Polemon of Ilium
Polemon of Ilium (Ancient Greek: Πολέμων ὁ Ἴλιος, fl. first half of the 2nd century BCE), also known as Polemon Periegetes (Ancient Greek: Πολέμων ὁ Περιηγητής), was an ancient Greek periegete, geographer, and antiquarian. He travelled throughout the Greek world and wrote about the places he visited. He also compiled a collection of the epigrams he saw on the monuments and votive offerings. None of these works survive, but many later writers quote from them.
Life
[edit]According to the Suda, Polemon was born in the village of Glykeia in the territory of Ilium in northwestern Asia Minor.[1] His father's name is given as Milesios in an inscription found at Delphi, but as Euegetes by the Suda.[2] The Suda describes him as a contemporary of Ptolemy V Epiphanes and Aristophanes of Byzantium, and the scattered references in ancient sources suggest that lived between c. 230 and c. 160 BCE.[3] Although a native of Ilium, Polemon was granted honors, including citizenship and proxenia, by several other Greek cities.[4] The Suda says that he was "enrolled as a citizen" in Athens, and Plutarch refers to him as an Athenian;[5] while Athenaeus says that he was also known as a Samian and a Sikyonian, among other cities.[6] An inscription dated to 177/6 BCE names him as a proxenos of Delphi.[7]
Works
[edit]The titles of about thirty of Polemon's works are known.[8] He traveled widely through Greece, Asia Minor, south Italy, and Sicily, to collect materials for his geographical works, in the course of which he paid particular attention to the inscriptions on votive offerings and on stone stelai, whence he obtained the nickname Stelokopas.[9] In his travels, Polemon collected the epigrams he found into a work On the epigrams in each city (Ancient Greek: Περὶ τῶν κατὰ πόλεις ἐπιγραμμάτων).[10] In addition, other works of his are mentioned, upon the votive offerings and monuments in the Acropolis of Athens, at Lacedaemon, at Delphi, and elsewhere, which no doubt contained copies of numerous epigrams. His works may have been a chief source of the Garland of Meleager. Athenaeus, Sextus Julius Africanus and other writers make very numerous quotations from his works. They were chiefly descriptions of different parts of Greece; some are on paintings preserved in various places, and several are controversial, among which is one against Eratosthenes.
Polemon's erudition has been admired by ancient writers and modern scholars alike. Plutarch described him as "a polymath who does not nod" in the study of Greek matters,[11] and Sir James Frazer wrote that "his acquaintance both with the monuments and with the literature seems to have been extensive and profound."[12] Rudolf Pfeiffer called him "an indefatigable traveller" and "an immensely learned antiquary", who had no equal in the study of Greek inscriptions until Cyriacus of Ancona in the 15th century.[13]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Suda, Π 1188, s.v. Polemon; Angelucci 2022, pp. 15–16. Glykeia is not otherwise attested.
- ^ The latter name (which means roughly "good guide") has been explained as a possible invention derived from Polemon's own periegetic activities: Engels 2014, p. 69; Angelucci 2022, p. 16.
- ^ Deichgräber 1952, cols. 1289–1291; Donohue 2006; Engels 2014, pp. 69–72.
- ^ Pfeiffer 1968, pp. 247–248.
- ^ Suda, Π 1188, s.v. Polemon; Plutarch, Quaestiones convivales 5.2 (Moralia 675B); Angelucci 2022, pp. 16–17. He should not be confused with the philosopher Polemon of Athens, who was head of the Academy in the late 4th–early 3rd century BCE.
- ^ Athenaeus 234d: "Polemon, whether he prefers to be called a Samian, a Sikyonian, or an Athenian, as Herakleides of Mopsuestia says, counting him among those from other cities as well"; Engels 2014, pp. 69–70; Angelucci 2022, pp. 16–17.
- ^ Sylloge inscriptionum graecarum, 3rd ed. (1920), no. 585, line 265; Engels 2014, pp. 70–71; Angelucci 2022, p. 16.
- ^ Pfeiffer 1968, p. 248; Donohue 2006.
- ^ Athenaeus 6.234d. The precise meaning of the nickname (translated as "monument tapper" by Frazer 1917, p. 135, and as "stele glutton" by Donohue 2006) is uncertain, but it implies a great enthusiasm for the study of inscriptions: Pfeiffer 1968, p. 248.
- ^ Athenaeus 10.436d, 442e
- ^ Plutarch, Quaestiones convivales 5.2 (Moralia 675B): πολυμαθοῦς καὶ οὐ νυστάζοντος ἐν τοῖς Ἑλληνικοῖς πράγμασιν ἀνδρός.
- ^ Frazer 1917, pp. 134–135.
- ^ Pfeiffer 1968, pp. 247–249.
Editions and translations
[edit]- Preller, Ludwig, ed. (1838). Polemonis Periegetae Fragmenta. Leipzig: William Engelmann.
- Müller, Carl, ed. (1849). Fragmenta historicorum graecorum. Vol. III. Paris. pp. 108–148.
- Angelucci, Mariachiara, ed. (2022). Polemone di Ilio: i frammenti degli scritti periegetici. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag. ISBN 9783515117890.
Sources
[edit]- Angelucci, Mariachiara (2011). "Polemon's Contribution to the Periegetic Literature of the II Century B.C." (PDF). Hormos. 3.
- Deichgräber, Karl (1952). "Polemon 9". Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft. Vol. 21.2. Stuttgart: Alfred Druckenmüller. cols. 1289–1320.
- Donohue, Alice A. (2006). "Polemon of Ilium, Hellenistic periegetic writer". Brills New Pauly Online. Brill.
- Engels, David (2014). "Polemon von Ilion: Antiquarische Periegese und hellenistische Identitätssuche". In K. Freitag; C. Michels (eds.). Athen und / oder Alexandreia? Aspekte von Identität und Ethnizität im hellenistischen Griechenland. Köln: Böhlau. pp. 65–98.
- Frazer, James (1917). Studies in Greek Scenery, Legend and History, Selected from His Commentary on Pausanias's 'Description of Greece'. London: Macmillan and Company, Ltd.
- Pfeiffer, Rudolf (1968). History of Classical Scholarship from the Beginnings to the End of the Hellenistic Age. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870). "Polemon". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.
