Demetrius of Scepsis ( grc, Δημήτριος ὁ Σκήψιος) was a Greek
grammarian of the time of
Aristarchus and
Crates (
Strab. xiii. p. 609), the first half of the second century BC. He is sometimes simply called the Scepsian (Strab. ix. pp. 438, 439, x. pp. 456, 472, 473, 489), and sometimes simply Demetrius (Strab. xii. pp. 551, 552, xiii. pp. 596, 600, 602).
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 ...
mention him as one in a list of well-known namesakes.
He was the author of a very extensive work which is very often referred to, and bore the title . It consisted of at least twenty-six books (Strab. xiii. p. 603 and passim;
Athen. iii. pp. 80, 91;
Steph. Byz. s.v. ). This work was an historical and geographical commentary on that part of the second book of the
Iliad
The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") 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 ''Odysse ...
in which the forces of the Trojans are enumerated, known as the
Trojan Battle Order
The Trojan Battle Order or Trojan Catalogue is an epic catalogue in the second book of the ''Iliad'' listing the allied contingents that fought for Troy in the Trojan War. The catalogue is noted for its deficit of detail compared to the immediat ...
or Trojan Catalogue (compare
Harpocrat. s. vv. , ; Schol. ad
Apollon. Rhod. i. 1123, 1165). The numerous other passages in which Demetrius of Scepsis is mentioned or quoted, are collected by Westermann on
Vossius Vossius may refer to:
* Gerardus Vossius (1577–1649), a Dutch humanist
* Dionysius Vossius (1612–1633), a Dutch translator, son of Gerardus Vossius
* Isaac Vossius (1618–1689), a Dutch scholar, son of Gerardus Vossius
* Vossius Gymnasium
...
, ''De Hist. Graec.'', p. 179, &c.
Demetrius's work has been used by several ancient authors as important source for the Troad region. Among these authors is
Strabo
Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...
in Book 13 of his ''
Geographica
The ''Geographica'' (Ancient Greek: Γεωγραφικά ''Geōgraphiká''), or ''Geography'', is an encyclopedia of geographical knowledge, consisting of 17 'books', written in Ancient Greek, Greek and attributed to Strabo, an educated citizen ...
''. Some of the fragments are also quoted by
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 ...
in his
Deipnosophistae
The ''Deipnosophistae'' is an early 3rd-century AD Greek work ( grc, Δειπνοσοφισταί, ''Deipnosophistaí'', lit. "The Dinner Sophists/Philosophers/Experts") by the Greek author Athenaeus of Naucratis. It is a long work of liter ...
.
[https://hestieia.wordpress.com/biographical-details-about-demetrios/ Travelling with Demetrios of Skepsis]
References
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{{authority control
Ancient Greek grammarians