A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

312 ARISTONOUS.
to Rome to adorn the triumph of Aquillius, and
was then beheaded. (Justin, xxxvi. 4; Liv. Epit.
59; Vell. Pat. ii. 4; Flor. ii. 20; Oros. v. 10;
Sall. Hist. 4; Appian, Mithrid. 12, 62, de Bell. Civ.
i. 17; Val. Max. iii. 4. ~ 5; Diod. Fragm. lib. 34,
p. 598; Cic. de Leg. Agr. ii. 33, Philip. xi. 8;
Ascon. ad Cic. pro Scaur. p. 24, ed. Orelli.)
3. A eunuch of Ptolemy Epiphanes, who had
been brought up with the king from his early
youth. Polybius speaks of him in terms of high
praise, as a man of a generous and warlike disposition, and skilled in political transactions. In
B. c. 185, when the king had to fight against some
discontented Egyptians, Aristonicus went to Greece
and engaged a body of mercenaries there. (Polyb.
xxiii. 16, 17.)
4. Of Alexandria, a contemporary of Strabo
(i. p. 38), distinguished himself as a grammarian,
and is mentioned as the author of several works,
most of which related to the Homeric poems.1. On the wanderings of Menelaus (-repti rjs
MesEAdov rAadvsy; Strab. 1. c.). 2. On the critical
signs by which the Alexandrine critics used to
mark the suspected or interpolated verses in the
Homeric poems and in Hesiod's Theogony. (Hispi
TrdV 0 Vi-EL"Wv rcv -rs il i ' 3Ios maU On8vooaEas,,
Etym. M. s. vv. AvXvos, psrai and 07r; Suidas,
s. v. 'Apitorovucos; Eudoc. p. 64; Schol. Venet. ad
Horn. II. ix. 397.) 3. On irregular grammatical
constructions in Homer, consisting of six books
(devvs draK ov seodrowv sigXia; Suidas, 1. c.).
These and some other works are now lost, with
the exception of a few fragments preserved in the
passages above referred to. (Villoison, Proleg. ad
Homr. p. 18.)
5. Of Tarentum, the author of a mythological
work which is often referred to. (Phot. Cod. 190;
Serv. ad Aen. iii. 335; Caes. Germ. in Arat. Phaen.
327; Hygin. Po't. Astr. ii. 34.) He is perhaps
the same as the one mentioned by Athenaeus (i.
p. 20), but nothing is known about him. (Roulez,
ad Ptolem. Hephaest. p. 148.) [L. S.]
ARISTONIDAS, a statuary, one of whose
productions is mentioned by Pliny (Hf. N. xxxiv.
14. s. 40) as extant at Thebes in his time. It
was a statue of Athamas, in which bronze and iron
had been mixed together, that the rust of the latter,
showing through the brightness of the bronze,
might have the appearance of a blush, and so might
indicate the remorse of Athamas. [C. P. M.]
ARISTONIDES, a painter of some distinction,
mentioned by Pliny (xxxv. 11. s. 40), was the
father and instructor of Mnasitimus. [C. P. M.J
ARISTO'NOUS ('Ap-roroos). 1. Of Gela in
Syracuse, one of the founders of the colony of
Agrigentum, B. c. 582. (Thuc. vi. 4.)
2. Of Pella, son of Peisaeus, one of the bodyguard of Alexander the Great, distinguished himself greatly on one occasion in India. On the
death of Alexander, he was one of the first to propose that the supreme power should be entrusted
to Perdiccas. He was subsequently the general of
Olympias in the war with Cassander; and when
she was taken prisoner in B. c. 316, he was put
to death by order of Cassander. (Arrian, Anab.
vi. 28, ap. Phot. Cod. 92, p. 69, a. 14. ed. Bekker;
Curt. ix. 5, x. 6; Diod. xix. 35, 50, 51.)
ARISTO'NOUS ('AprTordvoos), a statuary, a
native of Aegina, made a statue of Zeus, which was
dedicated by the Metapontines at Olympia. (Pans.
v. 22, ~ 5; Miiller, Aegin. p. 107.) [C. P. M.]

ARISTOPHANES.
ARISTO'NYMUS ('Apr-do-vvfqos), a comic
poet and contemporary of Aristophanes and Ameipsias. (Anonym. in Vit. A ristoph.; Schol. ad Platon.
p. 331, Bekker.) We know the titles of only two
of his comedies, viz. Theseus (Athen. iii. p. 87),
and "HAIos P/tLyv (Athen. vii. pp. 284, 287), of
which only a few fragments are extant. Schweighauser and Fabricius place this poet in the reign
of Ptolemy Philadelphus, an error into which both
were led by Suidas (s. v. 'Apio-rcduvjUo), who, if
the reading is correct, evidently confounds the poet
with some grammarian. If there had ever existed
a grammarian of this name, and if he had written
the works attributed to him by Suidas, he would
assuredly have been mentioned by other writers
also. This is not the case; and as we know that
Aristophanes of Byzantium was the successor of
Apollonius as chief librarian at Alexandria (which
Suidas says of Aristonymus), Meineke conjectures
with great probability, that the name of Aristophanes has dropped out in our text of Suidas.
(Meineke, Hist. Crit. Com. Gr. p. 196, &c.)
An Athenian, of the name of Aristonymus, who
was a contemporary of Alexander the Great, but
not a grammarian, is mentioned by Athenaeus.
(x. p. 452, xii. p. 538.) There were also two
writers of this name, but neither of them appears
to have been a grammarian. (Plut. de Flum. p.
1165; Stobaeus, passim.) [L. S.]
ARISTO'PHILUS ('Api-r6Pis\os), a druggist,
of Plataea in Boeotia, who lived probably in the
fourth century B. c. He is mentioned by Theophrastus (Hist. Plant. ix. 18. ~ 4) as possessing the
knowledge of certain antaphrodisiac medicines,
which he made use of either for the punishment
or reformation of his slaves. [W. A. G.]
ARISTO'PHANES ('Aptorrodxevs), the only
writer of the old comedy of whom any entire works
are left. His later extant plays approximate
rather to the middle comedy, and in the Cocalus,
his last production, he so nearly approached the
new, that Philemon brought it out a second time
with very little alteration.
Aristophanes was the son of Philippus, as is
stated by all the authorities for his life, and proved
by the fact of his son also having that name, although
a bust exists with the inscription 'Apitoropda'vjs,t.iuXrurdt8o, which is, however, now generally allowed to be spurious. He was an Athenian of
the tribe Pandionis, and the Cydathenaean Demus,
and is said to have been the pupil of Prodicus,
though this is improbable, since he speaks of him
rather with contempt. (Nab. 360, Av. 692, Tagenist. Fragm. xviii. Bekk.) We are told (Schol. ad
Ran. 502), that he first engaged in the comic contests when he was o0iXobv Ltstpdstc1ros, and we
know that the date of his first comedy was B. c.
427: we are therefore warranted in assigning
about B. c. 444 as the date of his birth, and his
death was probably riot later than B. c. 380. His
three sons, Philippus, Araros, and Nicostratus,
were all poets of the middle comedy. Of his private history we know nothing but that he was a
lover of pleasure (Plat. Symp. particularly p. 223),
and one who spent whole nights in drinking and
witty conversation. Accusations (his anonymous
biographer says, more than one) were brought
against him by Cleon, with a view to deprive him
of his civic rights (ev'iaes ypapca'), but without
success, as indeed they were merely the fruit of
revenge for his attacks on that demagogue. They