Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 3.djvu/840

Rh 8-28 SIMMIAS. disciple of the Pythagorean philosopher Philolaus, and afterwards the friend and disciple of Socrates, at whose death he was present, having come from Thebes, with his brother Cebes, bringing with him a large sum of money, to assist in Criton's plan for the liberation of Socrates (Plat. Crit. p. 45, b., Phaed. pp. b9^ c, 92, a., et passim ; comp. Ael, V. H. i. 16). At this time he and Cebes were both young men (FJtaed. p. 89, a.). The two brothers are the principal speakers, besides So- crates himself, in the Phaedon ; and the skill with which they argue, and the respect and affection with which Socrates treats them, prove the high place they held among his disciples, not only in the judgment of Plato, but in the general opinion. In the PJiaedrus (p. 242, a., b.) also, Socrates is made to refer to Simmias as one of the most powerful reasoners of his day. According to Plutarch, who introduces Simmias as a speaker in his dialogue de Genio Socratis (p. 578, a., &c.), he studied much in Egypt, and be- came conversant with the mystical religious philo- sophy of that country. There is a very brief account of him in Diogenes Laertius (ii. 124), who states that there was a collection of twenty- three dialogues by him, in one volume. The titles of these dialogues are also given, with a slight variation, by Suidas (s. v.) ; they embrace a large range of philosophical sub- jects, but are chiefly ethical. Two epitaphs on Sophocles, in the Greek An- thology, are ascribed to Simmias of Thebes in the Palatine Codex (Brunck, Anal. vol. i. p. 1 68 ; Jacobs, Anth. Graec. vol. i. p. 100, Anth. Pal. vii. 2 1, 22, vol. i. p. 312). There is also an epitaph on Aristocles, among the epigrams of Simmias of Rhodes, which Brunck would refer to Simmias of Thebes ; proba- bilis conjedura, says Jacobs. (Brunck, Anal. vol. i. p. 204, No. 2 ; Jacobs, Animadv. vol. i. pt. ii. p. 4.) 2. Of Syracuse, is mentioned by Diogenes Laer- tius (ii. 113, 114) as a hearer, first of Aristotle the Cyrenaean, and afterwards of Stilpon, the Megaric philosopher, but nothing further is known of him. 3. Of Rhodes, a poet and grammarian of the Alexandrian school, which flourished under the early Ptolemies. He was earlier than the tragic poet Philiscus, whose time is about 01. 120, B. c. 300, at least if we accept the assertion of He- phaestion (p. 31), that the choriambic hexameter, of which Philiscus claimed the invention, had been previously used by Simmias. Suidas (s. v.) tells us that he wrote three books of yKwaaat, and four books of miscellaneous poems (Trojij/xara Sidcpopa : the latter part of the article in Suidas is obviously misplaced, and belongs to the life of Simonides of Amorgus). Of his grammatical works nothing more is known ; but his poems are frequently re- ferred to, and some of them seem to have been epic. His Topyd is quoted by Athenaeus (xi. p. 491) ; his Mrives and '^^^6^b>p by Stephanus By- lantinus (s.vv. 'Ajuu/cai, 'HjjiiKvves) ^ and a frag- ment of thirteen lines from the latter poem is pre- served by Tzetzes {Chil. vii. 144), and has been edited by Brunck (Anal. vol. iL p. 525, comp. Lect. vol. iii. p. 235). As an epigrammatist, Simmias had a place in the Garland of Meleager, and the Greek Anthology contains six epigrams ascribed to him, besides three short poems of that fantastic species called gripid or carmina figurata., that is, pieces in which the lines are »o arranged as to make the whole SIMON. poem resemble the form of some object ; those of Simmias are entitled, from their forms, the Winys (TTTepvyes), the Egg (woV), and the Hatchet ( ttc- eKvs). There are several other poems of the same species in the Anthology, such as the Pan-pipes {(Tvpiy^) of Theocritus, the Altar of Dosiadas, and the JEgg and Hatcliet of Besantinus. (Brunck, Anal. vol. i. pp. 205 — 210 ; Jacobs, Anth. Graec. vol. i. pp. 139—143, vol. xiii. pp. 951, 952 ; Anth, Pal. XV. 21—27, vol. ii. pp. 603—609, ed. Jacobs ; Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. iii. p. 808, vol. iv. pp. 494, 495.) [P. S.] SI'MMIAS, artist. [Simon.] SIMO'IS (SiMoeii), the god of the river Simois, which flows from mount Ida, and in the plain of Troy joins the Xanthus or Scamander (Horn. E. V. 774, xii. 22 ; Virg. Aen. v. 261). He is described as a son of Oceanus and Tethys (Hes. TJieog. 342), and as the father of Astyoche and Hieromneme. (Apollod. iii. 12. § 2.) [L. S.] SIMON (2/|Ua)»'), a Thracian prince, was con- nected by marriage with Amadocus, who appears to have been a son of Cotys [No. 2], and brother to Cersobleptes and Berisades. On the death of the latter, when Cersobleptes wished, with the aid of Charidemus, to seize all the dominions of Cotys, and to exclude Amadocus and the children of Berisades from their inheritance, Simon was prepared to assist Amadocus against the intended usurpation ; and, according to Demosthenes, the remarkable decree of Aristocrates in favour of Charidemus (b. c. 352) was framed with the view of disarming this opposition, especially as Simon had been honoured with the Athenian franchise. (Dem. c. Aristocr. pp. 624, 625, 680, 683.) [Cer- sobleptes ; Charidemus.] [E. E.] SIMON (Xificcv), literary and ecclesiastical. 1. Apollonides. By a misunderstanding of a pas- sage in Diogenes Laertius (ix. 109), founded on an erroneous reading of the text, that author has been supposed to cite a Simon Apollonides of Ni- caea when his citation is from Apollonides of Ni- caea [Apollonides, No. 5]. The name Simon is in other and more correct MSS. Timon (TtVw")* and is not a part of the text, but the title of the section the subject of which is Timon of Phlius [Timon]. (AUatius, De Simeon. Scripiis, p. 203.) 2. Of Athens. [No. lO.J 3. Of Athens, one of the disciples of Socrates, and by trade a leather-cutter (itkutoto^os), which is usually Latinised Coriabius. Socrates was ac- customed to visit his shop, and converse with him on various subjects. These conversations Simon afterwards committed to writing, as far as he could remember them ; and he is said to have been the first who recorded, in the form of conversations, the words of Socrates. His philosophical turn attracted the notice of Pericles, who offered to provide for his maintenance, if he would come and reside with him ; but Simon refused, on the ground that he did not wish to surrender his independence. The favourable notice of such a man as Pericles may be considered as overbalancing the unfavourable or sneering judgment of those who characterised his Dialogues as " leathern." He reported tiurty- three conversations, Aidoyoi, Dialogi, which were contained in one volume. Diogenes Laertius (ii. 122, 123), from whom we derive our knowledge of Simon, enumerates the subjects, the variety of which shows the activity and versatility of Simon'i mind. The twelfth of the so-called Socralis d J