On the Sublime
testified by the pretty numerous fragments which still remain (Pauly).
Demetrius Phalereus, quoted by Pearce, quotes a grandiloquent
description of the wasp taken from Kleitarchus, "feeding on the
mountainside, her home the hollow oak."
MATRIS, a native of Thebes, author of a panegyric on Herakles, whether
in verse or prose is uncertain. In one passage Athenaeus speaks of him
as an Athenian, but this must be a mistake. Toup restores a verse from
an allusion in Diodorus Siculus (i. 24), which, if genuine, would agree
well with the description given of him by Longinus: +Êraklea kaleesken,
hoti kleos esche dia Hêran+ (see Toup ad Long. III. ii.)
PHILISTUS of Syracuse, a relative of the elder Dionysius, whom he
assisted with his wealth in his attack on the liberty of that city, and
remained with him until 386 B.C., when he was banished by the jealous
suspicions of the tyrant. He retired to Epirus, where he remained until
Dionysius's death. The younger Dionysius recalled him, wishing to employ
him in the character of supporter against Dion. By his instrumentality
it would seem that Dion and Plato were banished from Syracuse. He
commanded the fleet in the struggle between Dion and Dionysius, and lost
a battle, whereupon he was seized and put to death by the people. During
his banishment he wrote his historical work, +ta Sikelika+, divided into
two parts and numbering eleven books. The first division embraced the
history of Sicily from the earliest times down to the capture of
Agrigentum (seven books), and the remaining four books dealt with the
life of Dionysius the elder. He afterwards added a supplement in two
books, giving an account of the younger Dionysius, which he did not,
however, complete. He is described as an imitator, though at a great
distance, of Thucydides, and hence was known as "the little Thucydides."
As an historian he is deficient in conscientiousness and candour; he
appears as a partisan of Dionysius, and seeks to throw a veil over his
discreditable actions. Still he belongs to the most important of the
Greek historians (Lübker).
THEODORUS of Gadara, a rhetorician in the first century after Christ;
tutor of Tiberius, first in Rome, afterwards in Rhodes, from which town
he called himself a Rhodian, and where Tiberius during his exile
diligently attended his instruction. He was the author of various
grammatical and other works, but his fame chiefly rested on his
abilities as a teacher, in which capacity he seems to have had great
influence (Pauly). He was the author of that famous description of
Tiberius which is given by Suetonius (_Tib._ 57), +pêlos haimati
pephuramenos+, "A clod kneaded together with blood."[1]
[Footnote 1: A remarkable parallel, if not actually an imitation,
occurs in Goethe's _Faust_, "Du Spottgeburt von Dreck und Feuer."]
THEOPOMPUS, a native of Chios; born 380 B.C. He came to Athens while
still a boy, and studied eloquence under Isokrates, who is said, in
comparing him with another pupil, Ephorus, to have made use of the image
which we find in Longinus, c. ii. "Theopompus," he said, "needs the
curb, Ephorus the spur" (Suidas, quoted by Jahn ad v.) He appeared with
applause in various great cities as an advocate, but especially
distinguished himself in the contest of eloquence instituted by
Artemisia at the obsequies of her husband Mausolus, where he won the
prize. He afterwards devoted himself to historical composition. His
great work was a history of Greece, in which he takes up the thread of
Thucydides's narrative, and carries it on uninterruptedly in twelve
books down to the battle of Knidus, seventeen years later. Here he broke
off, and began a new work entitled _The Philippics_, in fifty-eight
books. This work dealt with the history of Greece in the Macedonian
period, but was padded out to a preposterous bulk by all kinds of
digressions on mythological, historical, or social topics. Only a few
fragments remain. He earned an ill name among ancient critics by the
bitterness of his censures, his love of the marvellous, and the
inordinate length of his digressions. His style is by some critics
censured as feeble, and extolled by others as clear, nervous, and
elevated (Lübker and Pauly).
TIMAEUS, a native of Tauromenium in Sicily; born about 352 B.C. Being
driven out of Sicily by Agathokles, he lived a retired life for fifty
years in Athens, where he composed his History. Subsequently he returned
to Sicily, and died at the age of ninety-six in 256 B.C. His chief work
was a _History of Sicily_ from the earliest times down to the 129th
Olympiad. It numbered sixty-eight books, and consisted of two principal
divisions, whose limits cannot now be ascertained. In a separate work he
handled the campaigns of Pyrrhus, and also wrote _Olympionikae_,
probably dealing with chronological matters. Timaeus has been severely
criticised and harshly condemned by the ancients, especially by
Polybius, who denies him every faculty required by the historical writer
(xii. 3-15, 23-28). And though Cicero differs from this judgment, yet it
may be regarded as certain that Timaeus was better qualified for the
task of learned compilation than for historical research, and held no
distinguished place among the historians of Greece. His works have
perished, only a few fragments remaining (Lübker).
ZOILUS, a Greek rhetorician, native of Amphipolis in Macedonia, in the
time probably of Ptolemy Philadelphus (285-247 B.C.), who is said by
Vitruvius to have crucified him for his abuse of Homer. He won the name
of Homeromastix, "the scourge of Homer," and was also known as +kuôn
rhêtorikos+, "the dog of rhetoric," on account of his biting sarcasm;
and his name (as in the case of the English Dennis) came to be used to
signify in general a carping and malicious critic. Suidas mentions two
works of his, written with the object of injuring or destroying the fame
of Homer--(1) _Nine Books against Homer_; and (2) _Censures on Homer_
(Pauly).
[The facts contained in the above short notices are taken chiefly
from Lübker's _Reallexikon des classischen Alterthums_, and the
very copious and elaborate _Real-Encyclopädie der classischen
Alterthumswissenschaft_, edited by Pauly. I have here to acknowledge
the kindness of Dr. Wollseiffen, Gymnasialdirektor in Crefeld, in
placing at my disposal the library of the Crefeld Gymnasium, but for
which these biographical notes, which were put together at the
suggestion of Mr. Lang, could not have been compiled.
CREFELD, _31st July 1890_.]
THE END
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