Diogenianus ( el, Διογενειανός, Διογενιανός) was a

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 ...

grammarian from Heraclea in

Pontus Pontus or Pontos may refer to: * Short Latin name for the Pontus Euxinus, the Greek name for the Black Sea (aka the Euxine sea) * Pontus (mythology), a sea god in Greek mythology * Pontus (region), on the southern coast of the Black Sea, in modern ...

(or in

Caria Caria (; from Greek: Καρία, ''Karia''; tr, Karya) was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid-Ionia (Mycale) south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Ionians, Ionian and Dorians, Dorian Greeks colonized the west of i ...

) who flourished during the reign of

Hadrian Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania B ...

. He was the author of an alphabetical

lexicon A lexicon is the vocabulary of a language or branch of knowledge (such as nautical or medical). In linguistics, a lexicon is a language's inventory of lexemes. The word ''lexicon'' derives from Koine Greek language, Greek word (), neuter of () ...

, chiefly of poetical words, abridged from the great lexicon () of

Pamphilus of Alexandria Pamphilus of Alexandria ( grc-gre, Πάμφιλος ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς; fl. 1st century AD) was a Greek grammarian, of the school of Aristarchus of Samothrace. He was the author of a comprehensive lexicon, in 95 books, of foreign or obsc ...

(AD 50) and other similar works. It was also known by the title (“Manual for those without means”). It formed the basis of the

, or rather

glossary A glossary (from grc, γλῶσσα, ''glossa''; language, speech, wording) also known as a vocabulary or clavis, is an alphabetical list of Term (language), terms in a particular domain of knowledge with the definitions for those terms. Tradi ...

, of

Hesychius of Alexandria Hesychius of Alexandria ( grc, Ἡσύχιος ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς, Hēsýchios ho Alexandreús, lit=Hesychios the Alexandrian) was a Greek grammarian who, probably in the 5th or 6th century AD,E. Dickey, Ancient Greek Scholarship (2007) ...

, which is described in the preface as a new edition of the work of Diogenianus. A collection of 776 proverbs under his name is still extant bearing the name Παροιμίαι δημώδεις ἐκ τῆς Διογενιανοῦ συναγωγῆς, probably an abridgment of the collection made by himself from his lexicon (ed. by Ernst von Leutsch and

Friedrich Wilhelm Schneidewin Friedrich Wilhelm Schneidewin (6 June 1810 – 11 January 1856), was a German classical scholar. Biography He was born on 6 June 1810 at Helmstedt. In 1833, he became a teacher at the Braunschweig gymnasium. In 1837 he was appointed an associat ...

in ''Paroemiographi Graeci'', i. 1839). Diogenianus was also the author of an "Anthology of epigrams about rivers, lakes, cliffs, mountains and mountain ridges" (Ἐπιγραμμάτων ἀνθολόγιον περὶ ποταμῶν λιμνῶν κρηνῶν ὀρῶν ἀκρωρειῶν), a list (with map) of all the towns in the world (Συναγωγὴ καὶ πίναξ τῶν ἐν πάσῃ τῇ γῇ πόλεων)., and of a list of rivers (περὶ ποταμῶν κατὰ στοιχεῖον ἐπίτομος ἀναγραφή)

Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (; ; English: Erasmus of Rotterdam or Erasmus;''Erasmus'' was his baptismal name, given after St. Erasmus of Formiae. ''Desiderius'' was an adopted additional name, which he used from 1496. The ''Roterodamus'' wa ...

attributed the origins of this Latin parable to Diogenianus — '' piscem natare doces'' (

teach fish how to swim Teach fish how to swim is an idiomatic expression derived from the Latin proverb . The phrase describes the self-sufficiency of those who know better how to do everything than the experts. It corresponds to the expression, " teaching grandmother to ...

).; Ἰχθὺν νήχεσθαι διδάσκεις. Diogenianus is the first person known to have referred to the parable of

The Dog in the Manger The story and metaphor of The Dog in the Manger derives from an old Greek fable which has been transmitted in several different versions. Interpreted variously over the centuries, the metaphor is now used to speak of one who spitefully prevents o ...

Notes

References

* *

External links

*''Corpus paroemiographorum graecorum'', E. L. Leutsch, F. G. Schneidewin (ed.), vol. 1, Gottingae, apud Vandenohoeck et Ruprecht, 1839, pp. 177–32

*''A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology'', By various writers. Ed. by William Smith, 1867, Vol. I, pp. 102

*Suda On Line entries on search term “Diogenianus�

*Leopold Cohn: ''Diogenianos (4)''. In: ''Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft (RE). Band V,1,'' Stuttgart 1903, Sp. 778–783

Paroemiographi graeci, quorum pars nunc ex codicibus manuscriptis vulgatur. by Gaisford, Thomas. 1836. Oxonii E Typographeo Academico

Paroemiographi graeci: Zenobius. Diogenianus. Plutarchus. Gregorius Cyprius. Ernst von Leutsch, Friedrich Wilhelm Schneidewin - 1839

Paroemiographi graeci: Diogenianus, Gregorius Cyprius, Macarius, Aesopus, Apostolius et Arsenius, Mantissa proverborium. Ernst Ludwig von Leutsch, Friedrich Wilhelm Schneidewin. 1851.
{{Authority control Ancient Greek grammarians 2nd-century Greek people 2nd-century writers People from Heraclea Pontica Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown