Acusilaus
Encyclopedia
Acusilaus of Argos
, son of Cabas or Scabras, was a Greek
logographer
and mythographer who lived in the latter half of the 6th century BC but whose work survives only in fragments and summaries of individual points.
Acusilaus was called the son of Cabras or Scabras, and it is not known whether he was of Peloponnesian or Boeotia
n Argos. Possibly there were two of the name. He is reckoned by some among the Seven Sages of Greece
.
According to the Suda
, Acusilaus wrote genealogies. Three books of his genealogies are quoted, which were for the most part only a translation of Hesiod
into prose. Acusilaus claimed to have taken some of his information from bronze tablets discovered in his garden which were inscribed with information, a source looked upon with suspicion by some modern commentators. As with most of the other logographers, he wrote in the Ionic dialect. Plato
is the earliest writer by whom he is mentioned. The works which bore the name of Acusilaus in a later age were spurious.
Argos
Argos is a city and a former municipality in Argolis, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Argos-Mykines, of which it is a municipal unit. It is 11 kilometres from Nafplion, which was its historic harbour...
, son of Cabas or Scabras, was a Greek
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
logographer
Logographer (history)
The logographers were the Greek historiographers and chroniclers before Herodotus, "the father of history". Herodotus himself called his predecessors λογοποιοί...
and mythographer who lived in the latter half of the 6th century BC but whose work survives only in fragments and summaries of individual points.
Acusilaus was called the son of Cabras or Scabras, and it is not known whether he was of Peloponnesian or Boeotia
Boeotia
Boeotia, also spelled Beotia and Bœotia , is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Central Greece. It was also a region of ancient Greece. Its capital is Livadeia, the second largest city being Thebes.-Geography:...
n Argos. Possibly there were two of the name. He is reckoned by some among the Seven Sages of Greece
Seven Sages of Greece
The Seven Sages or Seven Wise Men was the title given by ancient Greek tradition to seven early 6th century BC philosophers, statesmen and law-givers who were renowned in the following centuries for their wisdom.-The Seven Sages:Traditionally, each of the seven sages represents an aspect of worldly...
.
According to the Suda
Suda
The Suda or Souda is a massive 10th century Byzantine encyclopedia of the ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Suidas. It is an encyclopedic lexicon, written in Greek, with 30,000 entries, many drawing from ancient sources that have since been lost, and often...
, Acusilaus wrote genealogies. Three books of his genealogies are quoted, which were for the most part only a translation of Hesiod
Hesiod
Hesiod was a Greek oral poet generally thought by scholars to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. His is the first European poetry in which the poet regards himself as a topic, an individual with a distinctive role to play. Ancient authors credited him and...
into prose. Acusilaus claimed to have taken some of his information from bronze tablets discovered in his garden which were inscribed with information, a source looked upon with suspicion by some modern commentators. As with most of the other logographers, he wrote in the Ionic dialect. Plato
Plato
Plato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
is the earliest writer by whom he is mentioned. The works which bore the name of Acusilaus in a later age were spurious.