Philochorus
Encyclopedia
Philochorus, of Athens
, Greek historian during the 3rd century BC, (d. circa 261 BCE
), was a member of a priestly family. He was a seer and interpreter of signs, and a man of considerable influence.
He was strongly anti-Macedon
ian in politics, and a bitter opponent of Demetrius Poliorcetes
. When Antigonus Gonatas, the son of the latter, besieged and captured Athens (261), Philochorus was put to death for having supported Ptolemy Philadelphus, who had encouraged the Athenians in their resistance to Macedonia.
His investigations into the usages and customs of his native Attica were embodied in an Atthis, in seventeen books, a history of Athens from the earliest times to 262 BC. Considerable fragments are preserved in the lexicographers, scholiasts, Athenaeus
, and elsewhere. The work was epitomized by the author himself, and later by Asinius Pollio of Tralles (perhaps a freedman of the famous Gaius Asinius Pollio
).
Philochorus also wrote on oracle
s, divination
and sacrifices; the mythology and religious observances of the tetrapolis of Attica
; the myths of Sophocles
; the lives of Euripides
and Pythagoras
; the foundation of Salamis, Cyprus
. He compiled chronological lists of the archon
s and Olympiads
, and made a collection of Attic inscriptions, the first of its kind in Greece.
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, Greek historian during the 3rd century BC, (d. circa 261 BCE
261 BC
Year 261 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Flaccus and Crassus...
), was a member of a priestly family. He was a seer and interpreter of signs, and a man of considerable influence.
He was strongly anti-Macedon
Macedon
Macedonia or Macedon was an ancient kingdom, centered in the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, bordered by Epirus to the west, Paeonia to the north, the region of Thrace to the east and Thessaly to the south....
ian in politics, and a bitter opponent of Demetrius Poliorcetes
Demetrius I of Macedon
Demetrius I , called Poliorcetes , son of Antigonus I Monophthalmus and Stratonice, was a king of Macedon...
. When Antigonus Gonatas, the son of the latter, besieged and captured Athens (261), Philochorus was put to death for having supported Ptolemy Philadelphus, who had encouraged the Athenians in their resistance to Macedonia.
His investigations into the usages and customs of his native Attica were embodied in an Atthis, in seventeen books, a history of Athens from the earliest times to 262 BC. Considerable fragments are preserved in the lexicographers, scholiasts, Athenaeus
Athenaeus
Athenaeus , of Naucratis in Egypt, Greek rhetorician and grammarian, flourished about the end of the 2nd and beginning of the 3rd century AD...
, and elsewhere. The work was epitomized by the author himself, and later by Asinius Pollio of Tralles (perhaps a freedman of the famous Gaius Asinius Pollio
Gaius Asinius Pollio (consul 40 BC)
Gaius Asinius Pollio was a Roman soldier, politician, orator, poet, playwright, literary critic and historian, whose lost contemporary history, provided much of the material for the historians Appian and Plutarch...
).
Philochorus also wrote on oracle
Oracle
In Classical Antiquity, an oracle was a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic predictions or precognition of the future, inspired by the gods. As such it is a form of divination....
s, divination
Divination
Divination is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic standardized process or ritual...
and sacrifices; the mythology and religious observances of the tetrapolis of Attica
Tetrapolis (Attica)
Tetrapolis comprised one of the twelve districts into which Attica was divided before the time of Theseus. The district was on a plain in the northeastern part of Attica and contained four cities: Marathon , Probalinthus , Tricorythus , and Oenoe . Stephanus of Byzantium claimed Huttēnia was its...
; the myths of Sophocles
Sophocles
Sophocles is one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived. His first plays were written later than those of Aeschylus, and earlier than or contemporary with those of Euripides...
; the lives of Euripides
Euripides
Euripides was one of the three great tragedians of classical Athens, the other two being Aeschylus and Sophocles. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to him but according to the Suda it was ninety-two at most...
and Pythagoras
Pythagoras
Pythagoras of Samos was an Ionian Greek philosopher, mathematician, and founder of the religious movement called Pythagoreanism. Most of the information about Pythagoras was written down centuries after he lived, so very little reliable information is known about him...
; the foundation of Salamis, Cyprus
Salamis, Cyprus
Salamis was an ancient Greek city-state on the east coast of Cyprus, at the mouth of the river Pedieos, 6 km north of modern Famagusta. According to tradition the founder of Salamis was Teucer, son of Telamon, who could not return home after the Trojan war because he had failed to avenge his...
. He compiled chronological lists of the archon
Archon
Archon is a Greek word that means "ruler" or "lord", frequently used as the title of a specific public office. It is the masculine present participle of the verb stem ἀρχ-, meaning "to rule", derived from the same root as monarch, hierarchy, and anarchy.- Ancient Greece :In ancient Greece the...
s and Olympiads
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
, and made a collection of Attic inscriptions, the first of its kind in Greece.
Further reading
- Greek text: F.Jacoby, Fragmente der griechischen HistorikerFragmente der griechischen HistorikerDie Fragmente der griechischen Historiker, commonly abbreviated FGrHist or FGrH , is a collection by Felix Jacoby of the works of those ancient Greek historians whose works have been lost, but of which we have citations, extracts or summaries...
, 328 - Translation: P.Harding, The story of Athens: the fragments of the local chronicles of Attika(2008) ISBN 0-415-33809-3