Chares of

Mytilene Mytilene (; el, Μυτιλήνη, Mytilíni ; tr, Midilli) is the capital of the Greek island of Lesbos, and its port. It is also the capital and administrative center of the North Aegean Region, and hosts the headquarters of the University o ...

( grc, Χάρης ὁ Μυτιληναῖος) was a Greek belonging to the court of

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...

. He was appointed court-marshal or introducer of strangers to the king, an office borrowed from the

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

court. He wrote a history of Alexander in ten books, dealing mainly with the private life of the king. The fragments are chiefly preserved in

Athenaeus 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 ...

. These fragments are largely concerned with court ceremonies and personal gossip, including a description of Alexander's introduction of the Persian custom of

proskynesis Proskynesis or proscynesis , or proskinesis ( Greek , ''proskýnēsis''; Latin adoratio) is a solemn gesture of respect for the gods and people; among the Persians, it referred to a man prostrating himself and kissing the earth, or the lim ...

to his court. See ''Scriptores Rerum Alexandri'' (pp. 114–120) in the Didot edition of Arrian.

References

External links

Chares of Mitylene
in

Encyclopaedia Iranica An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into article ...

. Generals of Alexander the Great Ancient Mytileneans 4th-century BC Greek people 4th-century BC historians Historians who accompanied Alexander the Great Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown {{Greece-historian-stub