Achilles Tatius (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: Ἀχιλλεὺς Τάτιος, ''Achilleus Tatios'') of

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

was a Roman-era Greek writer of the 2nd century AD whose fame is attached to his only surviving work, the

ancient Greek novel Five ancient Greek novels survive complete from antiquity: Chariton's '' Callirhoe'' (mid 1st century), Achilles Tatius' '' Leucippe and Clitophon'' (early 2nd century), Longus' '' Daphnis and Chloe'' (2nd century), Xenophon of Ephesus' '' Ephes ...

, or ''romance'', '' The Adventures of Leucippe and Clitophon''.

Life and minor works

Eustathius of Thessalonica Eustathius of Thessalonica (or Eustathios of Thessalonike; el, Εὐστάθιος Θεσσαλονίκης; c. 1115 – 1195/6) was a Byzantine Greek scholar and Archbishop of Thessalonica. He is most noted for his contemporary account of the ...

(in his commentary on

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 ...

's ''

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Iliad'', th ...

'' 14.350), the '' Suda'', Photius, in his '' Bibliotheca'' (cod. 87), and the manuscript tradition all affirm he lived and wrote in

. The papyrus, and linguistic evidence demonstrate he flourished early in the 2nd century AD. Suda preserves a tradition that "He became at last a Christian and a

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

." There are literary parallels between

Leucippe and Clitophon ''The Adventures of Leucippe and Clitophon'' ( grc, τὰ κατὰ Λευκίππην καὶ Kλειτoφῶντα, ''ta kata Leukippēn kai Kleitophōnta''), written by Achilles Tatius, is one of the five surviving Ancient Greek romances, not ...

and the Christian

Acts of Andrew The Acts of Andrew (), is the earliest testimony of the acts and miracles of the Apostle Andrew. The surviving version is alluded to in a 3rd-century work, the Coptic ''Manichaean Psalter'', providing a , according to its editors, M. R. James ...

, a roughly contemporary composition. The ''Suda'' also ascribes to the author a work on the sphere (in

), a fragment of which, professing to be an introduction to the ''Phaenomena'' of

Aratus Aratus (; grc-gre, Ἄρατος ὁ Σολεύς; c. 315 BC/310 BC240) was a Greek didactic poet. His major extant work is his hexameter poem ''Phenomena'' ( grc-gre, Φαινόμενα, ''Phainómena'', "Appearances"; la, Phaenomena), the ...

, may still be extant (in

). This, however, may be the work of another Achilles Tatius, who lived in the 3rd century. This work is referred to by Firmicus Maternus, who about 336 speaks of the ''prudentissimus Achilles'' in his ''Matheseos libri'' (''Math.'' iv. 10). The fragment was first published in 1567, then in the ''Uranologion'' of the Jesuit scholar

Denis Pétau Denis Pétau (21 August 158311 December 1652), also known as Dionysius Petavius, was a French Jesuit theologian. Life Pétau was born at Orléans, where he had his initial education; he then attended the University of Paris, where he successfully ...

, with a

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

translation in 1630. The same source also mentions a work of Achilles Tatius on

etymology Etymology ()The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the Phonological chan ...

, and another entitled ''Miscellaneous Histories''.

Notes

References

*James N. O'Sullivan, ''A Lexicon to Achilles Tatius'', Berlin-New York (De Gruyter) 1980 * Del Corno, Dario; ''Letteratura greca'' (1988)

External links

*
"Achilleus Statios"
in the ''Suda'' * Photius,

', J.H. Freese (translator) (1920) * Smith, William; ''

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' (1849, originally published 1844 under a slightly different title) is an encyclopedia/biographical dictionary. Edited by William Smith, the dictionary spans three volumes and 3,700 ...

''
"Achilles Tatius"

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, (1867)
''Leucippe and Clitophon'', complete Greek text''Leucippe and Clitophon'', full English translation
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Achilles Tatius Ancient Greek novelists Egyptian novelists Greek erotica writers Roman-era Alexandrians Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown 2nd-century novelists 2nd-century Egyptian people