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

PHILOXENUS'. PHILOXENUS. 333
whether in his native island, whither the scholiast collected by Bergk (Poet. Lyr. Graec. 1. c.) and by
just quoted says that he fled, or at Ephesus, where Schmidt, who has added an interesting discussion
Suidas states that he died, and whither Schmidt respecting its plan (Dithyramb. pp. 54-68). The
thinks it likely that he may have gone, as the wor- scholiast on the Plutus (I. c.) calls this poem a
ship ot Dionysus prevailed there. In this point, drama; and several other writers call Philoxenus
however, as in so many others, we encounter the a tragic poet; but this is probably only one of
difficulty arising from the confusion of the two Phi- several instances in which the dithyrambic poets
loxeni, for the Leucadian is also said to have spent have been erroneously represented as tragedians
the latter part of his life in Ephesus. (see Kayser, Hist. Crit. Trag. Graec. p. 262).
It is time to dismiss these doubtful questions; We have a few other fragments of the poems of
but still there is one tradition respecting Philoxe- Philoxenus (pp. 68, 69), and the following titles
nus, which passed into a proverb, and which must of four others of his dithyrambs, though even these
not be omitted. It is said that, after his quarrel are not free from doubt-Mvoaol, ~'pos, Kw/uaaTrl's,
with Dionysius at Syracuse, and during his subse- DaeOowv.
quent residence at Tarentum or Cythera, he received Of the character of the music to which his dithyan invitation from the tyrant to return to his court, rambs were set, we have little other information
in reply to which he wrote the single letter 0, than the statement that they were publicly chanted
that is, either as the ancient mode of writing or, or, in the theatres by the Arcadian youth on certain
as some think, what Philoxenus wrote was 8, as days of the year (Aristot. Polit. viii. 7; Polyb.
the contracted sign for oa. Hence a flat refusal iv. 20). He was, however, as we have already
was proverbially called IAoLtevov'ypalutdrLov (Suid. seen, included in the attacks which the comic poets
s. v.; Schmidt, p. 17). made on all the musicians of the day, for their
Respecting the works of Philoxenus, Suidas re- corruptions of the simplicity of the ancient music;
lates that he wrote twenty-four dithyrambs, and and there are several passages in Plutarch's
a genealogy of the Aeacidae. The latter poem is treatise on music, describing the nature of those innot mentioned by any other writer; but another novations, in which he followed and even went
poem, which Suidas does not mention, and which beyond his master Melanippides, and in which
it is hardly likely that he reckoned among the Timotheus again vied with him (Plut. de Mans. 12,
twenty-four dithyrambs, is the AErvolV already 29, 30, 31; Schmidt, pp. 72, 73). A curious
mentioned, which appears to have been the most story is told of his musical composition by Arispopular of his works, and of which we have more totle, who, in confirmation of the statement that
fragments than of any other. These fragments, the dithyramb belongs essentially to the Phrygian
which are almost all in Athenaeus, are so corrupted, mode, relates that Philoxenus attempted to cornowing to the very extraordinary style and phraseo- pose one of his dithyrambs in the Dorian, but that
logy, which the poet purposely adopted, that Ca- it fell back by the force of its very nature into the
saubon gave up the emendation of them as hopeless proper Phrygian harmony (Aristot. Polit. viii. 7. ~
(Animradv. in Athl. iv. p. 470). Contributions to 12). In an obscure passage of Pollux (Onom. iv.
their restoration have, however, been made by 9. s. 65, ed. Bekker) the Locrian harmony is
Jacobs, Schweighauser, and Fiorillo, in their re- stated to be his invention; and the Hypodorian
spective annotations upon Athenaeus, and by has also been ascribed to him (Schmidt, pp. 73, 74).
Bergk, in the Act. Soc. Gr. Lips. for 1836; and There is a passage respecting his rhythms in
recently most of the fragments have been edited by Dionysius of Halicarnassus (de Colmp. Verb. p.
Meineke (Frog. Corn. Graee. vol. iii. Epimetrum 131, Reiske).
de Philoxeni Cytherii Convivio, pp. 635-646, We have abundant testimony to the high esteem
comp. pp. 146, 637, 638, 639, and vol. ii. p. 306), in which the ancients held Philoxenus, both during
and the whole by Bergk (Poet. Lyr. Graec. pp. his life and after his death. The most remarkable
851-860), and by Schmidt (Ditlhyramb. pp. 29- eulogy of him is the passage in which the comic
51), who has also added a discussion on the metre, poet Antiphanes contrasts him with the musicians
dialect, and style of the poem (pp. 52-54). The who came after him (Ath. xiv. p. 643). This, and
poem is a most minute and satirical description of the testimonies of Machon, Aelian, and others, are
a banquet, written in a style of language of which given fully by Schmidt (pp. 71, 72). Alexander
no idea can be formed without reading it, but of the Great sent for his poems during his campaigns
which the following specimen may convey some in Asia (Plut. Alex. 8, de Fort. Alex. p. 355, a.):
slight notion (v. 9):- the Alexandrian grammarians received him into the
7rav'rE7ramAEC, XAirapoT o' m E^I'XjexenvOs dploTnv, canon; and, moreover, the very attacks of the comic
poets are evidence of his eminence and popularity,
with which a line from the parody of it by Aris- and the more so in proportion to their vehemence.
tophanes, in the LEcclesiazzusae may be compared The most important works upon Philoxenus are
(v. 1169):- those of D. Wyttenbach, in his Miscellanea Doctrinae, ii. pp. 64-72; Burette, Sur P/hiloxene, in
his ReImarques sur la Dialogue de Plutarche touchant
and so on through six lines, forming but one word. la Musique, in the Msnz. de l'Acad. des Insc. vol.
Of the dithyrambs of Philoxenus, by far the xiii. pp. 200, &c.; Luetke, Dissert. de Graec.
most important is his KUhclcA* 1 raXAreta, the Ditlhyramb. pp. 77, &c. Berol. 1829; L. A. Beroccasion of his composing which is variously related, glein, De Philoeno Cytherio Dithyranibor2zn Poeta,
but the most probable account has been already Gbtting. 1843, 8vo.; G. Bippart, Philoxeni, Tigiven. Aelian (V. H. xii. 44) calls it the most omothei, Telestis Dithlyrambographorum Reliquiae,
beautiful of his poems, and Hermesianax refers to Lips. 1843, 8vo.; G. M. Schmidt, Diatribe in Diit in terms of the highest praise (Ath. xiii. p. 598, tlhyrambum Poetarumque Dithyramnbicorum Relie.; Fr. 1, ed. Bach). Its loss is greatly to be quias, c. i. Berol. 1845; the passages already relamented. The few fragments which remain are ferred to, and others, in the works of Meilleke mlnd