eul_aid: kci
Ἀριστοκλῆς ὁ παραδοξογράφος
Aristocles the Paradoxographer
2 works

Aristocles the Paradoxographer was a Hellenistic author of the 3rd century BCE, known for compiling collections of marvels. He is distinguished from other figures named Aristocles by his epithet, which identifies his focus on paradoxa—strange tales of natural phenomena, distant lands, and unusual customs.

Two fragmentary works are attributed to him, known primarily through citations in the Bibliotheca of the 9th-century Byzantine patriarch Photius. These are On Marvelous Things, a collection of incredible tales, and Histories, which likely contained similar narratives.

Aristocles is a representative of the Hellenistic genre of paradoxography, which systematically compiled wondrous facts from earlier historians and natural philosophers. His work illustrates the period's appetite for the exotic and served to popularize curious knowledge for entertainment and erudition, placing him within a tradition that includes Callimachus and Antigonus of Carystus.

Available Works

Ἀπόσπασμα
Hymn to Demeter of Hermione
1 passages
Ἀποσπάσματα
Italic and Paradoxical Narratives
12 passages