Ptolemy Chennus or Chennos ("quail") ( grc-koi, Πτολεμαῖος Χέννος ''Ptolemaios Chennos''), was an Alexandrine grammarian during the reigns of

Trajan Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...

and

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 ...

. According to the ''

Suda The ''Suda'' or ''Souda'' (; grc-x-medieval, Σοῦδα, Soûda; la, Suidae Lexicon) is a large 10th-century Byzantine encyclopedia of the ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Soudas (Σούδας) or Souidas ...

'', he was the author of an historical drama named ''Sphinx'', of an epic, ''Anthomeros'', in 24 books (both lost) and a ''Strange History''. The last is probably identical with the ''New History'' in six books ascribed by

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 ...

to Ptolemy Hephaestion, of which a summary outline has been preserved in Photius' ''Biblioteca'' (cod. 190), who observed sarcastically of its credulous author that he found it "a work really useful for those who undertake to attempt erudition in history," for "it abounds in extraordinary and badly imagined information." It was dedicated to the author's lady, Tertulla, and contained a medley of all sorts of legends and fables belonging to both the mythological and historical periods. An identification with

Ptolemy-el-Garib Ptolemy-el-Garib (Arabic language, Arabic, more correctly ''al-gharīb'', "Ptolemy the foreigner," explained as meaning "Ptolemy the unknown") (fl. c. 300 AD) was a Hellenistic civilization, Hellenistic Pinakes, pinacographer, probably of the Peripa ...

has been suggested, but this is no longer accepted.Albin Lesky, ''A History of Greek Literature'' (trans. Willis and de Heer, 1966), p. 548. Hans Gottschalk, "The Earliest Aristotelian Commentators," in ''Aristotle Transformed'' (ed. Richard Sorabji, 1990), pp. 56f. n. 5. See editions of Photius's abridgment by Joseph-Emmanuel-Ghislain Roulez (''Ptolemaei Hephaestionis Novarum historiarum ad variam eruditionem pertinentium excerpta e Photio'', 1834); and in

Anton Westermann Anton Westermann (18 June 1806, Leipzig – 24 November 1869, Leipzig) was a German classical philologist. From 1825 to 1830, he studied philology at the University of Leipzig, where in 1833 he became an associate professor of classical philolo ...

, ''Mythographi graeci'' (1843);

Rudolf Hercher Rudolf Hercher ( la, Rudolphus Hercher; 11 January 182126 March 1878) was a German classical philologist, who worked as a Grammar school teacher in Rudolstadt (1847–1859) and Berlin (1861–1878). He is especially known for his textual criticis ...

, ''Über die Glaubwürdigkeit der neuen Geschichte des Ptolemaus Chennus'' (Leipzig, 1856);

John Edwin Sandys Sir John Edwin Sandys ( "Sands"; 19 May 1844 – 6 July 1922) was an English classical scholar. Life Born in Leicester, England on 19 May 1844, Sandys was the 4th son of Rev. Timothy Sandys (1803–1871) and Rebecca Swain (1800–1853). Livin ...

, ''History of Classical Scholarship'' (2nd ed., 1906).

Notes

{{Authority control Ancient Greek grammarians Roman-era Alexandrians Ancient Greek dramatists and playwrights 2nd-century Greek people 2nd-century writers