Hegesippus was a statesman and orator, nicknamed "knot", probably from the way in which he wore his hair. He lived in the time of
Demosthenes, whose anti-Macedonian policy he enthusiastically supported. In 343 BC, he was one of the ambassadors sent to Macedonia to discuss, amongst other matters, the restoration of the island of
Halonnesus
Agios Efstratios or Saint Eustratius ( el, Άγιος Ευστράτιος), colloquially Ai Stratis ( el, Άη Στράτης), anciently Halonnesus or Halonnesos ( grc, Ἁλόννησος), is a small Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea abo ...
, which had been seized by king
Philip
Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...
of
Macedonia
Macedonia most commonly refers to:
* North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia
* Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity
* Macedonia (Greece), a traditional geographic reg ...
. The mission was unsuccessful, but soon afterwards Philip wrote to Athens, offering to resign possession of the island or to submit to arbitration the question of ownership. In reply to this letter the oration ''
De Halonneso "On the Halonnesus" ( grc, Περὶ τῆς Ἀλοννήσου) is a political oration attributed to the prominent Athenian statesman and orator Demosthenes.
The speech constitutes an Athenian response to a letter of Philip II of Macedon, with wh ...
'' was delivered, which, although included among the speeches of Demosthenes, is generally considered to be by Hegesippus.
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 ...
and
Plutarch, however, favour the authorship of Demosthenes.
The Middle Comedy poet
Crobylus Crobylus is thought to be an Athenian Middle Comedy poet, although there is no specific ancient evidence to this effect. Crobylus is said to have lived sometime after 324 BCE. He is sometimes confused with Hegesippus.
Surviving titles and fragmen ...
is sometimes "confounded" with Hegesippus.
Sources
* This work in turn cites:
**Demosthenes: ''De falsa legatione'', pp. 364, 447; ''De corona'' p. 250; ''Philippica'', iii, p. 129.
**Plutarch: ''Demosthenes'', p. 17; ''Apophthegmata'', p. 187D
**Dionysius Halicarnassus. ''ad Ammaeum'', i.
**Grote. ''History of Greece'', ch. 90.
*Smith, William. ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', 1870, London. p. 896.
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4th-century BC Greek politicians
4th-century BC Athenians