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On this page: Dion Ysiades – Dionaea – Dione – Dionysicles – Dionysidorus – Dionysiodorus – Dionysius

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DIONYSIADES.

common talent, and it is much to be regretted that ' he belonged to the rhetoricians of that unfortunate age. It makes one sad to see him waste his bril­liant oratorical powers on insignificant subjects. Some of his works are written in an excellent and beautiful language, which is pure Attic Greek and without affectation : it is clear that he had made the classical language of Athens his own, and he handled it as a master. He appears in all he wrote as a man of an amiable character, and free from the vanity of the ordinary rhetoricians, though one perceives the silent consciousness of his powers. He was an unaffected Platonic philosopher, and lived with his whole soul in Athens, which was to him a world, and which made him forget Rome, its em­peror, and everything else. All this forms a very charming feature in his character. Whenever he touches upon the actual state rf things in which he lived, he shews his master-mind. He was the first writer after Tiberius that greatly contributed to­wards the revival of Greek literature." (Comp. Philostratus, Vit. Soph. i. 7 ; Photius, Bibl. Cod. 209 ; Synesius, AtW vj irepl rrls war' avrtiv 8*a-70777;$ ; Suid. s. v. Aicov ; Westermann, Gesch. d. Griech. Beredts. § H7, &c., and Beilage x. p. 317, &c.; Ernperins, de Exilio Dionis Chrisostomi^ Braun­schweig, 1840, 8vo.)

Passing over the editions of separate orations of Dion Chrysostomus, we mention only those which contain all of them. The first was edited by D. Paravisinus at Milan (1476, 4to.), and was fol­ lowed by that of Aldus Mamitius. (Venice, 1551, 8vo.) The next edition of importance is that of Cl. Morel (Paris, 1601), which was reprinted in 1623 with a Latin translation of Naogeorgius and notes by Morel. A very good critical edition is that of Reiske, Leipzig, 1784, 2 vols. 8vo. The first volume of a new critical edition by Emperius appeared in 1844. [L. S.]

DIONAEA (Aiwvaia^ a metronymic form of Dione, and applied to her daughter Aphrodite. (Orph. Arg. 1320 ; Virg. Aen. iii. 19.) The name is also applied as an epithet to things which were sacred to her, such as the dove. (Stat. Silv. iii. 5. HO.) f [L. S.]

DIONE (Aiwn7), a female Titan, a daughter of Oceanus andTethys (Hcsiod. Tkeog. 353), and, ac­cording to others, of Uranus and Ge, or of Aether and Ge. (Hygin. .Fa&. Praef.; Apollod. i. 1. § 3.) She was beloved by Zeus, by whom she became the mother of Aphrodite. (Apollod. i. 3. § i.; Horn. II. v. 370, &c.) When Aphrodite was wounded by Diomedes, Dione received her daughter in Olympus, and pronounced the threat respecting the punish­ment of Diomedes. (Horn. II. v. 405.) Dione was present, with other divinities, at the birth of Apollo and Artemis in Delos. (Horn. Hymn, in Del. 93.) At the foot of Lepreon, on the western coast of Pe­loponnesus, there was a grove sacred to her (Strab. viii. p. 346),and in other places she was worshipped in the temples of Zeus. (Strab. vii. p. 329.) In some traditions she, is called the mother of Diony­sus. (Schol. ad Find. Pyth. iii. 177 ; Hesych. s. v. Bdtcxov Aicc^s.) There are three more mythical personages of this name. (Apollod. i. 2. § 7; Hygin. Fab. 83 ; Pherecyd. p. 115, ed. Sturz.) [L. S.]

DION YSIADES or DION Y'SIDES (Aioi/wn-(Brjs, Aiovy<ri87js). 1. Of Mallus in Cilicia, a tragic poet, of whom nothing more is known. (Suid. s. «.)

2. Of Tarsus, a tragic poet, was, according to Stra'bo (xiv. p. 675), the best of the poets in the

DIONYSIUS.

" Tragic Pleiad " of the Alexandrian grammarian & (Fabric, ii. p. 296.) [P. S.]

DIONYSICLES (AiovvcriKMjs), a statuary of Miletus, who made the statue of Democrates of Tenedos,'a victor in wrestling at Olympia. (Paus. vi. 17. §1.) [P. S.]

DIONYSIDORUS (Aiovvffltiupos), an Alex­ andrian grammarian of the school of Aristarchus, is quoted in the Venetian scholia on the Iliad (ii. Ill), and probably wrote on the Homeric poems. (Villoison, Proleg. ad II. p. 30.) [L. S.]

DIONYSIODORUS. 1. A statuary and worker in silver, and a disciple of Critias. (Plin. xxxiv. 8. s. 19. §25.)

2. Of Colophon, a painter of some note. (Plin. xxxv. 11. s. 40. §42.) [P.S.]

COIN OF DIONYSIUS OF HERACLEIA.

DIONYSIUS (A«W<rios), tyrant of herao leia on the Euxine. He was a son of Clearchus, who had assumed the tyranny in his native place, and was succeeded by his son Timotheus. After the death of the latter, Dionysius succeeded in the tyranny, about the time of the battle of Chaeroneia, b. c. 338. After the destruction of the Persian empire by Alexander the Great, Dionysius at­tempted to extend his dominions in Asia. In the meantime, some of the citizens of Heracleia, who had been driven into exile by their tyrants, ap­plied to Alexander to restore the republican go­vernment at Heracleia, but Dionysius, with the assistance of Alexander's sister, Cleopatra, con­trived to prevent any steps being taken to that effect. But still he does not appear to have felt very safe in his position, as we may conjecture from the extreme delight with which he received the news of Alexander's death, in consequence of which he erected a statue of *vQv/ji.ia, that is, joy or peace of mind. The exiled Heracleans now ap­plied to Perdiccas, against whom Dionysius endea­voured to secure himself by joining his enemies. Dionysius therefore married Amastris, the former wife of Craterus, who secured to him considerable advantages. A friendship with Antigonus was formed by assisting him in his war against Asan-der, and Ptolemy, the nephew of Antigonus, mar­ried Dionysius's daughter by his first wife. Dio­nysius thus remained in the undisturbed possession of the tyranny for many years. In b. c. 306, when the surviving generals of Alexander assumed the title of kings, Dionysius followed their example, but he died soon after. He was an unusually fat man, which increased at length to such a degree that he could take no food, which was therefore introduced into his stomach by artificial means. At last, however, he was choked by his own fat. He is said to have been the mildest and justest of all the tyrants that had ever lived. He was suc­ceeded by his son Zathras, and, after the death of the latter, by his second son Clearchus II. The death of Dionysius must have taken place in b. a 306 or 305, as, according to Diodorus, he died at the age of 55, and after a reign of 32 years, for