The work On the Knowledge of Ages by Philon of Byblos is a lost grammatical treatise known only from a single fragment preserved in the 12th-century Byzantine lexicon, the Great Etymologicon. This fragment defines the Greek word for "youths" or "young men" and proceeds to systematically delineate the precise terminology for successive stages of human life, from infancy to extreme old age. The surviving passage exemplifies the work's lexicographical focus, cataloging terms such as "babe," "child," "lad," "ephebe," "young man," "man in his prime," and "elder," while also noting regional dialectal variations. As the treatise has no independent manuscript tradition, its transmission relies entirely on this indirect quotation. The fragment typifies the common lot of many minor technical works from antiquity, which were often absorbed into later compilations before their originals were lost. It provides a concise example of Philon’s grammatical scholarship and contributes to the understanding of Greek linguistic studies during the Roman Imperial period.
ΕΡΕΝΝΙΟΥ ΦΙΛΩΝΟΣ
ΓΝΩΣΙΣ ΤΩΝ ΗΛΙΚΙΩΝ
Βρέφος μὲν τὸ γεννηθὲν εὐθέως, παιδίον δὲ τὸ τρεφόμε-
νον ὑπὸ τῆς τιθηνοῦ ἔτι, παιδάριον δὲ τὸ ἤδη περιπατοῦν
καὶ τῆς λέξεως ἀντεχόμενον, παιδίσκος δὲ ὁ ἐν τῇ ἐχομένῃ
ἡλικίᾳ, παῖς δὲ ὁ διὰ τῶν ἐγκυκλίων μαθημάτων δυνάμενος
ἰέναι. τὰ δὲ ἐχόμενα ταύτης οἱ μὲν πάλληκα, οἱ δὲ βούπαιδα,
οἱ δὲ ἀντίπαιδα, οἱ δὲ μελλέφηβον καλοῦσιν. ὁ δὲ μετὰ ταῦτα
ἔφηβος· Κυρηναῖοι δὲ τοὺς ἐφήβους τριακατίους καλοῦσιν, Κρῆ-
τες δὲ ἀποδρόμους διὰ τὸ μηδέπω τῶν κοινῶν μετασχεῖν δρόμων.
μεῖραξ δὲ ἢ μειράκιον ὁ μετὰ ταῦτα, εἶτα νεανίσκος, εἶτα
ἀνὴρ μέσος, εἶτα προβεβηκώς—ὃ καὶ ὠμογέρων—, εἶτα γέρων,
εἶτα πρεσβύτης, εἶτα ἐσχατόγηρως.
