380 BC) was a logographer (speech writer) in Ancient Greece. He was one of the ten Attic orators included in the "Alexandrian Canon" compiled by Aristophanes of Byzantium and Aristarchus of Samothrace i ...
. His diction was plain, though he occasionally indulged in long compound words probably borrowed from
Middle Comedy
Ancient Greek comedy was one of the final three principal dramatic forms in the theatre of classical Greece (the others being tragedy and the satyr play). Athenian comedy is conventionally divided into three periods: Old Comedy, Middle Comedy, an ...
. His composition was simple. He was especially distinguished for subtlety of expression, grace and wit. Hypereides is known to have owned at least two or three pieces of property: an estate in
Eleusis
Elefsina ( el, Ελευσίνα ''Elefsina''), or Eleusis (; Ancient Greek: ''Eleusis'') is a suburban city and municipality in the West Attica regional unit of Greece. It is situated about northwest from the centre of Athens and is part of i ...
, a house in Athens, and a house in
Piraeus
Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saro ...
, where he kept one of his many women. In around 340 B.C. he is known to have performed only two public services, as trierarch and Chorus producer. It is said he had received money from the Persian King who was alarmed at Macedon's expansion.
Surviving speeches
The final two columns of P.Lit.Lond. 134, the 2nd-century BC papyrus that transmits the conclusion to ''Against Philippides''
Hypereides's speech in trial against
Philippides lasted over thirty minutes. In the first speech against Philippides he attacked
King Philip II of Macedon and
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 ...
. In the second part of the
papyrus
Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, '' Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'') can also refer to ...
, he attacks Philippides and his associates and states: Each one of them was a traitor, one in
Thebes, another in
Tangara, another in
Eleutherae, doing everything in the service of the
Macedonians. He pleaded Philip's cause and campaigned with him against our country which is his most serious offense. Hypereides detested Philippides pro-Macedonian sympathies. Hypereides exposed Philippides who was known as saying in the Assembly: We must honor Alexander for all those that died at his hand.
Seventy-seven speeches have been attributed to Hypereides, of which twenty-five were regarded as spurious by his contemporaries. It is said that a manuscript of most of the speeches survived as late as the 15th century in the
Bibliotheca Corviniana, library of
Matthias Corvinus
Matthias Corvinus, also called Matthias I ( hu, Hunyadi Mátyás, ro, Matia/Matei Corvin, hr, Matija/Matijaš Korvin, sk, Matej Korvín, cz, Matyáš Korvín; ), was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1458 to 1490. After conducting several m ...
, king of
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...
, but was later
destroyed after the capture of
Buda
Buda (; german: Ofen, sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Budim, Будим, Czech and sk, Budín, tr, Budin) was the historic capital of the Kingdom of Hungary and since 1873 has been the western part of the Hungarian capital Budapest, on the ...
by the Turks in the 16th century. Only a few fragments were known until relatively recent times. In 1847, large fragments of his speeches, ''Against Demosthenes'' and ''For Lycophron'' (incidentally interesting for clarifying the order of marriage processions and other details of Athenian life, and the Athenian government of
Lemnos
Lemnos or Limnos ( el, Λήμνος; grc, Λῆμνος) is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Lemnos regional unit, which is part of the North Aegean region. The p ...
) and the whole of ''For Euxenippus'' (c. 330 BC, a ''
locus classicus'' on εἰσαγγελίαι ''eisangeliai'' or state prosecutions), were found in a tomb at
Thebes in Egypt. In 1856 a considerable portion of a ''logos epitaphios'', a ''Funeral Oration'' over
Leosthenes
Leosthenes ( grc, Λεωσθένης Λεωσθένους Κεφαλῆθεν, Leōsthenēs Leōsthenous Kephalēthen; died 323 BC) was an Athenian who was commander of the combined Greek army in the Lamian War. Leosthenes was the son of his names ...
and his comrades who had fallen in the Lamian war was discovered. Currently this is the best surviving example of
epideictic oratory.
Towards the end of the nineteenth century further discoveries were made including the conclusion of the speech ''Against Philippides'' (dealing with an indictment for the proposal of unconstitutional measure, arising out of the disputes of the Macedonian and anti-Macedonian parties at Athens), and of the whole of ''Against Athenogenes'' (a perfumer accused of fraud in the sale of his business).
New discoveries
In 2002 Natalie Tchernetska of
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...
discovered fragments of two speeches of Hypereides, which had been considered lost, in the ''
Archimedes Palimpsest
The Archimedes Palimpsest is a parchment codex palimpsest, originally a Byzantine Greek copy of a compilation of Archimedes and other authors. It contains two works of Archimedes that were thought to have been lost (the '' Ostomachion'' and ...
.'' These were from the ''Against Timandros'' and ''Against Diondas''. Tchernetska's discovery led to a publication on the subject in the ''
Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik
The ''Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik'' (commonly abbreviated ZPE; "Journal of Papyrology and Epigraphy") is a peer-reviewed academic journal which contains articles that pertain to papyrology and epigraphy. It has been described as " ...
