Duris of Samos (or Douris) ( grc-gre, Δοῦρις ὁ Σάμιος; BCafter 281BC) 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 ...

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

and was at some period

tyrant A tyrant (), in the modern English usage of the word, is an absolute ruler who is unrestrained by law, or one who has usurped a legitimate ruler's sovereignty. Often portrayed as cruel, tyrants may defend their positions by resorting to rep ...

Samos Samos (, also ; el, Σάμος ) is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the -wide Mycale Strait. It is also a separate ...

. Duris was the author of a narrative history of events in Greece and

Macedon Macedonia (; grc-gre, Μακεδονία), also called Macedon (), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, and later the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled by ...

ia from 371BC to 281BC, which has been lost. Other works included a life of

Agathocles of Syracuse Agathocles ( grc-gre, Ἀγαθοκλῆς, ''Agathoklḗs''; 361–289 BC) was a Greek tyrant of Syracuse (317–289 BC) and self-styled king of Sicily (304–289 BC). Biography Agathocles was born at Thermae Himeraeae (modern na ...

and a number of treatises on literary and artistic subjects.

Personal and political life

Duris claimed to be a descendant of

Alcibiades Alcibiades ( ; grc-gre, Ἀλκιβιάδης; 450 – 404 BC) was a prominent Athenian statesman, orator, and general. He was the last of the Alcmaeonidae, which fell from prominence after the Peloponnesian War. He played a major role in t ...

. He had a son, Scaeus, who won the boys' boxing at the

Olympian Games The ancient Olympic Games (Ὀλυμπιακοὶ ἀγῶνες; la, Olympia, neuter plural: "the Olympics") were a series of athletic competitions among representatives of city-states and were one of the Panhellenic Games of Ancient Greece ...

"while the Samians were in exile"; that is, before 324BC. From 352 to 324 Samos was occupied by

Athenian Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

cleruchs who had expelled the native Samians. Duris therefore may well have been born at some date close to 350BC, and, since his main historical work ended with the death of

Lysimachus Lysimachus (; Greek: Λυσίμαχος, ''Lysimachos''; c. 360 BC – 281 BC) was a Thessalian officer and successor of Alexander the Great, who in 306 BC, became King of Thrace, Asia Minor and Macedon. Early life and career Lysimachus was b ...

in 281 BC, must have died at an unknown date after that. Some modern sources assume that the Olympic victor Scaeus must have been the father, not the son, of the historian Duris; hence he is described in at least two encyclopedias as "son of Scaeus". The ancient sources, admittedly meagre, do not support this. Duris was the brother of

Lynceus of Samos Lynceus of Samos (Ancient Greek: ) brother of the historian Duris of Samos, was a classical Greek author of comedies, letters and humorous anecdotes. He lived in the late 4th and early 3rd centuries BC and was a pupil of Theophrastus. His works, es ...

, author of comedies, letters and the essay ''Shopping for Food''. Many 20th century works state that Duris was a pupil of

Theophrastus Theophrastus (; grc-gre, Θεόφραστος ; c. 371c. 287 BC), a Greek philosopher and the successor to Aristotle in the Peripatetic school. He was a native of Eresos in Lesbos.Gavin Hardy and Laurence Totelin, ''Ancient Botany'', Routledge ...

at Athens. There is no evidence for this claim other than a conjectural emendation by

Adamantios Korais Adamantios Korais or Koraïs ( el, Ἀδαμάντιος Κοραῆς ; la, Adamantius Coraes; french: Adamance Coray; 27 April 17486 April 1833) was a Greek scholar credited with laying the foundations of modern Greek literature and a majo ...

of the text of the ''

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 ...

'' of

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 ...

. The emendation was published by J. Schweighäuser in 1802 and has been accepted by all subsequent editors of Athenaeus. The manuscript text says not that Duris studied under Theophrastus, but that his brother Lynceus and Lynceus's correspondent Hippolochus did so. The only recorded fact about Duris's public life is that he was tyrant, or sole ruler, of Samos. How he attained this position, for how long he held it, and what events took place under his rule, are unknown. "His reign was uneventful", Hazel guesses.

Writings

Duris was the author of a narrative history of events in Greece and

ia from the

battle of Leuctra The Battle of Leuctra ( grc-gre, Λεῦκτρα, ) was a battle fought on 6 July 371 BC between the Boeotians led by the Thebans, and the Spartans along with their allies amidst the post- Corinthian War conflict. The battle took place in the vici ...

(371BC) down to the death of

(281BC). This work, like all his others, is lost; over thirty fragments are known through quotations by other authors, including

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''P ...

. It was continued in the ''Histories'' of

Phylarchus Phylarchus ( el, Φύλαρχoς, ''Phylarkhos''; fl. 3rd century BC) was a Greek historical writer whose works have been lost, but not before having been considerably used by other historians whose works have survived. Life Phylarchus was a cont ...

. Other works by Duris included a life of

, which was a source for books 19-21 of the ''Historical Library'' of

Diodorus Siculus Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ; 1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which su ...

. Duris also wrote historical annals of Samos arranged according to the lists of the priests of

Hera In ancient Greek religion, Hera (; grc-gre, Ἥρα, Hḗrā; grc, Ἥρη, Hḗrē, label=none in Ionic and Homeric Greek) is the goddess of marriage, women and family, and the protector of women during childbirth. In Greek mythology, she ...

; and a number of treatises on literary and artistic subjects. C. Müller, ''Fragmenta historicorum Graecorum'' vol. 2 (Paris, 1848) pp. 466–488. reek with Latin translation and commentary/ref> F. Jacoby, ''

Die Fragmente der griechischen Historiker ''Die Fragmente der griechischen Historiker'', commonly abbreviated ''FGrHist'' or ''FGrH'' (''Fragments of the Greek Historians''), is a collection by Felix Jacoby of the works of those ancient Greek historians whose works have been lost, but of w ...

