Aristocles (/əˈrɪstəˌkliːz/; Ancient Greek: Ἀριστοκλῆς) of Rhodes was a grammarian, rhetorician, Platonist, and musician of Ancient Greece, who was a contemporary of Strabo. He is probably the writer whose work "On Poetics" (Ancient Greek: περὶ ποιητκῆς) is mentioned in the book "On the Differences of Synonymous Expressions" (Ancient Greek: περὶ ὁμοίων καὶ διαφόρων λέξεων), which was traditionally attributed to Ammonius Grammaticus, but which scholars since the 19th century have begun to believe was actually written by Philo of Byblos.
There are several other grammatical and historical works that are only ascribed to "Aristocles" and which some writers over the years have ascribed or suspected were the works of this Aristocles but it is ambiguous whether Aristocles of Rhodes, specifically, was intended as the writer, or some other Aristocles was meant:
- "On Plato's Dialogues" (Ancient Greek: περὶ διαλέκτου)
- "The Spartan State" (Ancient Greek: Λακῶνων πολιτεία)
- An unnamed work on the history of Italy
Aristocles of Rhodes was also at times described as the author of the (lost) dialogue Magikos—principally by late 19th century scholar Valentin Rose—which has elsewhere variously been attributed to Aristotle and others, but most scholars consider this extremely unlikely.
Similarly, in the 4th century, the philosopher Proclus mentions an Aristocles who wrote a work on Plato's Timaeus, and elsewhere talks about a "philosopher from Rhodes", and scholars are divided over whether Aristocles of Rhodes is meant here or whether it is first century philosopher Aristocles of Messene.
References
- Sonnino, Maurizio (2014). "Comedy Outside the Canon: from Ritual Slapstick to Hellenistic Mime". In Colesanti, Giulio; Giordano, Manuela (eds.). Submerged Literature in Ancient Greek Culture: An Introduction. De Gruyter. p. 147. ISBN 9783110334081. Retrieved 2023-03-25.
- Strabo, Geographica xiv., p. 655
- Dueck, Daniela (2002). Strabo of Amasia: A Greek Man of Letters in Augustan Rome. Taylor & Francis. p. 141. ISBN 9781134605613. Retrieved 2023-03-25.
- On the Differences of Synonymous Expressions, s.v. ἐπικήδιος
- "Ammonius Grammaticus" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 864.
- Clement of Alexandria, Stromata, vi. p. 267
- Marcus Terentius Varro, De Lingua Latina, x. 10, 75, ed. Müller
- Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Dinarchus 8
- Etymologicum Magnum, s.v. κῦμα
- John Cramer, Anecdota Graeca, i. p. 231, iii. p.298
- Montanari, Franco, ed. (2020). History of Ancient Greek Scholarship: From the Beginnings to the End of the Byzantine Age. Brill Publishers. ISBN 9789004430570. Retrieved 2023-03-25.
- Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae iv, p. 140
- Plutarch, Parallel Lives, 25, 41
- Zeller, Eduard (1897). Aristotle and the Earlier Peripatetics. Translated by Muirhead, John Henry; Costelloe, Benjamin Francis Conn. Longman. p. 81. Retrieved 2023-03-25.
- Philodemus (2010). "The Title and Date of Aristotle's De poetis". In Janko, Richard (ed.). Philodemus, On Poems, Books 3-4. Oxford University Press. p. 387. ISBN 978-0-19-157669-0. Retrieved 2023-03-25.
- Posidonius (1989). Kidd, I. G.; Edelstein, Ludwig (eds.). Posidonius Volume 2: The Commentary. Cambridge University Press. pp. F86–D. Retrieved 2023-03-25.
- Karamanolis, George E. (2006). Plato and Aristotle in Agreement? Platonists on Aristotle from Antiochus to Porphyry. Oxford University Press. p. 42. ISBN 9780191532634. Retrieved 2023-03-25.
- Curnow, Trevor (2006). The Philosophers of the Ancient World: An A-Z Guide. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 43. ISBN 9781849667708. Retrieved 2023-03-25.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Schmitz, Leonhard (1870). "Aristocles". In Smith, William (ed.). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Vol. 1. p. 302.