Parthenius of

Nicaea Nicaea, also known as Nicea or Nikaia (; ; grc-gre, Νίκαια, ) was an ancient Greek city in Bithynia, where located in northwestern Anatolia and is primarily known as the site of the First and Second Councils of Nicaea (the first and s ...

( el, Παρθένιος ὁ Νικαεύς) or Myrlea ( el, ὁ Μυρλεανός) in

Bithynia Bithynia (; Koine Greek: , ''Bithynía'') was an ancient region, kingdom and Roman province in the northwest of Asia Minor (present-day Turkey), adjoining the Sea of Marmara, the Bosporus, and the Black Sea. It bordered Mysia to the southwest, ...

was a Greek

grammarian Grammarian may refer to: * Alexandrine grammarians, philologists and textual scholars in Hellenistic Alexandria in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE * Biblical grammarians, scholars who study the Bible and the Hebrew language * Grammarian (Greco-Roman ...

and poet. According to the '' Suda'', he was the son of Heraclides and Eudora, or according to Hermippus of Berytus, his mother's name was Tetha. He was taken prisoner by Helvius Cinna in the Mithridatic Wars and carried to Rome in 72 BC. He subsequently visited Neapolis, where he taught Greek to Virgil, according to Macrobius. Parthenius is said to have lived until the accession of Tiberius in 14 AD. Parthenius was a writer of

elegies An elegy is a poem of serious reflection, and in English literature usually a lament for the dead. However, according to ''The Oxford Handbook of the Elegy'', "for all of its pervasiveness ... the 'elegy' remains remarkably ill defined: sometime ...

, especially dirges, and of short epic poems. He is sometimes called "the last of the Alexandrians".

''Erotica Pathemata''

His only surviving work, the ''Erotica Pathemata'' (, ''Of the Sorrows of Love''), was set out, the poet says in his preface, "in the shortest possible form" and dedicated to the poet

Cornelius Gallus Gaius Cornelius Gallus (c. 70 – 26 BC) was a Roman poet, orator and politician. Birthplace The identity of Gallus' purported birthplace, '' Forum Iulii'', is still uncertain, and it is based on the epithet "Foroiuliensis" that Jerome gave to h ...

, as "a storehouse from which to draw material". ''Erotica Pathemata'' is a collection of thirty-six epitomes of love-stories, all of which have tragic or sentimental endings, taken from histories and historicised fictions as well as poetry. As Parthenius generally quotes his authorities, these stories are valuable as affording information on the Alexandrian poets and grammarians.

The mythical or legendary characters whose stories are presented in ''Erotica Pathemata'' are as follows. #

Lyrcus Lyrcus ( Ancient Greek: Λύρκος) is the name of two Greek mythological figures, one a figure in a 1st-century BC Hellenistic romance by Parthenius of Nicaea,son of phoroneus, the other the eponymous legendary founder of Lyrceia and son of Abas ...

Polymela In Greek mythology, the name Polymela or Polymele ( Ancient Greek: Πολυμήλη "many songs", derived from ''polys'', "many" and ''melos'' "song") may refer to the following figures: * Polymele, daughter of Autolycus and one of the possible m ...

# Evippe #

Oenone In Greek mythology, Oenone (; Ancient Greek: Οἰνώνη ''Oinōnē''; "wine woman") was the first wife of Paris of Troy, whom he abandoned for Helen. Oenone was also the ancient name of an island, which was later named after Aegina, daughter ...

# Leucippus, son of

Xanthius In Greek mythology, Xanthius ( Ancient Greek: Ξάνθιος) was a descendant of Bellerophon, and father of Leucippus and an unnamed daughter. Mythology Through the wrath of Aphrodite, Leucippus fell in love with his own sister. The passion tu ...

# Pallene # Hipparinus of Heraclea #

Herippe In a Greek folktale told by Parthenius, Herippe ( Ancient Greek: ) was a woman from Miletus, wife of Xanthus and mother of an unnamed two-year-old child. Mythology During the celebration of Thesmophoria, Hernippe and many other women were carr ...

