Beginning of letter π, detail of Marc. Gr. 622.Hesychius' dictionary (Swiss edition, 16th century).
Hesychius of Alexandria (Ancient Greek: Ἡσύχιος ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς, romanized: Hēsýchios ho Alexandreús, lit. 'Hesychios the Alexandrian') was a Greek grammarian who, probably in the 5th or 6th century AD,[1] compiled the richest lexicon of unusual and obscure Greek words that has survived, probably by absorbing the works of earlier lexicographers.
The work, titled "Alphabetical Collection of All Words" (Συναγωγὴ Πασῶν Λέξεων κατὰ Στοιχεῖον, Synagōgē Pasōn Lexeōn kata Stoicheion), includes more than 50,000 entries, a copious list of peculiar words, forms and phrases, with an explanation of their meaning, and often with a reference to the author who used them or to the district of Greece where they were current. Hence, the book is of great value to the student of the Ancient Greek dialects and in the restoration of the text of the classical authors generally – particularly of such writers as Aeschylus and Theocritus, who used many unusual words. Hesychius is important, not only for Greek philology, but also for studying lost languages and obscure dialects of the Balkans in antiquity (such as Albanoid[2] and Thracian) and in reconstructing Proto-Indo-European. Many of the words that are included in this work are not found in surviving ancient Greek texts.
Hesychius' explanations of many epithets and phrases also reveal many important facts about the religion and social life of the ancients.
In a prefatory letter Hesychius mentions that his lexicon is based on that of Diogenianus (itself extracted from an earlier work by Pamphilus), but that he has also used similar works by the grammarian Aristarchus of Samothrace, Apion, Heliodorus, Amerias and others.
Hesychius was probably not a Christian. Explanations of words from Gregory Nazianzus and other Christian writers (glossae sacrae) are later interpolations.
The lexicon survives in one deeply corrupt 15th-century manuscript, which is preserved in the Library of Saint Mark at Venice (Marc. Gr. 622, 15th century). It was first printed in 1514 by Marcus Musurus (at the press of Aldus Manutius) in Venice (it was later reprinted in 1520 and 1521 with modest revisions). A modern edition has been published under the auspices of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen, begun by Kurt Latte (vol. 1 published in 1953, vol. 2 posthumously in 1966) and completed by Peter Allan Hansen and Ian C. Cunningham (vol. 3, 2005, vol. 4, 2009).
^E. Dickey, Ancient Greek Scholarship (2007) p. 88.
^Huld, Martin E. (1984). Basic Albanian Etymologies. Columbus, OH: Slavica Publishers. p. 158. ISBN 9780893571351.
and 26 Related for: Hesychius of Alexandria information
HesychiusofAlexandria (Ancient Greek: Ἡσύχιος ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς, romanized: Hēsýchios ho Alexandreús, lit. 'Hesychios the Alexandrian') was a Greek grammarian...
Hesychius (Ancient Greek: Ἡσύχιος, romanized: Hēsúkhios, lit. 'the quiet one') may refer to: Hesychiusof Cazorla (first century), Spanish Christian missionary...
also a contemporary of Hypatia, states that she excelled her father in mathematics and the lexicographer HesychiusofAlexandria records that, like her...
refers to a number of people and concepts in Greek mythology: Alastor, an epithet of the Greek God Zeus, according to HesychiusofAlexandria and the Etymologicum...
Rivers 25 HesychiusofAlexandria s. v. Νέαιρα Argonautica Orphica 1217 Stephanus of Byzantium, Ethnica s.v. Ambrakia Guardians of the cattle of Thrinacia...
Lycophron, 450 Stephanus of Byzantium, s.v. Amathous Stephanus of Byzantium, s.v. Kypros, Kourion, Marion HesychiusofAlexandria, s. v. Kinyras; also scholia...
Natural History, Pedanius Dioscorides' De Materia Medica and HesychiusofAlexandria's Lexicon. On inspection, however, Pliny makes absolutely no reference...
story of Achilles' heel. In the Cretan dialect, talôs was the equivalent of the Greek hêlios, the Sun: The lexicon ofHesychiusofAlexandria notes simply...
as also argued by M. Hatzopoulos. A number of the Macedonian words, particularly in HesychiusofAlexandria' lexicon, are disputed (i.e., some do not consider...
However, according to HesychiusofAlexandria, Cerberus escaped, presumably returning to the underworld on his own. The earliest mentions of Cerberus (c. 8th...
Lighthouse ofAlexandria was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World while during the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus, the Library ofAlexandria was the...
Archimedes of Syracuse, among others, all of whom wrote in Doric. There are also ancient dictionaries that have survived; notably the one by Hesychiusof Alexandria...
Historia by Pliny the Elder Etymologicum Magnum Etymologicum Genuinum HesychiusofAlexandria Citations Gaisford Thomas, ed., (1834), Suidae Lexicon, 3 vols...
"horn" appears in both Gaulish and Galatian branches of Continental Celtic. HesychiusofAlexandria glosses the Galatian word karnon (κάρνον) as "Gallic...
meanings. The older meaning was probably "destruction of the dead", and HesychiusofAlexandria relates the word to the verb κηραινειν "decay". And Nyx...
priestess of Athena" according to HesychiusofAlexandria. In a lesser known version of the Argive genealogy, Io was the daughter of Peiren, likely the same as...
denotes the shape of the gorge and the echoes caused by sounds within it. The word was recorded in the lexicon ofHesychiusofAlexandria. According to Konstantinos...
Differently from what is written by HesychiusofAlexandria, who brings together the neodamodes and the Athenian demotes (citizens of a deme), they never acquired...
Attica was previously called "Mopsopia"after a daughter of Oceanus. HesychiusofAlexandria s. v. Νέαιρα Pausanias, 1.33.3 Hesiod, Theogony 223; Hyginus...
rivers. According to Stephanus of Byzantium and HesychiusofAlexandria, the Sciritae were of Arcadian origin. Their way of life was essentially rural: they...
poetry and myth, pp.179 .Oxford University Press, p.179 ανησιδώρα HesychiusofAlexandria s.v. Scholiast on Theocritus, 2.12 Nilsson Vol I, p.458 M.L.West...
edition of the Church Fathers the works of various writers named Hesychius are thrown together without regard for order under the heading "Hesychius, Presbyter...
Callimachus, Hymn. in Pallad. 130, with Friedrich Spanheim's note; HesychiusofAlexandria s.v.; Aeschyl. ap. Athen. iii. p. 99 Nicander, ap. Athen. xv. p...
Global Information
