Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 1.djvu/696

Rh 678 CHAEREMON. herojc and moral grandeur of the old tragedy. He excelled in description, not merely of objects and scenes properlj' belonging to his subject, but de- scription introduced soleh' to afford pleasure, and that generally of a sensual kind. He especially luxuriates in the description of flowers and of fe- male beauty. His descriptions belong to the class which Aristotle characterizes as apy^ fi4pr] and as /itTTTc tiOikA nrJTe SiavovriKa. The approach to comedy, by the introduction of scenes from common life, and that even in a burlesque manner, of which we have a striking example in the Alcestis of Eu- ripides, seems to have been carried still further by Chaerembn ; and it is probably for this reason that he is mentioned as a comic poet by Suidas, Eudocia, and the Scholiast on Arist. Rhet iii. p. 69, b. (For a further discussion of this point, see Meineke and Bartsch, as quoted below.) The question has been raised, whether Chaeremon's tragedies were in- tended for the stage. They certainly appear to have been far more descriptive and lyric than dra- matic ; and Aristotle mentions Chaeremon among the poets whom he calls dvayvaxTriKol. {BJiet. iii. 12. § 2.) But there appears to be no reason for believing that at this period dramas were written without the intentioji of bringing them on the stage, though it often happened, in fact, that they were not represented ; nor does the passage of Aristotle refer to anything more than the comparative fitness of some dramas for acting and of others for reading. It is by no means improbable that the plays of Chaeremon were never actually represented. There is no mention of his name in the hiZaaKoXiai. The folbwing are the plays of Chaeremon of which fragments are preserved : *AA4)ea-t'§o<o, 'Ax'AAei)s ®(p<nroKT6vos or Qepalrris (a title which seems to imply a satyric drama, if not one approaching still nearer to a comedy), Aiovvaos, &v4(mfs, *Ito, Mivvai, 'OSvfffffvs Tpavfiarias^ OtVeus, and Keu- ravpos. It is very doubtful whether the last was a tragedy at all, and indeed what sort of poem it was. Aristotle {Poet. i. 12, or 9, ed. Ritter) calls it fxiKT-^v pa^tfihiav e| diravruv twv fierpuiv (comp. xxiv, 11, or 6), and Athenaeus(xiii. p.608, e)saysof it QTTfp Spafj.a iroKviJLiTpov Ictti. The fragments of Chaeremon have been collected, with a dissertation on the poet, by H. Bartsch, 4to. MogunL 1843. There are three epigrams ascribed to Chaeremon in the Greek Anthology (Brunck, J«a/. ii. 55 ; Jacobs, ii. bQ)^ two of which refer to the contest of the Spartans and Argives for Thyrea. (Herod, i. 82.) The mention of Chaeremon in tlie Corona of Meleager also shews that he was an ancient poet. There seems, therefore, no reason to doubt that he was the same as the tragic poet. The third epigram refers to an unknown orator Eubulus, the son of Athenagoras. (Welcker, Die Griech. Trag. &c. iii. pp. 1082— 1095 ; Meineke, Hist. Crit. Com. Graec. pp. 517 — 521 ; Ritter, Annot. in Arist. Poet. p. 87; Hee- ren, De Chaeremone Trag. VeL Grace. ; Jacobs, Additamenta Animadv. in Atlien. p. 325, &c, ; Bartsch, De Chaeremone Poeta Tragico.) 2. Of Alexandria, a Stoic philosopher and grammarian, and an historical writer, was the chief librarian of the Alexandrian librarj', or at least of that part of it which was kept in the temple of Serapis. He is called iepoypa/z^aTcus, that is, keeper and expounder of the sacred books. (Tzetz. in Horn. II. p. 123. 11, 28, p. 146. 16; 'E.vi^h. Praep. Evang. v. 10.) He was the teacher | CHAEREPHON. of Dionysius of Alexandria, who succeeded him, and who flourished from the time of Nero to that of Trajan. (Suid. s. v. Aiovvaios 'AKe^avdpevs.) This fixes his date to the first half of the first cen- tury after Christ ; and this is confirmed by the mention of him in connexion with Cornutus. (Suid. s. V. 'npiyevrjs ; Euseb. Hist. Ece. vi. 19.) He accompanied Aelius Callus in his expedition iip Egypt [Gall us], and made great professions of his astronomical knowledge, but incurred much ridicule on account of his ignorance (Strab. xviL p. 806) : but the suspicion of Fabricius, that this account refers to a diflerent person, is perhaps not altogether groundless. {Bill. Ch'aec. iii. p. 546.) He was afterwards called to Rome, and became the preceptor of Nero, in conjunction with Alex- ander of Aegae. (Suid. s. v. 'AXf^avSpos Aiyatos.) 1. His chief work was a history of Egypt, which embraced both its sacred and proiane his- tory. An interesting fragment respecting the Egyptian priests is preserved by Porphyry (de Abstinent, iv. 6) and Jerome (c. Jovinianutn, iL). He also wrote, 2. On Hieroglyphics {lepoyXvipiKd^ Suid. s. V. 'Upoyv(piKd and Xaiprifiajv). 3. On Comets (irepl kojutjtcoj', Origen. c. Cels. i. 59 : per- haps in Seneca, Quae^t. Nat. vii. 5, we should read Cfiaeremon for Cliarimander ; but this is not certain, for Charimander is mentioned by Pappus, lib. vii. p. 247). 4. A grammatical work, irfpi avvSfa-fJLUP, which isquoted byApollonius. (Bek- ker, Anecdot. Graec. ii. 28, p. 515. 15.) As an historian, Chaeremon is charged by Jo- sephus with wilful falsehood (c. Apion. cc.32, 33). This charge seems to be not unfounded, for, be- sides the proofs of it alleged by Josephus, we are j informed by Tzetzcs (Chil. v. 6), that Chaeremon stated that the phoenix lived 7000 years I Of his philosophical views we only know that he was a Stoic, and that he was the leader of that party which explained the Eg}'ptian religious sys- tem as a mere allegory of the worship of nature, as displayed in the visible world ( opwyavoi K6afj.oi) in opposition to the views of Iamblichus. His works were studied by Origen. (Suid. s. v. 'npt- yevrjs ; Euseb. Hist. Ecc. vi. 19.) Martial (xi. 56) wrote an epigram upon him. (lonsius, de Script. Hist. Philos. p. 208 ; Brucker, Hist. Crit. Phil. ii. p. 543, &c. ; Kruger, Hist. Philos. Ant. p. 407 ; Vossius. de Hist. Graec. pp. 209, 210, ed. Westemiann.) [P. S.] CH A'RMADAS, the philosopher. [Charmidks, No. 2.] CHAERE'PHANES, artist. [Nicophanes.] CHAE'REPHON (Xaipecpciu), of the Athenian demus of Sphettus, a disciple and friend of Socrates, is said by Xenophon to have attended his instruc- tions for the sake of the moral advantage to be de- rived from them, and to have exemplified in his practice his master's precepts. From the several notices of him in Xenophon and Plato, he appears to have been a man of ver}'^ warm feelings, pecu- liarly suceptible of excitement, with a spirit of high and generous emulation, and of great energy in everything that he undertook. He it was that inquired of the Delphic oracle who was the wisest of men, and received the famous answer : 'Xocpos ^ocpoKkrjs' aocpoorepos S" EupiiriSrjS' dvdpouv Se nuPTcau ScoKpaxTjs aocpaiTaTos. The frequent notices of him in Aristophanes shew that he was highly distinguished in the school of Socrates J while from the nicknames, such as