Polycrite In Greek legendary history, Polycrite () was a maiden of Naxos who, as her home city was besieged by the armies of Miletus and Erythraea, came to be loved by the Erythraean general Diognetus, and devised a stratagem which led to the victory of the ...

# Leucone, wife of

Cyanippus In Greek mythology, the name Cyanippus ( Ancient Greek: Κυάνιππος) may refer to: *Cyanippus, son of Aegialeus and Comaetho, or else son of Adrastus and Amphithea and brother of Aegialeus. He fought in the Trojan War and was one of the me ...

Byblis In Greek mythology, Byblis or Bublis (Ancient Greek: Βυβλίς) was a daughter of Miletus. Her mother was either Tragasia, daughter of Celaenus; Parthenius, ''Erotica Pathemata'' 11 Cyanee, daughter of the river-god Meander, or Eidothea, ...

# Calchus # Harpalyce # Antheus, loved and killed by

Cleoboea In Greek mythology, the name Cleoboea ( Ancient Greek: Κλεόβοια) refers to: *Cleoboea, daughter of Criasus and Melantho, sister of Phorbas and Ereuthalion. *Cleoboea, mother of Eurythemis. Her daughter was married to King Thestius of Pl ...

# Daphne # Laodice # Cratea, mother of Periander # Neaera # Pancrato, daughter of

Iphimedeia In Greek mythology, Iphimedeia (; Ancient Greek: Ἰφιμέδεια) or Iphimede (Ἰφιμέδη) was a Thessalian princess. She was attested in Homer's ''Odyssey'' in the Catalogue of women as being a mortal. Family Iphimedia was the daugh ...

# Aëro, daughter of

Oenopion In Greek mythology, Oenopion (Ancient Greek: , ''Oinopíōn'', English translation: "wine drinker", "wine-rich" or "wine face") was a legendary king of Chios, and was said to have brought winemaking to the island, which was assigned to him by Rha ...

# Pisidice of

Methymna Mithymna () ( el, Μήθυμνα, also sometimes spelled ''Methymna'') is a town and former municipality on the island of Lesbos, North Aegean, Greece. Since the 2019 local government reform it is part of the municipality of West Lesbos, of whic ...

# Nanis # Chilonis # Hipparinus of Syracuse # Phayllus # Apriate (see

Trambelus In Greek mythology, Trambelus ( Ancient Greek: Τράμβηλος) was a son of Telamon (thus a half-brother of Ajax the Great and Teucer). His mother was the Trojan captive, Hesione or Theaneira. Mythology When Trambelus' mother had already be ...

) #

Alcinoe Alcinoe (; Ancient Greek: Ἀλκινόη ''Alkinóē'') is the name that is attributed to three women in Greek mythology: *Alcinoe, a naiad, and one of the ''nymphai Lykaaides'' (nymphs of Mount Lykaios in Arkadia). Her parents possibly wer ...

# Clite #

Daphnis In Greek mythology, Daphnis (; grc, Δάφνις, from , ''daphne'', "Bay Laurel") was a Sicilian shepherd who was said to be the inventor of pastoral poetry. Family According to tradition, he was the son of Hermes and a nymph, despite which ...

Celtine In Greek mythology, Celtine ( grc, Κελτίνη, ''Keltine'') was the daughter of Bretannus and mother of Celtus. She is known for having been one of the consorts of Heracles. Mythology Her story, recorded by Parthenius of Nicaea, is as follow ...

# Dimoetes # Anthippe (see

Epirus sq, Epiri rup, Epiru , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Historical region , image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg , map_alt = , map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinric ...

) # Assaon #

Corythus Corythus is the name of six mortal men in Greek mythology. *Corythus, son of Marmarus, and one of the court of Cepheus. He wounded Pelates during the battle at the wedding feast of Perseus and Andromeda. *Corythus, an Italian king and father, ...

