Aristocleides

"Aristocleitus" redirects here. For the father of the Spartan general Lysander, see Aristocritus.
Not to be confused with Aristocleidas or Aristoclides.

Aristocleidas (Ancient Greek: Ἀριστοκλείδης) was a celebrated musician and citharode of ancient Greece. He was known as a master of the cithara, and traced his descent from the renowned Terpander. He lived around the time of the Persian War. He was the teacher of Phrynis of Mytilene.[1][2] Some claimed that he came from Lesbos and was the person identified in the saying "after the Lesbian poet", which arose out of a tradition in Spartan competitions that gave primacy to Lesbian poets .[3] The phrase was first referenced in a play by Cratinus and Aristotle also associated the poet in this saying with Terpander.[3] Aristocleides' fame as one of the notable Lesbian diadokhê (along with Euainetidas and Phrynis of Mytilene) led some scholars to say that he was the subject of the proverb.[4]

  1. ^ Schol. ad. Aristoph. Nub. 958
  2. ^ Suda, Φρῦνις
  3. ^ a b Stewart, Edmund (2017). Greek Tragedy on the Move: The Birth of a Panhellenic Art Form c. 500-300 BC. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-251988-7.
  4. ^ "III. Inventions of Terpander". The Center for Hellenic Studies. Retrieved 2021-07-11.