Acusilaus, Acusilas, or Akousilaos ( grc-gre, Ἀκουσίλαος) of Argos, son of Cabas or Scabras, was a Greek logographer and mythographer who lived in the latter half of the 6th century BC but whose work survives only in fragments and summaries of individual points. He is one of the authors (= ''

FGrHist ''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 ...

'' 2) whose fragments were collected in

Felix Jacoby Felix Jacoby (; 19 March 1876 – 10 November 1959) was a German classicist and philologist. He is best known among classicists for his highly important work ''Fragmente der griechischen Historiker'', a collection of text fragments of ancient Gr ...

's ''Die Fragmente der griechischen Historiker''. Acusilaus was called the son of Cabras or Scabras, and it is not known whether he was of Peloponnesian or

Boeotia Boeotia ( ), sometimes Latinized as Boiotia or Beotia ( el, Βοιωτία; modern: ; ancient: ), formerly known as Cadmeis, is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Central Greece. Its capital is Livadeia, and its ...

n Argos. Possibly there were two of the name. He is reckoned by some among the

Seven Sages of Greece The Seven Sages (of Greece) or Seven Wise Men ( Greek: ''hoi hepta sophoi'') was the title given by classical Greek tradition to seven philosophers, statesmen, and law-givers of the 7–6th century BC who were renowned for their wisdom. T ...

. 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 Souida ...

'', Acusilaus wrote genealogies (c. 500 BC). Three books of his genealogies are quoted, which were for the most part only a translation of

Hesiod Hesiod (; grc-gre, Ἡσίοδος ''Hēsíodos'') was an ancient Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. He is generally regarded by western authors as 'the first written poet i ...

into prose. Acusilaus claimed to have taken some of his information from bronze tablets discovered in his garden which were inscribed with information, a source looked upon with suspicion by some modern commentators. As with most of the other logographers, he wrote in the Ionic dialect.

Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...

is the earliest writer by whom he is mentioned. The works which bore the name of Acusilaus in a later age were spurious.''Suda'',

References

External links

''Fragments of Acusilaus''
– at demonax.info Early Greek historians Ancient Greek mythographers Ancient Argives 6th-century BC writers 6th-century BC Greek people Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown {{Greece-historian-stub