Alexamenus of

Teos Teos ( grc, Τέως) or Teo was an ancient Greek city on the coast of Ionia, on a peninsula between Chytrium and Myonnesus. It was founded by Minyans from Orchomenus, Ionians and Boeotians, but the date of its foundation is unknown. Teos was ...

( grc-gre, Τήιος Ἀλεξαμενός, 5th century BC?) was one of the potential inventors of Greek literary genre of prose

dialogue Dialogue (sometimes spelled dialog in American English) is a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people, and a literary and theatrical form that depicts such an exchange. As a philosophical or didactic device, it is c ...

. Also known as Alexamenus of Tenos or Alexamenus of Styra, the only surviving news about him have been handed down, centuries later, by three sources:

Athenaeus of Naucratis Athenaeus of Naucratis (; grc, Ἀθήναιος ὁ Nαυκρατίτης or Nαυκράτιος, ''Athēnaios Naukratitēs'' or ''Naukratios''; la, Athenaeus Naucratita) was a Greek rhetorician and grammarian, flourishing about the end of th ...

Diogenes Laërtius Diogenes Laërtius ( ; grc-gre, Διογένης Λαέρτιος, ; ) was a biographer of the Ancient Greece, Greek philosophers. Nothing is definitively known about his life, but his surviving ''Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers'' is a ...

and a papyrus from

Oxyrhynchus Oxyrhynchus (; grc-gre, Ὀξύρρυγχος, Oxýrrhynchos, sharp-nosed; ancient Egyptian ''Pr-Medjed''; cop, or , ''Pemdje''; ar, البهنسا, ''Al-Bahnasa'') is a city in Middle Egypt located about 160 km south-southwest of Cairo ...

Atheneus Athenaeus of Naucratis (; grc, Ἀθήναιος ὁ Nαυκρατίτης or Nαυκράτιος, ''Athēnaios Naukratitēs'' or ''Naukratios''; la, Athenaeus Naucratita) was a Greek rhetorician and grammarian, flourishing about the end of th ...

(XI 550c) reports the dual testimony of

Nicias of Nicaea Nicias ( el, Νικίας) of Nicaea, was a biographer and historian of ancient Greek philosophy, Greek philosophers. Nothing is known about his life, he may have lived in the 1st century BC or AD. He is repeatedly referred to by Athenaeus. His prin ...

and

Sotion Sotion of Alexandria ( grc-gre, Σωτίων, ''gen''.: Σωτίωνος; fl. c. 200 – 170 BC) was a Greek doxographer and biographer, and an important source for Diogenes Laërtius. None of his works survive; they are known only indirectly ...

, according to which

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...

, in the lost work ''On the Poets'' (Περὶ ποιητῶν), gave Alexamenus chronological priority in the invention of dialogue: «And his encomium (''sc.'' of Menon) is uttered by him who despised others on the whole (''sc.''

Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...

), by banishing

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

and imitative poetry in the ''Republic'', even though he himself had written dialogues in mimetic form, of whose form he is not even the inventor. In fact before him Alexamenus of Teos invented this kind of speeches, as witnessed by

and

then, in his work ''On the Poets'', writes thus: “Then, do we not say that the so-called mimes of

Sophron Sophron of Syracuse ( grc-gre, Σώφρων ὁ Συρακούσιος, '' fl.'' 430 BC) was a writer of mimes. Sophron was the author of prose dialogues in the Doric dialect, containing both male and female characters, some serious, others humor ...

, written in verse, are speeches and imitations, or that those he writings?of Alexamenus of Teos, written first among r: beforethe

Socratic dialogues Socratic dialogue ( grc, Σωκρατικὸς λόγος) is a genre of literary prose developed in Greece at the turn of the fourth century BC. The earliest ones are preserved in the works of Plato and Xenophon and all involve Socrates as the p ...

, are so?”, thus asserting, that great sage

, that some dialogues were composed before

». It is unclear whether the priority refers to

or to dialogue in general. Some scholars accept this testimony in the form preserved by manuscripts, according to which Alexamenus wrote the first (πρώτους) among the

. Others propose to correct πρώτους to προτέρους or πρότερον, altering the meaning: Alexamenus would not be the inventor of the Socratic dialogues, but a precursor. Aristotelian opinion is critically witnessed by

(III 48), who also finds mention of it in Favorinus: «So they say that the first to write dialogues was the Eleatic Zeno; but

, in the first book of ''On the Poets'', ays that he wasAlexamenus of Styra or Teos, as Favorinus also aysin the ''Memoirs''. But it seems to me that

, having perfected the literary genre, would rightly hold the primacy, as of beauty, so also of invention». The writer of the papyrus of

(''P. Oxy.'' 45 3219), which probably contains a treatise on

and the

, confirms the news, but takes an anti-Aristotelian position and states that the main influence on Plato comes from the Sicilian mimographer

: «...in this also imitating

, the writer of mimes, for the dramatic quality of the dialogues. For one should not believe

, who, out of jealous spite towards

, says in the first book of ''On poetry'' ''On the Poets''that even before

dramatic dialogues had been written by Alexamenos of Tenos»

's view is therefore differently evaluated. However, if we believe his testimony, it seems that the literature of Alexamenos, whatever attributes it had, is comparable to the

mimes A mime artist, or simply mime (from Greek , , "imitator, actor"), is a person who uses ''mime'' (also called ''pantomime'' outside of Britain), the acting out of a story through body motions without the use of speech, as a theatrical medium ...

