Paradoxography is a genre of

classical literature Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek and Roman literature and their original languages, ...

which deals with the occurrence of abnormal or inexplicable phenomena of the natural or human worlds (

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 ...

''mirabilia'', 'marvels, miracles'). The term ''paradoxographos'' (paradoxographer) was coined by

Tzetzes John Tzetzes (; , Constantinople – 1180, Constantinople) was a Byzantine poet and grammarian who lived at Constantinople in the 12th century. He is known for making significant contributions in preserving much valuable information from ancien ...

. Early surviving examples of the genre include: *

Palaephatus Palaephatus (Ancient Greek: ) was the author of a rationalizing text on Greek mythology, the paradoxographical work ''On Incredible Things'' (; ), which survives in a (probably corrupt) Byzantine edition. This work consists of an introduction an ...

's ("On Incredible Things") ( 4th century BCE) * The ("Collection of Extraordinary Tales") composed by

Antigonus of Carystus Antigonus of Carystus (; ; ), a Greek writer on various subjects, flourished in the 3rd century BCE. After some time spent at Athens and travelling, he was summoned to the court of Attalus I (241 BCE–197 BCE) of Pergamum. His chief wo ...

(

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

3rd century BCE), partly on the basis of a paradoxographical work of

Callimachus Callimachus (; ; ) was an ancient Greek poet, scholar, and librarian who was active in Alexandria during the 3rd century BC. A representative of Ancient Greek literature of the Hellenistic period, he wrote over 800 literary works, most of which ...

* Apollonius Paradoxographus's (2nd century BCE) It is believed that the content of the pseudo-Aristotelian ''

On Marvellous Things Heard ''On Marvellous Things Heard'' (; Latin: ''De mirabilibus auscultationibus''), often called ''Mirabilia'',Introduction to Zucker, Mayhew and Hellmann (2024). is a collection of thematically arranged anecdotes Pseudo-Aristotle, formerly attributed ...

'' (''De mirabilibus auscultationibus'') originated in the

Hellenistic period In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...

, while the final form reflects centuries of expansion at least as recent as the second century of the Christian era.Laura Gibbs, review of Gabriella Vanotti, (Milano: Bompiani, 2007)
''Bryn Mawr Classical Review'' 2009.02.22
/ref>

Phlegon of Tralles Phlegon of Tralles () was a Greek writer and freedman of the emperor Hadrian, who lived in the 2nd century AD. Works His chief work was the ''Olympiads'', an historical compendium in sixteen books, from the 1st down to the 229th Olympiad (776 B ...

's , (, ''On Marvels''), which dates from the 2nd century CE, is perhaps the most famous example of the genre, including various stories of human abnormalities. Phlegon's brief accounts of prodigies and wonders include ghost stories, accounts of monstrous births, strange animals like centaurs, hermaphrodites, giant skeletons and prophesying heads. Phlegon's writing is characterised by brief and forthright description, as well as a tongue-in-cheek insistence on the veracity of his claims. Other works of this genre in Greek include Heraclitus the Paradoxographer's ("On Incredible Things", 1st or 2nd century CE) and

Claudius Aelianus Claudius Aelianus (; ), commonly Aelian (), born at Praeneste, was a Roman author and teacher of rhetoric who flourished under Septimius Severus and probably outlived Elagabalus, who died in 222. He spoke Greek so fluently that he was called "h ...

's ''On the Nature of Animals'' (3rd century CE). In

Latin literature Latin literature includes the essays, histories, poems, plays, and other writings written in the Latin language. The beginning of formal Latin literature dates to 240 BC, when the first stage play in Latin was performed in Rome. Latin literatur ...

, both

Marcus Terentius Varro Marcus Terentius Varro (116–27 BCE) was a Roman polymath and a prolific author. He is regarded as ancient Rome's greatest scholar, and was described by Petrarch as "the third great light of Rome" (after Virgil and Cicero). He is sometimes call ...

and

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...

wrote works on ("marvelous things"), which do not survive.

See also

Notes

Further reading