Eulimene Eulimene ( Ancient Greek: Εὐλιμήνη ''Eulimenê'' means 'she of good haven' or 'good-harbour-woman') was the name of two characters in Greek mythology. * Eulimene, the Nereid of good harborage and one of the 50 sea-nymph daughters of the 'Ol ...

# Arganthone

Other works

In Parthenius' own time, he was not famous for his prose but his poems. These are listed below: *''Arete'' *''Dirge on Archelais'' *''Aphrodite'' *''Bias'' *''Delos'' *''Krinagoras'' *''Leucadiai'' *''Anthippe'' *''Dirge on Auxithemis'' *''Idolophanes'' *''Herakles'' *''Iphiklos'' *''Metamorphoses'' *''Propemptikon'' *A Greek original of ''Moretum''

The surviving manuscript

Parthenius is one of the few ancient writers whose work survives in only one manuscript. The only surviving manuscript of Parthenius was called Palatinus Heidelbergensis graecus 398 (P), probably written in the mid-9th century AD. It contains a diverse mixture of geography, excerpts from Hesychius of Alexandria,

paradoxography Paradoxography is a genre of classical literature which deals with the occurrence of abnormal or inexplicable phenomena of the natural or human worlds. Early surviving examples of the genre include: * Palaephatus's ' ("On Incredible Things") ( 4th ...

epistolography Epistolography, or the art of writing letters, is a genre of Byzantine literature similar to rhetoric that was popular with the intellectual elite of the Byzantine age."Epistolography" in ''The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium'', Oxford Universit ...

and mythology.J. L. Lightfoot, Parthenius of Nicaea: the poetical fragments and the Erōtika pathēmata, p. 304.

Editions of Parthenius

*1531: ''Editio princeps'', edited by Janus Cornarius. Basle, Froben. *1675: ''Historiae poeticae scriptores antiqui'', edited by

Thomas Gale Thomas Gale (1635/1636?7 or 8 April 1702) was an English classical scholar, antiquarian and cleric. Life Gale was born at Scruton, Yorkshire. He was educated at Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge, of which he became a fellow ...

, Paris. *1798: Legrand and Heyne, Göttingen. *1824: ''Corpus scriptorum eroticorum Graecorum'', Passow, Leipzig. *1843:
Analecta alexandrina
', Augustus Meineke (ed.), Berolini sumptibus Th. chr. Fr. Enslini. *1843: ''Mythographoi. Scriptores poetiace historiae graeci'', Antonius Westermann (ed.), Brunsvigae sumptum fecit Georgius Westermann
pagg. 152-81
*1856: Didot edition, ''Erotici scriptores'', Hirschig, Paris. *1858: Hercher, ''Erotici Scriptores Graeci'', Leipzig. *1896: ''Mythographi graeci'', Paulus Sakolowski (ed.)
vol. II, fasc. I
Lipsiae in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. *1902: ''Mythographi graeci'', Edgar Martini (ed.)
vol. II, fasc. I suppl.
Lipsiae in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. *1916: S. Gaselee, ''Longus: Daphnis and Chloe and the love romances of Parthenius and other fragments'', with English translation. *2000: J.L. Lightfoot, ''Parthenius of Nicaea: the poetical fragments and the Erōtika pathēmata''. . Reviewed by Christopher Francese a
The Bryn Mawr Classical Review
* 2008: Michèle Biraud, Dominique Voisin, and Arnaud Zucker (trans. and comm.), Parthénios de Nicée. ''Passions d'amour.'' Grenoble: Éditions Jérôme Millon. Reviewed by Simone Viarre a

Notes

References

Online text: Parthenius, ''Love Romances'', translated by S. Gaselee, 1916
* J. L. Lightfoot, Parthenius of Nicaea: the poetical fragments and the Erōtika pathēmata, p. 304. * The ''Suda''. ''Parthenius''. *

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parthenius of Nicaea 1st-century BC births 14 deaths Ancient Greek grammarians Ancient Greek mythographers Ancient Greek slaves and freedmen Ancient Greek epic poets Ancient Greek elegiac poets 1st-century BC poets 1st-century BC writers People from Bithynia