''. This prompted the establishment of a working group under the auspices of the
British Academy
The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences.
It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars s ...
, which includes scholars from the UK, Hungary and the US.
In 2006, the ''
Archimedes Palimpsest
The Archimedes Palimpsest is a parchment codex palimpsest, originally a Byzantine Greek copy of a compilation of Archimedes and other authors. It contains two works of Archimedes that were thought to have been lost (the '' Ostomachion'' and ...
'' project together with imagers at
Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is conside ...
used powerful X-ray fluorescence imaging to read the final pages of the ''Palimpsest,'' which contained the material by Hypereides. These were interpreted, transcribed and translated by the working group.
The new Hypereides revelations include two previously unknown speeches, effectively increasing the quantity of material known by this author by 20 percent.
In 2018 a passage of another speech of Hypereides (''Against the envoys of Antipater'') was discovered in a papyrus from Herculaneum.
Lost speeches
Among the speeches not yet recovered is the ''Deliacus'' in which the presidency of the
Temple of the Delians claimed by both Athens and Cos, which was adjudged by the
Amphictyonic League
In Archaic Greece, an amphictyony ( grc-gre, ἀμφικτυονία, a "league of neighbors"), or amphictyonic league, was an ancient religious association of tribes formed before the rise of the Greek '' poleis''.
The six Dorian cities of coast ...
to Athens. Also missing is the speech in which he defended the illustrious
courtesan
Courtesan, in modern usage, is a euphemism for a "kept" mistress or prostitute, particularly one with wealthy, powerful, or influential clients. The term historically referred to a courtier, a person who attended the court of a monarch or othe ...
Phryne
Phryne (; grc, Φρύνη, Phrū́nē, 371 BC – after 316 BC) was an ancient Greek hetaira (courtesan). From Thespiae in Boeotia, she was active in Athens, where she became one of the wealthiest women in Greece. She is best kno ...
(said to have been his mistress) on a capital charge: 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 ...
and
Athenaeus
Athenaeus of Naucratis (; grc, Ἀθήναιος ὁ Nαυκρατίτης or Nαυκράτιος, ''Athēnaios Naukratitēs'' or ''Naukratios''; la, Athenaeus Naucratita) was a Greek rhetorician and grammarian, flourishing about the end of ...
the speech climaxed with Hypereides stripping off her clothing to reveal her naked breasts; in the face of which the judges found it impossible to condemn her.
[(Athenaeus, ''Deipnosophistae'']
XIII.590
Assessment
William Noel, the curator of manuscripts and rare books at the
Walters Art Museum
The Walters Art Museum, located in Mount Vernon-Belvedere, Baltimore, Maryland, United States, is a public art museum founded and opened in 1934. It holds collections established during the mid-19th century. The museum's collection was amassed ...
in
Baltimore, Maryland
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore wa ...
and the director of the ''
Archimedes Palimpsest
The Archimedes Palimpsest is a parchment codex palimpsest, originally a Byzantine Greek copy of a compilation of Archimedes and other authors. It contains two works of Archimedes that were thought to have been lost (the '' Ostomachion'' and ...
'' project, called Hypereides "one of the great foundational figures of Greek democracy and the golden age of Athenian democracy, the foundational democracy of all democracy."
See also
*
Churchill Babington
Churchill Babington (; 11 March 182112 January 1889) was an English classical scholar, archaeologist and naturalist. He served as Rector of Cockfield, Suffolk. He was a cousin of Cardale Babington.
Life
He was born at Rothley Temple, in Leic ...
*
Phryne
Phryne (; grc, Φρύνη, Phrū́nē, 371 BC – after 316 BC) was an ancient Greek hetaira (courtesan). From Thespiae in Boeotia, she was active in Athens, where she became one of the wealthiest women in Greece. She is best kno ...
*
Simp
''Simp'' is an internet slang term describing someone who shows excessive sympathy and attention toward another person, typically someone who does not reciprocate the same feelings, in pursuit of affection or a sexual relationship. ''Urban Dic ...
Notes
References
* Herrman, Judson (ed., trans. comm.). ''Hyperides. Funeral oration''. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2009. xiv, 148 p. (American Philological Association. ''American Classical Studies'', 53).
*
*
External links
*
The Speeches of Hypereides- links to online translations
- attributed to Plutarch
*
Hyperidis orationes sex cum ceterarum fragmentis',
Friedrich Blass (ed.), 2nd edition, Lipsiae, in aedibus B. G. Teubneri, 1881.
*
Hyperidis orationes sex cum ceterarum fragmentis',
Friedrich Blass (ed.), 3rd edition, Lipsiae, in aedibus B. G. Teubneri, 1894.
{{Authority control
390s BC births
322 BC deaths
Attic orators
4th-century BC Athenians
People who died under the regency of Antipater
Executed ancient Greek people