Achilles Tatius (

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

: Ἀχιλλεὺς Τάτιος, ''Achilleus Tatios'') of

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

was a Roman-era Greek writer of the 2nd century AD whose fame is attached to his only surviving work, the

ancient Greek novel Five ancient Greek novels or ancient Greek romances survive complete from antiquity: Chariton's '' Callirhoe'' (mid 1st century), Achilles Tatius' '' Leucippe and Clitophon'' (early 2nd century), Longus' '' Daphnis and Chloe'' (2nd century), X ...

, or ''romance'', '' The Adventures of Leucippe and Clitophon''.

Life and minor works

Eustathius of Thessalonica Eustathius of Thessalonica (or Eustathios of Thessalonike; ; ) was a Byzantine Greek scholar and Archbishop of Thessalonica and is a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church. He is most noted for his stand against the sack of Thessalonica by the No ...

(in his commentary on

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

's ''

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...

'' 14.350), the ''

Suda The ''Suda'' or ''Souda'' (; ; ) is a large 10th-century Byzantine Empire, Byzantine encyclopedia of the History of the Mediterranean region, ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Soudas () or Souidas (). It is an ...

'',

Photius Photius I of Constantinople (, ''Phōtios''; 815 – 6 February 893), also spelled ''Photius''Fr. Justin Taylor, essay "Canon Law in the Age of the Fathers" (published in Jordan Hite, T.O.R., and Daniel J. Ward, O.S.B., "Readings, Cases, Mate ...

, in his '' Bibliotheca'' (cod. 87), and the manuscript tradition all affirm he lived and wrote in

. The papyrus, and linguistic evidence demonstrate he flourished early in the 2nd century AD. Suda preserves a tradition that "He became at last a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

and a

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

." There are literary parallels between Leucippe and Clitophon and the Christian Acts of Andrew, a roughly contemporary composition. The ''Suda'' also ascribes to the author a work on the sphere (in

), a fragment of which, professing to be an introduction to the ''Phaenomena'' of

Aratus Aratus (; ; c. 315/310 240 BC) was a Greek didactic poet. His major extant work is his hexameter poem ''Phenomena'' (, ''Phainómena'', "Appearances"; ), the first half of which is a verse setting of a lost work of the same name by Eudoxus of Cn ...

, may still be extant (in

). This, however, may be the work of another Achilles Tatius, who lived in the 3rd century. This work is referred to by Firmicus Maternus, who about 336 speaks of the ''prudentissimus Achilles'' in his ''Matheseos libri'' (''Math.'' iv. 10). The fragment was first published in 1567, then in the ''Uranologion'' of the

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

scholar

Denis Pétau Denis Pétau (21 August 158311 December 1652), also known as Dionysius Petavius, was a French Jesuit theologian. Life Pétau was born in Orléans, where he had his initial education; he then attended the University of Paris, where he successfully ...

, with a

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

translation in 1630. The same source also mentions a work of Achilles Tatius on

etymology Etymology ( ) is the study of the origin and evolution of words—including their constituent units of sound and meaning—across time. In the 21st century a subfield within linguistics, etymology has become a more rigorously scientific study. ...

, and another entitled ''Miscellaneous Histories''.

Notes

References

* Del Corno, Dario; ''Letteratura greca'' (1988) *

External links

*
"Achilleus Statios"
in the ''Suda'' * Photius,

', J.H. Freese (translator) (1920) * Smith, William; ''

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' is a biographical dictionary of classical antiquity, edited by William Smith (lexicographer), William Smith and originally published in London by John Taylor (English publisher), Tayl ...

'', ,

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, (1867)
''Leucippe and Clitophon'', complete Greek text''Leucippe and Clitophon'', full English translation
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Achilles Tatius Ancient Greek novelists Greek erotica writers Roman-era Alexandrians Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown 2nd-century Greek writers