Dionysiades

Not to be confused with Dionysades, the Greek archipelago.

Dionysiades (Ancient Greek: Διονυσιάδης) of Tarsus was an ancient Greek tragic poet who lived in the time of Alexander the Great (second half of the 4th century BC).[1] According to Strabo, he was the best of the tragic poets included in the so-called Alexandrian Pleiad.[2][3] It is not certain whether he is identical with Dionysiades of Mallus in Cilicia, also a tragic poet,[4] who wrote a work entitled Styles or Lovers of Comedy (Ancient Greek: Χαρακτῆρες ἢ Φιλοκωμῳδοί), "in which he describes (ἀπαγγέλλει) the styles of [comic] poets".[5] This work was perhaps the first attempt to distinguish and define the styles of Attic comic poets.[6] The Suda mentions that Dionysiades of Mallus was a member of the Pleiad and his father was named Phylarchides.[7]

  1. ^ F. Lübker, J. D. Van Hoëvell, Classisch Woordenboek van Kunsten en Wetenschappen, Rotterdam, 1857, s.v. "Dionysiades", p. 281.
  2. ^ William Smith (ed.), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, 1870, s.v. "Dionysiades (2)".
  3. ^ "And the best tragic poet among those enumerated in the 'Pleias' was Dionysides", Strabo, Geographica, 14.5.15.
  4. ^ William Smith (ed.), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, 1870, s.v. "Dionysiades (1)".
  5. ^ Suida, s.v. Διονυσιάδης.
  6. ^ Rudolf Pfeiffer, History of Classical Scholarship: from the Beginnings to the End of the Hellenistic Age, Oxford, 1968, p. 160.
  7. ^ Suda, delta, 1169