Idomeneus of Lampsacus

Idomeneus of Lampsacus (/aɪˈdɒmɨniː.əs/;[1] Greek: Ἰδομενεύς Λαμψακηνός, Idomeneus Lampsakēnos; c. 325 – c. 270 BC) was a friend and disciple of Epicurus.

Life

Little is known about his life, except that he married Batis of Lampsacus, the sister of Metrodorus,[2] and he was a court dignitary at Lampsacus around 306-301 BC.[3] Idomeneus wrote a considerable number of philosophical and historical works, and though the latter were not regarded as of very great authority,[4] still they must have been of considerable value, as they seem to have been chiefly devoted to an account of the lives of the leading figures of Greece.

Works

The titles of the following works of Idomeneus are mentioned:

The title of one of the work or works of Idomeneus is not known, but it contained accounts of the following people: of the Peisistratidae,[7] of Themistocles[8] of Aristides,[9] of Pericles,[10] of Demosthenes,[11] of Aeschines,[12] of Hyperides,[13] and of Phocion.[14] It is possible that all these persons were mentioned in one work, to which modern writers have assigned various conjectural titles. The true title of the work may have been On the Athenian leaders (Greek: Περὶ τῶν Aθηνησι δημαγωγῶν).

Notes

  1. ↑ John Walker & William Trollope, 1830, A key to the classical pronunciation of Greek, Latin, and scripture proper names, p 68;
    Robert Palfrey Utter, 1918, Every-day pronunciation, p 127
  2. ↑ Diogenes Laertius, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, x. 23, 25; Strabo, Geography, xiii. 1; Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae, vii. 279
  3. ↑ Tiziano Dorandi, Chapter 2: Chronology, in Algra et al. (1999) The Cambridge History of Hellenistic Philosophy, page 51. Cambridge.
  4. ↑ Plutarch, Lives, "Demosthenes", 23.
  5. ↑ Suda, Idomeneus.
  6. ↑ Diogenes Laertius, ii. 19-20; Athenaeus, xiii. 611.
  7. ↑ Athenaeus, xii. 532
  8. ↑ Athenaeus, xii. 533, xiii. 576.
  9. ↑ Plutarch, "Aristides", 10.
  10. ↑ Plutarch, "Pericles", 10, 35.
  11. ↑ Plutarch, "Demosthenes", 15, 23; Athenaeus, xiii. 592.
  12. ↑ Apollonius, Vita Aeschinis.
  13. ↑ Athenaeus, xiii. 590.
  14. ↑ Plutarch, "Phocion", 4.

References

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870). "Idomeneus". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.