Testimonies 2 by Hecataeus of Abdera

Name: Testimonies 2
Author: Hecataeus of Abdera

Period: Ἑλληνιστική Hellenistic

Dialect: Κοινή Koine

Domain: Βίος Biography

Genre: Συναγωγή Collection / Anthology

Testimonies 2 is a modern compilation of six fragmentary passages attributed to Hecataeus of Abdera, an early Hellenistic historian and ethnographer active during the late fourth and early third centuries BCE. Hecataeus is principally known for his extensive writings on Egypt and the mythical Hyperboreans, works that presented Greek audiences with idealized accounts of foreign cultures, often framing them as repositories of ancient wisdom and models of just societal organisation. The passages collected under this title do not survive as a continuous text but are gleaned from quotations and references in later authors such as Diodorus Siculus and Josephus. This indirect transmission is characteristic of Hecataeus's corpus, as his original works are lost. His ethnographic narratives, produced in the context of the newly established Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt, functioned as interpretive bridges, explaining Egyptian civilization and history to the Greek-speaking world, frequently for the purposes of cultural comparison or philosophical critique. The compilation thus represents a reconstruction of his thought from scattered sources rather than a discrete ancient work.

Hecataeus of Abdera Testimonies 2 in Greek in PDF

Hecataeus of Abdera Testimonies 2 in Greek in MD

Σοῦδα Ἑκαταῖος Ἀβδηρίτης φιλόσοφος, ὃς ἐπεκλήθη καὶ κριτικὸς γραμματικός, οἷα γραμματικὴν ἔχων παρασκευήν. γέγονε δʼ ἐπὶ τῶν διαδόχων. βιβλία αὐτοῦ ταῦτα· Περὶ τῆς ποιήσεως Ὁμήρου καὶ Ἡσιόδου ...

Στράβων Τήιοι τὴν πόλιν ἐκλιπόντες εἰς Ἄβδηρα ἀπώικησαν Θραικίαν πόλιν οὐ φέροντες τὴν τῶν Περσῶν ὕβριν ... πάλιν δʼ ἐπανῆλθόν τινες αὐτῶν χρόνωι ὕστερον. εἴρηται δὲ καὶ περὶ Ἀπελλικῶντος ὅτι Τήιος ἦν κἀκεῖνος· γέγονε δὲ καὶ συγγραφεὺς Ἑκαταῖος ἐκ τῆς αὐτῆς πόλεως. ὡς Ἑκαταῖος εἶφʼ ὁ Τήιος.

Λαέρτιος Διογένης πρὸς τούτοις διήκουε τοῦ Πύρρωνος Ἑ. τε ὁ Ἀβδηρίτης καὶ Τίμων ὁ Φλιάσιος.

Κλήμης ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς Ἑ. δὲ αὐτάρκειαν τέλος ὑπάρχειν

Πλούταρχος τῶν νομοθετῶν τοὺς τῆι πολυτελείαι κατὰ κράτος πολεμήσαντας ὁρίσαι μάλιστα τῶν εἰς τοὺς γάμους καλουμένων τὸ πλῆθος. «ὁ γὰρ εἰπών, ἔφη, περὶ τῆς αἰτίας αὐτῆς τῶν παλαιῶν φιλοσόφων οὐδὲν ἐμοὶ γοῦν κριτῆι πιθανὸν εἴρηκεν Ἑ. ὁ Ἀβδηρίτης· λέγει δὲ τοὺς ἀγομένους γυναῖκας πολλοὺς παρακαλεῖν ἐπὶ τὴν ἑστίασιν, ἵνα πολλοὶ συνειδῶσι καὶ μαρτυρῶσιν ἐλευθέροις οὖσι καὶ παρʼ ἐλευθέρων γαμοῦσι.»

Πλούταρχος Ἀρχιδαμίδας δὲ μεμφομένων τινῶν Ἑκαταῖον τὸν σοφιστήν, ὅτι παραληφθεὶς εἰς τὸ συσσίτιον οὐδὲν ἔλεγεν· «ὁ εἰδώς, ἔφη, λόγον καὶ καιρὸν οἶδεν».

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