Aphthonius of Antioch ( el, Ἀφθόνιος Ἀντιοχεὺς ὁ Σύρος) 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 ...
sophist
A sophist ( el, σοφιστής, sophistes) was a teacher in ancient Greece in the fifth and fourth centuries BC. Sophists specialized in one or more subject areas, such as philosophy, rhetoric, music, athletics, and mathematics. They taught ' ...
and
rhetorician who lived in the second half of the 4th century CE.
Life
No information about his personal life is available except for his friendship with the sophist
Libanius
Libanius ( grc-gre, Λιβάνιος, Libanios; ) was a teacher of rhetoric of the Sophist school in the Eastern Roman Empire. His prolific writings make him one of the best documented teachers of higher education in the ancient world and a criti ...
and a certain
Eutropius, who may have been the author of a Roman history epitome.
Aphthonius is known for his work ''
Progymnasmata'', a textbook on rhetoric and its elements, including exercises for students before they entered formal rhetorical schools. This work served as an introduction to the
techne
In philosophy, techne (; , ) is a term that refers to making or doing, which in turn is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root "Teks-" meaning "to weave," also "to fabricate". As an activity, ''technē'' is concrete, variable, and context-dep ...
of
Hermogenes of Tarsus
Hermogenes of Tarsus ( grc-gre, Ἑρμογένης ὁ Ταρσεύς) was a Greek rhetorician, surnamed The Polisher (). He flourished in the reign of Marcus Aurelius (AD 161–180).
Life and work
His precocious ability secured him a public ap ...
.
Aphthonius's writing style is characterized as pure and simple, and ancient critics praised his
atticism. The ''Progymnasmata'' remained popular as late as the 17th century, particularly in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. A collection of 40
fables
Fable is a literary genre: a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that are anthropomorphized, and that illustrates or leads to a particular moral ...
written in the style of
Aesop
Aesop ( or ; , ; c. 620–564 BCE) was a Greek fabulist and storyteller credited with a number of fables now collectively known as ''Aesop's Fables''. Although his existence remains unclear and no writings by him survive, numerous tales c ...
is also attributed to Aphthonius.
Aphthonius may have visited the
Serapeum of Alexandria
The Serapeum of Alexandria in the Ptolemaic Kingdom was an ancient Greek temple built by Ptolemy III Euergetes (reigned 246–222 BC) and dedicated to Serapis, who was made the protector of Alexandria. There are also signs of Harpocrates ...
around 315 CE, according to Rowe and Rees.
References
Further reading
*
''Progymnasmata Apthonii sophistae Graece''(1626)
* and
''Aphthonii Progymnasmata''(1655)
* Edition of the fables by
Francesco de Furia (1810)
*
Leonhard von Spengel, ''Rhetores Graeci'', vol.2 (1856), p. 21f. Google book
here - The page numbers from this are used in subsequent texts for reference, according to Kennedy p. 95.
*
Christoph Eberhard Finckh, ''Aphthonii et Nicolai Progymnasmata sophistarum progymnasmata'' (1865)
*
Oskar Philipp Hoppichler, ''De Theone, Hermogene, Aphthonique Pro-gymnasmatum Scriptoribus'' (1884)
* Hugo Rabe, Leipzig: Teubner (1926) - modern critical edition
* Ray Nadeau, Speech Monographs 19 (1952), p. 264–85 - English translation. Revised version in ''Readings from Classical Rhetoric'', ed. Patricia P. Matsen &c, p. 266–288.
* George Alexander Kennedy, ''Progymnasmata: Greek textbooks of prose composition and rhetoric'', pp. 95f. - English translation. Preview on Google Book
here
* Malcolm Heath
(1997). Online English translation, but does not include all the material at the end given by Kennedy.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aphthonius Of Antioch
People from Antioch
Roman-era Sophists
Atticists
4th-century writers
4th-century births
Year of death unknown