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

678 CHAEREMON. CHAEREPHON.
heroic and moral grandeur of the old tragedy. He of Dionysius of Alexandria, who succeeded him,
excelled in description, not merely of objects and and who flourished from the time of Nero to that
scenes properly belonging to his subject, but de- of Trajan. (Suid. s. v. Aiovda-os 'AAXEav6peyds.)
scription introduced solely to afford pleasure, and This fixes his date to the first half of the first centhat generally of a sensual kind. He especially tury after Christ; and this is confirmed by the
luxuriates in the description of flowers and of fe- mention of him in connexion with Cornutus.
male beauty. His descriptions belong to the class (Suid. s. v. 'ipLyEvrs; Euseb. Hist. Ecc. vi. 19.)
which Aristotle characterizes as cipyad pidps and as He accompanied Aelius Gallus in his expedition
fj7T rjeOcKac jAre lavoeTsKda. The approach to up Egypt [GALLUS], and made great professions
comedy, by the introduction of scenes from common of his astronomical knowledge, but incurred much
life, and that even in a burlesque manner, of which ridicule on account of his ignorance (Strab. xvii.
we have a striking example in the Alcestis of En- p. 806): but the suspicion of Fabricius, that this
ripides, seems to have been carried still further by account refers to a different person, is perhaps not
Chaeremon; and it is probably for this reason that altogether groundless. (Bibl. Graec. iii. p. 546.)
he is mentioned as a comic poet by Suidas, Eudocia, He was afterwards called to Rome, and became
and the Scholiast on Arist. Rhet. iii. p. 69, b. (For the preceptor of Nero, in conjunction with Alexa further discussion of this point, see Meineke and ander of Aegae. (Suid. s. v. 'AAE eavapos Alyaeos.)
Bartsch, as quoted below.) The question has been 1. His chief work was a history of Egypt,
raised, whether Chaeremon's tragedies were in- which embraced both its sacred and profane histended for the stage. They certainly appear to tory. An interesting fragment respecting the
have been far more descriptive and lyric than dra- Egyptian priests is preserved by Porphyry (de
matic; and Aristotle mentions Chaeremon among Abstinent. iv. 6) and Jerome (c. Jovinianum, ii.).
the poets whom he calls dvayvworucoi. (Rhet. iii. He also wrote, 2. On Hieroglyphics (lepoyXv(piucd,
12. ~ 2.) But there appears to be no reason for Suid. s. v. 'lepoyAvrucci and Xasp-jqcuL'). 3. On
believing that at this period dramas were written Comets (repI KOctrW&V, Origen. c. Cels. i. 59: perwithout the intention of bringing them on the stage, haps in Seneca, Quaest. Nat. vii. 5, we should
though it often happened, in fact, that they were read Choaeremon. for Charimander; but this is not
not represented; nor does the passage of Aristotle certain, for Charimander is mentioned by Pappus,
refer to anything more than the comp)arative fitness lib. vii. p. 247). 4. A grammatical work, 7repl
of some dramas for acting and of others for reading. oavvshotwv, which is quoted byApollonius. (BekIt is by no means improbable that the plays of ker, Anecdot. Graec. ii. 28, p. 515. 15.)
Chaeremon were never actually represented. There As an historian, Chaeremon is charged by Jois no mention of his name in the iUaowKaliar. The sephus with wilful falsehood (c. Apion. cc.32, 33).
following are the plays of Chaeremon of which This charge seems to be not unfounded, for, befragments are preserved: 'AA(perigoia, 'AXLAAe'S sides the proofs of it alleged by Josephus, we are
OepOLrTOITodvos or ~epOiTrsa (a title which seems to informed by Tzetzes( Clil. v. 6), that Chaeremon
imply a satyric drama, if not one approaching still stated that the phoenix lived 7000 years!
nearer to a comedy), Alomvvos, etaOr7-s, 'Icd, Of his philosophical views we only know that
Miwysai, 'OUvov-res Tpavuarias, OlvEs, and Ke'- he was a Stoic, and that he was the leader of that
Travpos. It is very doubtful whether the last was party which explained the Egyptian religious sysa tragedy at all, and indeed what sort of poem it tem as a mere allegory of the worship of nature,
was. Aristotle (Poet. i. 12, or 9, ed. Ritter) calls it as displayed in the visible world (dpceVg'o, mcoeeosIt)
/.iCTav P a~siav e a rcimrwV rcv 'wv /Irpwv (comp. in opposition to the views of IAMBLICHUS. His
xxiv. 11, or 6), and Athenaeus (xiii. p. 608, e) says of works were studied by Origen. (Suid. s. v. 'npmit ~rcep apifJ.a 7roAvesrp6v ETrnL. The fragments of yevmrs; Euseb. Hist. Ecc. vi. 19.) Martial (xi.
Chaeremon have been collected, with a dissertation 56) wrote an epigram upon him. (lonsius, de
on the poet, by H. Bartsch, 4to. Mogunt. 1843. Script. Hist. Philos. p. 208; Brucker, Hist. Crit.
There are three epigrams ascribed to Chaeremon Phil. ii. p. 543, &c.; Kruger, Hist. Philos. Ant.
in the Greek Anthology (Brunck, Anal. ii. 55; p. 407; Vossius. de Hist. Graec. pp. 209, 210,
Jacobs, ii. 56), two of which refer to the contest of ed. Westermann.) [P. S.]
the Spartans and Argives for Thyrea. (Herod. i. CHA'RMADAS, the philosopher. [CHARMIDES,
82.) The mention of Chaeremon in the Corona No. 2.]
of Meleager also shews that he was an ancient CHAERE'PHANES, artist. [NICOPHANES.]
poet. There seems, therefore, no reason to doubt CHAE'REPHON (Xeapeqxs'), of the Athenian
that he was the same as the tragic poet. The demus of Sphettus, a disciple and friend of Socrates,
third epigram refers to an unknown orator Eubulus, is said by Xenophon to have attended his instructhe son of Athenagoras. tions for the sake of the moral advantage to be de(Welcker, Die Griech. Trag. &c. iii. pp. 1082- rived from them, and to have exemplified in his
1095; Meineke, Hist. Crit. Comn. Graec. pp. 517- practice his master's precepts. From the several
521; Ritter, Annot. in Arist. Poet. p. 87; Hee- notices of him in Xenophon and Plato, he appears
ren, De Chaeremone Tray. Vet. Graec.; Jacobs, to have been a man of very warm feelings, pecuAdditanzenta Animadv. in Athen. p. 325, &c.; liarly suceptible of excitement, with a spirit of
Bartsch, De Claeremone Poeta Tragico.) high and generous emulation, and of great energy
2. Of Alexandria, a Stoic philosopher and- in everything that he undertook. He it was that
grammarian, and an historical writer, was the inquired of the Delphic oracle who was the wisest
chief librarian of the Alexandrian library, or at of men, and received the famous answer:
least of that part of it which was kept in the sZods o20poKiCjs* aoopIrepos 8' Evpipnsrijs'
temple of Serapis. He is called lepoypaaL/jarev's, dvspc6v 8E -TerUWV 'swKpdiT-s crospsraros.
that is, keeper and expounder of the sacred books. The frequent notices of him in Aristophanes sliew
(Tzetz. in Hom. II. p. 123. 11, 28, p. 146. 16; that he was highly distinguished in the school of
Euseb. Praep.Evang. v. 10.) He was the teacher Socrates; while fromi the nicknames, such as