Scanned text contains errors.
678
heroic and moral grandeur of the old tragedy. He excelled in description, not merely of objects and scenes properly belonging to his subject, but description introduced solely to afford pleasure, and that generally of a sensual kind. He especially luxuriates in the description of flowers and of female beauty. His descriptions belong to the class which Aristotle characterizes as dpyd /Atprj and as jUTjTe yOiKo. jurfre StavoyriKd. The approach to comedy, by the introduction of scenes from common life, and that even in a burlesque manner, of which we have a striking example in the Alcestis of Euripides, seems to have been carried still further by Chaeremon; and it is probably for this reason that he is mentioned as a comic poet by Suidas, Eudocia, and the Scholiast on Arist. Rhet. iii. p. 69, b. (For a further discussion of this point, see Meineke and Bartsch, as quoted below.) The question has been raised, whether Chaeremon's tragedies were intended for the stage. They certainly appear to have been far more descriptive and lyric than dramatic ; and Aristotle mentions Chaeremon among the poets whom he calls dva,yv<a<TTiKoi. (Rhet. iii. 12. § 2.) But there appears to be no reason for believing that at this period dramas were written without the intention of bringing them on the stage, though it often happened, in fact, that they were not represented; nor does the passage of Aristotle refer to anything more than the comparative fitness of some dramas for acting and of others for reading. It is by no means improbable that the plays of Chaeremon were never actually represented. There is no mention of his name in the SiSacrKaA/cu. The following are the plays of Chaeremon of which fragments are preserved : 'AA^ecn'gom, 'A%iAAei)s ©epo-iTOKTovos or ©eptfiTT/s (a title which seems to imply a satyric drama, if not one approaching still nearer to a comedy), Aio^wos, ©ueffr^s, '!<&, M«/&«, *O§W(ret)s Tpau/mrms, OiVeus1, and Kez/-Tavpos. It is very doubtful whether the last was a tragedy at all, and indeed what sort of poem it was. Aristotle (Poet. i. 12, or 9, ed. Ritter) calls it fj.iKTr}v pcnf/^Siav e| &itclvtmv toh> /j,erpwv (comp. xxiv. 11, or 6), and Athenaeus (xiii. p. 608, e) says of it oirep Spctjua 7ro\v{j.eTp6v Itrn. The fragments of Chaeremon have been collected, with a dissertation on the poet, by H. Bartsch, 4to. Mogunt. 1843.
There are three epigrams ascribed to Chaeremon in the Greek Anthology (Brunck, Anal. ii. 55; Jacobs, ii. 56), two of which refer to the contest of the Spartans and Argives for Thyrea. (Herod, i. 82.) The mention of Chaeremon in the Corona of Meleager also shews that he was an ancient poet. There seems, therefore, no reason to doubt that lie was the same as the tragic poet. The third epigram refers to an unknown orator Eubulus, the son of Athenagoras.
(Welcker, Die. Griech. Trag. &c. iii. pp. 1082— 1005 ; Meineke, Hist. Grit. Com. Grace, pp. 517— 521 ; Ritter, Annot. in Arist. Poet. p. 87; Hee-ren, De Chaeremone Trag. Vet. Graec.; Jacobs, Additamenta Animadv. in Athen. p. 325, &c.; Bartsch, De Chaeremone Poeta Tragico.}
2. Of Alexandria, a Stoic philosopher and grammarian, and an historical writer, was the chief librarian of the Alexandrian library, or at least of that part of it which was kept in the temple of Serapis. He is called i'epoypa^/mreus, that is; keeper and expounder of the sacred books. (Tzetz. in Horn. II. p. 123. 11, 28, p. 146. 16; Euseb. Praep. Evang. v. 10.) He was the teacher
CHAEREPHON.
of Dionysius of Alexandria, who succeeded him, and who flourished from the time of Nero to that of Trajan. (Suid. s. v. Aiovtiffios sAAe£az/5peus.) This fixes his date to the first half of the first century after Christ ; and this is confirmed by the mention of him in connexion with Cornutus. (Suid. s. v. 'npiyevris ; Euseb. Hist. Ecc. vi. 19.) He accompanied Aelius Gallus in his expedition up Eg}-pt [gallus], and made great professions of his astronomical knowledge, but incurred much ridicule on account of his ignorance (Strab. xvii. p. 806) : but the suspicion of Fabricius, that this account refers to a different person, is perhaps not altogether groundless. (BiU. Graec. iii. p. 546.) He was afterwards called to Rome, and became the preceptor of Nero, in conjunction with Alexander of Aegae. (Suid. s. v. 'AhQavfipos Alycuos.)
1. His chief work was a history of Egypt, which embraced both its sacred and profane history. An interesting fragment respecting the Egyptian priests is preserved by Porphyry (de Abstinent, iv. 6) and Jerome (c. Jovinianum, ii.). He also wrote, 2. On Hieroglyphics (lepoyA.vtyiicci, Suid. s. v. 'lepoyAix/w/o* and Xaip7?jua>z/). 3. On Comets (irepl KOfAyrooi', Origen. c. Cels. i. 59 : perhaps in Seneca, Quaest. Nat. vii. 5, we should read Chaeremon for Charimander ; but this is not certain, for Charimander is mentioned by Pappus, lib. vii. p. 247). 4. A grammatical work, irepl ffvvo'effiAwv, which is quoted by Apollonius. (Bek-ker, Anecdot. Graec. ii. 28, p. 515. 15.)
As an historian, Chaeremon is charged by Jo-sephus with wilful falsehood (c. Apion. cc. 32, 33). This charge seems to be not unfounded, for, besides the proofs of it alleged by Josephus, we are informed by Tzetzes (Chil. v. 6), that Chaeremon stated that the phoenix lived 7000 years !
Of his philosophical views we only know that he was a Stoic, and that he was the leader of that party which explained the Egyptian religious sys tem as a mere allegory of the worship of nature, as displayed in the visible world ( opco/xez/oi /cocr^uot) in opposition to the views of iamblichus. His works were studied by Origen. (Suid, s. v. 'Hpi- "yevns ; Euseb. Hist. Ecc. vi. 19.) Martial (xi. 56) wrote an epigram upon him. (lonsius, de Script. Hist. Phitos. p. 208 ; Brucker, Hist. Grit. Phil. ii. p. 543, &c. ; Kruger, Hist. Philos. Ant. p. 407 ; Vossius. de Hist. Graec. pp. 209, 210, ed. Westermann.) [P. S.]
CH ARMADAS, the philosopher. [charmides, No. 2.]
CHAEREPHANES, artist. [nicophanes.]
CHAEREPHON (Xcupecpcw/), of the Athenian demus of Sphettus, a disciple and friend of Socrates, is said by Xenophon to have attended his instructions for the sake of the moral advantage to be derived from them, and to have exemplified in his practice his master's precepts. From the several notices of him in Xenophon and Plato, he appears to have been a man of very warm feelings, peculiarly suceptible of excitement, with a spirit of high and generous emulation, and of great energy in everything that he undertook. He it was that inquired of the Delphic oracle who was the wisest of men, and received the famous answer :
dvo'poov
The frequent notices of him in Aristophanes shew that he was highly distinguished in the school of Socrates ; while from the nicknames, such as