'' vol. 2A pp. 1136–1158 reek text vol. 2C pp. 115–131 erman commentary/ref>

List of works

Parts of eight of Duris's works survive, ranging from 33 fragments of his ''Histories'' to a single, small fragment from his ''On Sculpture''. A full listing is: * ''Histories'' (also listed as ''Macedonica'' and ''Hellenica''; 33 fragments) * ''On Agathocles'' (also listed as ''Libyca''; 13 fragments) * ''Annals of Samos'' (22 fragments) * ''On Laws'' (2 fragments) * ''On Games'' (4 fragments) * ''On Tragedy'' (and perhaps ''On Euripides and Sophocles''; 2 fragments) * ''On Painters'' (2 fragments) * ''On Sculpture'' (1 fragment)

Later opinions

Of those later authors who knew Duris's work, few praise it.

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the estab ...

accords him qualified praise as an industrious writer.

used his work but repeatedly expresses doubt as to his trustworthiness.

Dionysius of Halicarnassus Dionysius of Halicarnassus ( grc, Διονύσιος Ἀλεξάνδρου Ἁλικαρνασσεύς, ; – after 7 BC) was a Greek historian and teacher of rhetoric, who flourished during the reign of Emperor Augustus. His literary sty ...

speaks disparagingly of his style.

Photius Photios I ( el, Φώτιος, ''Phōtios''; c. 810/820 – 6 February 893), also spelled PhotiusFr. Justin Taylor, essay "Canon Law in the Age of the Fathers" (published in Jordan Hite, T.O.R., & Daniel J. Ward, O.S.B., "Readings, Cases, Materia ...

regards the arrangement of his work as altogether faulty. By contrast with recent predecessors such as Ephorus, Duris served as the exemplar of a new fashion for "tragic history" which gave entertainment and excitement greater importance than factual reporting. In Plutarch's "Life of Pericles" a telling example is Duris's elaborate (and, according to Plutarch, exaggerated) description of cruelty and extensive destruction at Samos when Athenian forces, led by Pericles, subdued the island. Recent critics, believing that Duris was a pupil of Theophrastus, have attempted either to demonstrate that "tragic history" agreed with the teachings of the Peripatetic school or to analyse Duris's motives for taking a different line from his supposed teachers. The debate was inevitably inconclusive. A. Lesky, ''A History of Greek Literature'' (2nd ed., Eng. trans., London, 1966) p. 765; Dalby (1991).

References

Bibliography

Editions of the fragments

* C. Müller, ''Fragmenta historicorum Graecorum'' vol. 2 (Paris, 1848) pp. 466–488. reek with Latin translation and commentary* F. Jacoby, ''

'' vol. 2A pp. 1136–1158 reek text vol. 2C pp. 115–131 erman commentary

Modern scholarship

*J. P. Barron, "The Tyranny of Duris of Samos" in ''Classical Review'' new series vol. 12 (1962) pp. 189–192. *C. O. Brink, "Tragic History and Aristotle's School" in ''Proceedings of the Cambridge Philological Society'' vol. 186 (1960) pp. 14–19. * A. Dalby, "The Curriculum Vitae of Duris of Samos" in ''Classical quarterly'' new series vol. 41 (1991) pp. 539–541. *R. B. Kebric, ''In the Shadow of Macedon: Duris of Samos''. Wiesbaden, 1977. *R. B. Kebric, "A Note on Duris in Athens" in ''Classical Philology'' vol. 69 (1974) pp. 286–287. *F. Landucci Gattinoni, ''Duride di Samo''. Roma, 1997. *L. Okin, ''Studies on Duris of Samos''. University of Michigan dissertation, 1974. *L. Okin, "A Hellenistic Historian Looks at Mythology" in ''Panhellenica'' (Lawrence, Kansas, 1980). *P. Pédech, ''Trois historiens méconnus: Théopompe, Duris, Phylarque''. Paris, 1989. *E. Schwartz, "Duris (3)" in '' Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft: neue Bearbeitung'' (Stuttgart: J. B. Metzler, 1894-1980) vol. 5 pt 2 cols 1853-1856. *

F. W. Walbank Frank William Walbank (; 10 December 1909 – 23 October 2008) was a scholar of ancient history, particularly the history of Polybius. He was born in Bingley, Yorkshire, and died in Cambridge. Walbank attended Bradford Grammar School and ...

, "History and Tragedy" in ''Historia'' vol. 9 (1960) pp. 216–234. *C. Baron
Timaeus of Tauromenium and Hellenistic Historiography
(2012) pp. 247–255.

Other encyclopedias

*M. von Albrecht, "Duris (1)" in ''Der kleine Pauly'' ed. Konrat Ziegler, Walther Sontheimer (Munich: Artemis, 1975). *D. Bowder, "Duris of Samos" in ''Who Was Who in the Greek World'' (Ithaca, NY: Cornell UP, 1982) pp. 101–102.

in ''The Columbia Encyclopedia'', 6th ed. (2008). *J. Hazel,
Duris (2)
in J. Hazel, ''Who's Who in the Greek World'' (London, 1999) p. 89. *R. Schmitt,

in ''

Encyclopædia Iranica ''Encyclopædia Iranica'' is a project whose goal is to create a comprehensive and authoritative English language encyclopedia about the history, culture, and civilization of Iranian peoples from prehistory to modern times. Scope The ''Encycl ...

''. OCLC 311688910 {{DEFAULTSORT:Duris of Samos 4th-century BC births 3rd-century BC deaths Classical-era Greek historians Hellenistic-era historians 3rd-century BC historians Ancient Greek tyrants Ancient Samians