Antiphanes of Berge (or Antiphanes the Younger, grc, Ἀντιφάνης ὁ Βεργαῖος, 4th century BC) 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 ...

writer of the book ''Ἄπιστα'' (Apista; "Unbelievable Things"), and was born in Berge, a town in ancient Macedonia near

Amphipolis Amphipolis ( ell, Αμφίπολη, translit=Amfipoli; grc, Ἀμφίπολις, translit=Amphipolis) is a municipality in the Serres regional unit, Macedonia, Greece. The seat of the municipality is Rodolivos. It was an important ancient Gr ...

. In his Geographica, Straboi. p. 47, ii. pp. 102, 104; comp. Polyb. xx xiii. 12 refers to him as an impostor, because Antiphanes wished the reader to believe everything in his book, which actually contained falsehoods. Strabo also attacked the credibility of the writers Pytheas and Euhemerus in the same chapter. The Attic verb ''βεργαΐζειν'' (bergaizein) was used in reference to Antiphanes (who lived in

Athens 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 ...

). ''βεργαΐζειν'' (bergaizein) refers to the telling of unbelievable stories. He also wrote a work on

courtesans Courtesan, in modern usage, is a euphemism for a "kept" mistress or prostitute, particularly one with wealthy, powerful, or influential clients. The term historically referred to a courtier, a person who attended the court of a monarch or oth ...

. He is not to be confused with

Antiphanes of Argos Antiphanes of Argos ( el, Ἀντιφάνης ὁ Ἀργεῖος) was a sculptor, the disciple of Periclytus, and teacher of Cleon Cleon (; grc-gre, Κλέων, ; died 422 BC) was an Athenian general during the Peloponnesian War. He was the ...

, as was done by some ancient writers.

Writings

''Ἄπιστα'' (Apista; "Unbelievable Things") was the primary work which led to Antiphanes' dismissal as an impostor by Strabo. In addition to other writings and plays, however, Antiphanes' mention of the

team game "ἐπίσκυρος" (''

Episkyros ''Episkyros'', or ''Episcyrus'', (, ; also , , literally 'upon the public') was an Ancient Greek ball game. The game was typically played between two teams of 12 to 14 players each, being highly teamwork-oriented. The game allowed full contact ...

'') or "φαινίνδα" (''phaininda'') is thought to be one of the first written records for a game like modern football in European history.φαινίνδα
Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon'', on Perseus Digital Library Antiphanes's writings (alongside those of

Amphis Amphis (Greek: Ἄμφις) was an Athenian comic poet of uncertain origin from approximately the 4th century BC. Pollux seems to refer to Amphis as a Middle Comedy poet, and Amphis' own repeated references to the philosopher PlatoAmphis (frr. 6; ...

and

Anaxilas Anaxilas or Anaxilaus ( grc-gre, Ἀναξίλας, Ἀναξίλαος), son of Cretines, was a tyrant of Rhegium (modern Reggio Calabria). He was originally from Messenia, a region in the Peloponnese. Life Anaxilas was master of Rhegium in 494 ...

) are also some of a few examples to make reference to the ancient

hetaira Hetaira (plural hetairai (), also hetaera (plural hetaerae ), ( grc, ἑταίρα, "companion", pl. , la, hetaera, pl. ) was a type of prostitute in ancient Greece, who served as an artist, entertainer and conversationalist in addition to pro ...

Nannion.

Notes

References

Antiphanes of Berge

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' (1849, originally published 1844 under a slightly different title) is an encyclopedia/biographical dictionary. Edited by William Smith, the dictionary spans three volumes and 3,700 ...

. Ancient Greek mythographers Metics in Classical Athens Ancient Thracian Greeks 4th-century BC Greek people {{AncientGreece-writer-stub

Writings

See Also

Notes

References