, of which little survived anyway. The basic question is: should we assume that Alexamenus was the first Socratic to have composed in a new literary genre, or that he was an earlier dialogue writer and uncoupled from Socratics and Socratic literature?,see also: Two suggestions, absolutely speculative. First, one could perhaps compare the previous fragment of ''On the Poets'' with the well-known passage in

's ''On poetry'', 1449b: (''On the Poets'') «οὐκοῦν οὐδὲ ἐμμέτρους τοὺς καλουμένους Σώφρονος μίμους μὴ φῶμεν εἶναι λόγους καὶ μιμήσεις, ἢ τοὺς Ἀλεξαμενοῦ τοῦ Τήιου τοὺς πρώτους r: προτέρους/πρότερονγραφέντας τῶν Σωξρατικῶν διαλόγων» «Then, do we not say that the so-called mimes of Sophron, written in verse, are speeches and imitations, or that those he writings?of Alexamenus of Teos, written first among r: beforethe Socratic dialogues, are so?» (''On poetry'') «Οὐδὲν γὰρ ἂν ἔχοιμεν ὀνομάσαι κοινὸν τοὺς Σώφρονος καὶ Ξενάρχου μίμους καὶ τοὺς Σωρατικοὺς λόγους» «Indeed, we would have no common name for the mimes of Sophron and Xenarchos and for the Socratic speeches» In both texts the pair ''mimes'' - ''Socratic discourses/dialogues'' is compared. The name of

Xenarchos Xenarchus or Xenarchos ( grc, Ξέναρχος) was a Greek general of the Achaean League in Ancient Greece who served only for a year from 175–174 BC. Xenarchus was sent to Rome as an ambassador by the Achaeans, for the purpose of renewing their ...

, related to the group ''mimes'', is implied in ''On the Poets'' and expressed in ''On poetry'': conversely, the name of Alexamenus, related to the group ''Socratic discourses / dialogues'', could be expressed in ''On the Poets'' and implied in ''On poetry''. Moreover, manuscript tradition of

, which transmits the fragment of ''On the Poets'', suggests that Alexamenus is author of the first ''among the'' Socratic writings. So, against

's proposed corrections of the text, it would perhaps be more economical to assume that

classifies Alexamenus within the group ''Socratic discourses/dialogues'', and not as a pre-Socratic, in the same way that he places

in the group ''mimes''. If

is telling the truth, Alexamenus would be the first writer of ''Socratic discourses / dialogues'' and obviously would have known Socrates in person. Secondly, assuming the previous hypothesis is true, the question might be asked: what were the writings of Alexamenos like? Clearly there is no verifiable evidence. Perhaps his activity took a form similar to that of the other authors of Socratic writings. According to

(II 122–123), the mysterious Athenian

Simon the Shoemaker Simon the Shoemaker ( grc-gre, Σίμων Ἀθηναῖος, σκυτοτόμος; fl. c. late 5th century BC) was an associate of Socrates, and a 'working-philosopher'. He is known mostly from the account given in Diogenes Laërtius' '' Lives ...

used to take note of what he remembered of conversations between

Socrates Socrates (; ; –399 BC) was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and among the first moral philosophers of the ethical tradition of thought. An enigmatic figure, Socrates authored no te ...

and some interlocutor ( �ωκράτουςδιαλεγομένου τινά, ὧν ἐμνημόνευεν ὑποσημειώσεις ἐποιεῖτο). According then to

's ''Theethetus'' (142a1-143c8), the character Euclid, after witnessing the dialogue between

and Theetetus, urgently writes some first notes (ὑπομνήματα), later returns with greater ease to his work through an effort of memory, then seizes every subsequent opportunity to meet with

to correct his mistakes and thus makes the Socratic conversations known to Terpsion. Still according to

(II 48),

Xenophon Xenophon of Athens (; grc, wikt:Ξενοφῶν, Ξενοφῶν ; – probably 355 or 354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian, born in Athens. At the age of 30, Xenophon was elected commander of one of the biggest Anci ...

was the first to publish the notes jotted down in the presence of

(πρῶτος ὑποσημειωσάμενος τὰ λεγόμενα εἰς ἀνθρώπους ἤγαγεν), writing ἀπομνημονεύματα. The work of Alexamenus may fit within the scope of this type of practice.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alexamenus of Teos Classical Greek philosophers

See also

References