Alexamenus of Teos
Alexamenus of
Ἐγκώμια αὐτοῦ (sc. τοῦ Μένωνος) διεξέρχεται ὁ τοὺς ἄλλους ἁπαξαπλῶς κακολογήσας (sc. Πλάτων), ἐν μὲν τῇ πολιτείᾳ Ὅμηρον ἐκβάλλων καὶ τὴν μιμητικὴν ποίησιν, αὐτὸς δὲ τοὺς διαλόγους μιμητικῶς γράψας, ὧν τῆς ἰδέας οὐδ' αὐτὸς εὑρετὴς ἐστι. πρὸ γὰρ αὐτοῦ τοῦθ' εὗρε τὸ εἶδος τῶν λόγων ὁ Τήιος Ἀλεξαμενός, ὡς Νικίας ὁ Νικαεὺς ἱστορεῖ καὶ Σωτίων. Ἀριστοτέλης δὲ ἐν τῷ περὶ ποιητῶν οὕτως γράφει, " οὐκοῦν οὐδὲ ἐμμέτρους τοὺς καλουμένους Σώφρονος μίμους μὴ φῶμεν εἶναι λόγους καὶ μιμήσεις, ἢ τοὺς Ἀλεξαμενοῦ τοῦ Τήιου τοὺς πρώτους [or: προτέρους/πρότερον] γραφέντας τῶν Σωξρατικῶν διαλόγων; " ἀντικρὺς φάσκων ὁ πολυμαθέστατος Ἀριστοτέλης πρὸ Πλάτωνος διαλόγους γεγραφέναι τὸν Ἀλεξαμενόν.
«And his encomium (sc. of Menon) is uttered by him who despised others on the whole (sc.
It is unclear whether the priority refers to
altering the meaning: Alexamenus would not be the inventor of the Socratic dialogues, but a precursor.Aristotelian opinion is critically witnessed by
Διαλόγους τοίνυν φασὶ πρῶτον γράψαι Ζήνωνα τὸν Ἐλεάτην· Ἀριστοτέλης δὲ ἐν πρώτῳ Περὶ ποιητῶν Ἀλεξαμενὸν Στυρέα ἢ Τήιον, ὡς καὶ Φαβωρῖνος ἐν Ἀπομνημονεύμασι. δοκεῖ δέ μοι Πλάτων ἀκριβώσας τὸ εἶδος καὶ τὰ πρωτεῖα δικαίως ἂν ὥσπερ τοῦ κάλλους οὕτω καὶ τῆς εὑρέσεως ἀποφέρεσθαι.
«So they say that the first to write dialogues was the Eleatic Zeno; but Aristotle, in the first book of On the Poets, [says that he was] Alexamenus of Styra or Teos, as Favorinus also [says] in the Memoirs. But it seems to me that Plato, having perfected the literary genre, would rightly hold the primacy, as of beauty, so also of invention».
The writer of the papyrus of Oxyrhynchus (P. Oxy. 45 3219), which probably contains a treatise on Plato and the dialogue,[9] confirms the news, but takes an anti-Aristotelian position[10] and states that the main influence on Plato comes from the Sicilian mimographer Sophron:
ἐ]ν τούτῳ κ[αὶ C]ώφρον[α] μειμηcάμε-
νοc τὸν μιμογράφον κα<τὰ> τὸ δραμα-
τικὸν τῶν διαλόγων· οὐ γὰρ πειc-
τ[έ]ον Ἀριcτοτέλει ὑπὸ τῆc πρὸc Πλά-
τωνα βαcκανίας ε[ἰ]πόντι ἐν τῷ
πρώτῳ Περὶ ποιητικῆς καὶ πρὸ
Πλάτωνοc γεγράφθαι δραματικοὺc
διαλό]γ[ους ὑ]π' [Ἀ]λεξαμενοῦ Τηνίου
«...in this also imitating Sophron, the writer of mimes, for the dramatic quality of the dialogues. For one should not believe Aristotle, who, out of jealous spite towards Plato, says in the first book of On poetry [= On the Poets] that even before Plato dramatic dialogues had been written by Alexamenos of Tenos»[11]
Two suggestions, absolutely speculative.
First, one could perhaps compare the previous fragment of On the Poets with the well-known passage in Aristotle's On poetry, 1449b:
(On the Poets) «οὐκοῦν οὐδὲ ἐμμέτρους τοὺς καλουμένους Σώφρονος μίμους μὴ φῶμεν εἶναι λόγους καὶ μιμήσεις, ἢ τοὺς Ἀλεξαμενοῦ τοῦ Τήιου τοὺς πρώτους [or: προτέρους/πρότερον] γραφέντας τῶν Σωξρατικῶν διαλόγων»
«Then, do we not say that the so-called mimes of Sophron, written in verse, are speeches and imitations, or that those [the writings?] of Alexamenus of Teos, written first among [or: before] the Socratic dialogues, are so?»
(On poetry) «Οὐδὲν γὰρ ἂν ἔχοιμεν ὀνομάσαι κοινὸν τοὺς Σώφρονος καὶ Ξενάρχου μίμους καὶ τοὺς Σωρατικοὺς λόγους»
«Indeed, we would have no common name for the mimes of Sophron and Xenarchos and for the Socratic speeches»
In both texts the pair mimes - Socratic discourses/dialogues is compared. The name of
Secondly, assuming the previous hypothesis is true, the question might be asked: what were the writings of Alexamenos like? Clearly there is no verifiable evidence. Perhaps his activity took a form similar to that of the other authors of Socratic writings. According to
See also
- Sophron – Ancient Greek writer (fl. 430 BCE)
References
- ^ P. Oxy. 45 3219 frg. 1 (A.D. II), ed. Haslam (1977)
- ^ DIOG. LAERT. III 48
- ^ ATHEN. XI 505c
- ^ see supra
- ^ see supra
- ^ Michael W. Haslam, Plato, Sophron and the Dramatic Dialogue, Bullettin of the Institute of Classical Studies 19 (1972), 17-38
- ^ According to Rose
- ^ According to Bake
- ^ Michael W. Haslam, see supra
- ^ P. A. Vander Waerdt, The Socratic Movement, Cornell University Press 1994, 33
- ^ POxy. 3219
- ^ N. G. Charalabopoulos, Platonic Drama and its Ancient Reception, Cambridge University Press 2012, 50-51; On Alexamenus: R. Hirzel, Der Dialog: ein literarhistorischer Versuch, Leipzig 1895, I 100-1
- ^ see also: Smith, William (1867). "Alexamenus". In William Smith (ed.). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Vol. 1. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. p. 110.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870). "Alexamenus 1". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.
