Theodontius was the author of a now lost Latin work on mythology. He was extensively quoted in

Giovanni Boccaccio Giovanni Boccaccio (, , ; 16 June 1313 – 21 December 1375) was an Italian writer, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanist. Born in the town of Certaldo, he became so well known as a writer that he was som ...

's ''

Genealogia Deorum Gentilium ''Genealogia deorum gentilium'', known in English as ''On the Genealogy of the Gods of the Gentiles'', is a mythography or encyclopedic compilation of the tangled family relationships of the classical pantheons of Ancient Greece and Rome, writ ...

'', but is otherwise almost unknown. Boccaccio says that he knew Theodontius's work through the ''Collections'' of

Paul of Perugia {{short description, 14th-century Italian mythographer Paulus Perusinus or Pusinus was an Italian mythographer of the 14th century. He is extensively quoted in Giovanni Boccaccio's Genealogia Deorum Gentilium (XVI, 6), but otherwise almost unknown. ...

, which Paul's wife burnt after his death (''Genealogiae'' XV 6). In telling the legend of

Bathyllus Bathyllus was a dancer/performer of pantomimus in Rome during the period of Augustus. Born in Alexandria, he was the favourite of Maecenas.Tacitus, ''Annals'', 1.54 He is often described with the performer Pylades, who was seen as the epitome o ...

, however, Boccaccio complains that Theodontius was illegible except for Bathyllus's birth, from

Phorcys In Greek mythology, Phorcys or Phorcus (; grc, Φόρκυς) is a primordial sea god, generally cited (first in Hesiod) as the son of Pontus and Gaia (Earth). Classical scholar Karl Kerenyi conflated Phorcys with the similar sea gods Nereu ...

and a marine monster (''Genealogiae'' X 7), so he may have seen some of Theodontius's own writings; sources disagree on this. Some authorities think Boccaccio invented him. Outside Boccaccio, there was a Theodontius, who wrote on the wars of Troy, and is quoted by

Servius Servius is the name of: * Servius (praenomen), the personal name * Maurus Servius Honoratus, a late fourth-century and early fifth-century grammarian * Servius Tullius, the Roman king * Servius Sulpicius Rufus, the 1st century BC Roman jurist See ...

on ''Aeneid'', I, 28; and the fourteenth century author

Domenico Bandini Domenico is an Italian given name for males and may refer to: People * Domenico Alfani, Italian painter * Domenico Allegri, Italian composer * Domenico Alvaro, Italian mobster * Domenico Ambrogi, Italian painter * Domenico Auria, Italian archit ...

, who made an index for the ''Genealogiae'', calls him "''Teodontius Campanus diligens investigator poetici figmenti''".

Carlo Landi Carlo is a given name. It is an Italian form of Charles. It can refer to: *Carlo (name) *Monte Carlo *Carlingford, New South Wales, a suburb in north-west Sydney, New South Wales, Australia *A satirical song written by Dafydd Iwan about Prince Char ...

argued in his 1930 monograph ''Demogorgone'' that Boccaccio's Theodontius was a Campanian philosopher, from between the 9th and 11th centuries. Theodontius provided Boccaccio with

euhemeristic Euhemerism () is an approach to the interpretation of mythology in which mythological accounts are presumed to have originated from real historical events or personages. Euhemerism supposes that historical accounts become myths as they are exagg ...

and naturalistic interpretations of mythology, and philosophic speculations about mythology. He quotes the (also lost) Greek historian

Philochorus Philochorus of Athens (; grc, Φιλόχορος ὁ Ἀθηναῖος; c. 340 BC – c. 261 BC), was a Greek historian and Atthidographer of the third century BC, and a member of a priestly family. He was a seer and interpreter of signs, and a ...

. Most significantly, he is Boccaccio's source for the idea that all the gods were descended from

Demogorgon Demogorgon is a deity or demon associated with the underworld. Although often ascribed to Greek mythology, the name probably arises from an unknown copyist's misreading of a commentary by a fourth-century scholar, Lactantius Placidus. The concep ...

, which Theodontius himself credited to Pronapides the Athenian.

References

'' Genealogie Deorum Gentilicum Libri'', Vol. X and XI of his ''Opere'', Bari, 1951. *Boccaccio ''On Poetry'', ed.

Charles H. Osgood Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was "f ...

Princeton University Press, 1929; a translation of the Preface and books XIV and XV of the foregoing. P. 114 (XV, 6) and its notes on pp. 189–90. *

Jean Seznec Jean Seznec (19 March 1905, in Morlaix – 22 November 1983, in Oxford) was a historian and mythographer whose most influential book, for English-speaking readers, is ''La Survivance des dieux antiques'' (1940), translated as '' The Survival of th ...

''Survival of the Pagan Gods'', tr. Barbara F. Sessions, Pantheon,

Bollingen Series Bollingen is a village (''Kirchdorf'') within the municipality of Rapperswil-Jona in the Swiss canton of St. Gallen. Geography The village is located along the northern shore of the upper Lake Zürich (''Obersee'') between Jona and Schmerikon ...

XXXVIII, 1953, p. 221-2 Mythographers Ancient writers Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown {{AncientRome-myth-stub References on Greek mythology