Phocylidis
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Phocylides ( el, Φωκυλίδης ὁ Μιλήσιος), Greek gnomic
poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...
of
Miletus Miletus (; gr, Μῑ́λητος, Mī́lētos; Hittite transcription ''Millawanda'' or ''Milawata'' (exonyms); la, Mīlētus; tr, Milet) was an ancient Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia, near the mouth of the Maeander River in a ...
, contemporary of Theognis of Megara, was born about 560 BC. A few fragments of his " maxims" have survived (chiefly in the ''Florilegium'' of Stobaeus), in which he expresses his contempt for the pomps and vanities of rank and wealth, and sets forth in simple language his ideas of honour,
justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...
and
wisdom Wisdom, sapience, or sagacity is the ability to contemplate and act using knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense and insight. Wisdom is associated with attributes such as unbiased judgment, compassion, experiential self-knowledge, ...
. An example is an
epigram An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, and sometimes surprising or satirical statement. The word is derived from the Greek "inscription" from "to write on, to inscribe", and the literary device has been employed for over two mille ...
quoted by
Dio Chrysostom Dio Chrysostom (; el, Δίων Χρυσόστομος ''Dion Chrysostomos''), Dion of Prusa or Cocceianus Dio (c. 40 – c. 115 AD), was a Greek orator, writer, philosopher and historian of the Roman Empire in the 1st century AD. Eighty of his ...
:
Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...
also found cause to quote him:


Works

Phocylides of Miletus was once credited with writing
Pseudo-Phocylides Pseudo-Phocylides is an apocryphal work, at one time, claiming to have been written by Phocylides, a Greek philosopher of the 6th century BC. Its authorship was deciphered by Jacob Bernays. The text is noticeably Jewish, and depends on the Septuagin ...
, a complete
didactic Didacticism is a philosophy that emphasizes instructional and informative qualities in literature, art, and design. In art, design, architecture, and landscape, didacticism is an emerging conceptual approach that is driven by the urgent need to ...
poem (230 hexameters). However, that text is now considered to be the work of an
Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...
n
Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
of Jewish origin who lived between 170 BC and AD 50. The Jewish element is shown in verbal agreement with passages of the
Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...
(especially the
Wisdom of Sirach The Book of Sirach () or Ecclesiasticus (; abbreviated Ecclus.) is a Jewish work, originally in Hebrew, of ethical teachings, from approximately 200 to 175 BC, written by the Judahite scribe Ben Sira of Jerusalem, on the inspiration of his fa ...
); the Christian by the doctrine of the
immortality Immortality is the concept of eternal life. Some modern species may possess biological immortality. Some scientists, futurists, and philosophers have theorized about the immortality of the human body, with some suggesting that human immorta ...
of the
soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...
and the
resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. In a number of religions, a dying-and-rising god is a deity which dies and is resurrected. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions, which ...
of the body. Some Jewish authorities, however, maintain that there are in reality no traces of Christian doctrine to be found in the poem, and that the author was a Jew. The poem was first printed at Venice in 1495, and was a favourite school textbook during the
Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
period.


See also

*
Pseudo-Phocylides Pseudo-Phocylides is an apocryphal work, at one time, claiming to have been written by Phocylides, a Greek philosopher of the 6th century BC. Its authorship was deciphered by Jacob Bernays. The text is noticeably Jewish, and depends on the Septuagin ...
* Theognis of Megara


References


Further reading

*Fragments and the spurious poem in T. Bergk, ''Poetae lyrici graeci'', II
pp. 74–109
(4th ed., 1882). * Jakob Bernays ''Über das Phokylideische Gedicht'' (1858) *''Phocylides, Poem of Admonition'', with introduction and commentaries by J. B. Feuling, and translation by H. D. Goodwin (Andover, Massachusetts, 1879) * Franz Susemihl, ''Geschichte der griechischen Litteratur in der Alexandrinerzeit'', (1892), ii. 642 * E. Schürer, ''History of the Jewish People'', div. ii., vol. iii., 313—316 (English translation 1886), where full bibliographies are given. *English translation by
W. Hewett W. may refer to: * SoHo (Australian TV channel) (previously W.), an Australian pay television channel * ''W.'' (film), a 2008 American biographical drama film based on the life of George W. Bush * "W.", the fifth track from Codeine's 1992 EP '' B ...
(Watford, 1840), ''The Perceptive Poem of Phocylides''. *
M. L. West Martin Litchfield West, (23 September 1937 – 13 July 2015) was a British philologist and Classics, classical scholar. In recognition of his contribution to scholarship, he was awarded the Order of Merit in 2014. West wrote on Music of Ancien ...
, 'Phocylides,' ''Journal of Hellenic Studies'' 98, 164–7. Attribution * {{Authority control Ancient Greek poets 6th-century BC poets Year of death unknown 560s BC births