John Tzetzes ( Ancient Greek : Ἰωάννης Τζέτζης , romanized : Iōánnēs Tzétzēs ; c. 1110 , Constantinople – 1180, Constantinople) was a Byzantine poet and grammarian who lived at Constantinople in the 12th century. He is known for making significant contributions in preserving much valuable information from ancient Greek literature and scholarship. Of his numerous works, the most important one is the Book of Histories , also known as Chiliades ('Thousands'). The work is a long poem containing knowledge that is unavailable elsewhere and serves as commentary on Tzetzes's own letters. Two of his other important works are the Allegoriai on the Iliad and the Odyssey , which are long didactic poems containing interpretations of Homeric theology.
14-534: For the genus of butterfly, see Telegonus (skipper) . Telegonus ( / t ə ˈ l ɛ ɡ ə n ə s / ; Ancient Greek : Τηλέγονος means "born afar") is the name shared by three different characters in Greek mythology . Telegonus, a king of Egypt who was sometimes said to have married the nymph Io . Telegonus, a Thracian son of Proteus by Torone ( Chrysonoe ) of Phlegra , daughter of King Cleitus of Sithones . He
28-400: A lack of written material, he was obliged to trust to his memory; therefore caution has to be exercised in reading his work. However, he was learned, and made a great contribution to the furtherance of the study of ancient Greek literature . Tzetzes published a collection of 107 of his Letters addressed partly to fictitious/unidentified personages, and partly to influential men and women of
42-457: A revised edition with marginal notes in prose and verse (ed. T. Kiessling, 1826; on the sources see C. Harder, De J. T. historiarum fontibus quaestiones selectae , diss., Kiel, 1886). Tzetzes supplemented Homer 's Iliad by a work that begins with the birth of Paris and continues the tale to the Achaeans' return home. The Homeric Allegories , in "political" verse and dedicated initially to
56-637: Is a genus of skippers in the family Hesperiidae , in which it is placed in subtribe Eudamina . It has been the subject of recent revision, and now includes several species formerly in Astraptes , Autochton and Urbanus . Recognised species in the genus Telegonus include: This Hesperiidae -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . John Tzetzes Tzetzes described himself as pure Greek on his father's side and part Iberian ( Georgian ) on his mother's side. In his works, Tzetzes states that his grandmother
70-618: Is a gloss on a literary, historical, or other learned reference in one of his published letters. The first 141 histories serve as poetic footnotes to a verse letter Tzetzes addressed to John Lachanas, an official in Constantinople. This collection of literary, historical, theological, and antiquarian miscellanies provides an important snapshot of the intellectual world of Constantinople in the mid-12th century, and also preserves fragments of more than 200 ancient authors, including many whose works have been lost. The author subsequently brought out
84-465: Is that elucidating the obscure Cassandra or Alexandra of the Hellenistic poet Lycophron , usually called "On Lycophron" (edited by K.O. Müller , 1811), in the production of which his brother Isaac is generally associated with him. Mention may also be made of a dramatic sketch in iambic verse, in which the caprices of fortune and the wretched lot of the learned are described; and of an iambic poem on
98-713: The Antehomerica , Tzetzes recalls the events taking place before Homer's Iliad . This work was followed by the Homerica , covering the events of the Iliad , and the Posthomerica , reporting the events taking place between the Iliad and the Odyssey . All three are currently available in English translations. Tzetzes also wrote commentaries on a number of Greek authors, the most important of which
112-567: The German-born empress Irene and then to Constantine Cotertzes , are two didactic poems, the first based on the Iliad and the second based on the Odyssey, in which Homer and the Homeric theology are set forth and then explained by means of three kinds of allegory : euhemeristic ( πρακτική ), anagogic ( ψυχική ) and physic ( στοιχειακή ). These works were translated into English in 2015 and 2019 by Adam J. Goldwyn and Dimitra Kokkini. In
126-689: The Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website . Conon , Fifty Narrations, surviving as one-paragraph summaries in the Bibliotheca (Library) of Photius, Patriarch of Constantinople translated from the Greek by Brady Kiesling. Online version at the Topos Text Project. Lycophron , The Alexandra translated by Alexander William Mair. Loeb Classical Library Volume 129. London: William Heinemann, 1921. Online version at
140-692: The Topos Text Project. [REDACTED] [REDACTED] This article includes a list of Greek mythological figures with the same or similar names. If an internal link for a specific Greek mythology article referred you to this page, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended Greek mythology article, if one exists. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Telegonus&oldid=1249141845 " Categories : Set index articles on Greek mythology Mythological Thracians Greek mythology of Thrace Mythology of Heracles Hidden category: All set index articles Telegonus (skipper) Telegonus
154-618: The Topos Text Project. Lycophron, Alexandra translated by A.W. Mair. London: William Heinemann; New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 1921. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library. John Tzetzes , Book of Histories, Book II-IV translated by Gary Berkowitz from the original Greek of T. Kiessling's edition of 1826. Online version at theio.com Stephanus of Byzantium , Stephani Byzantii Ethnicorum quae supersunt, edited by August Meineike (1790-1870), published 1849. A few entries from this important ancient handbook of place names have been translated by Brady Kiesling. Online version at
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#1732852771383168-657: The writer's time. They contain a considerable amount of social and biographical information, and are full of learned allusions to history, rhetoric, and mythology. These letters became the springboard for what became during the Renaissance perhaps the most influential of his many works, the Book of Histories , usually called Chiliades ("thousands") from the arbitrary division by its first editor (N. Gerbel, 1546) into books each containing 1,000 lines. The work consists of 12,674 lines of political verse , divided into 660 topics, each of which
182-571: Was a relative of the Georgian Bagratid princess Maria of Alania who came to Constantinople with her and later became the second wife of the sebastos Constantine Keroularios , megas droungarios and nephew of the patriarch Michael Keroularios . He worked as a secretary to a provincial governor for a time and later began to earn a living by teaching and writing. He was described as vain, seems to have resented any attempt at rivalry, and violently attacked his fellow grammarians. Owing to
196-1060: Was the brother of Polygonus ( Tmolus ). Because of Telegonus' and his brother's great violence towards strangers, Proteus prayed to their grandsire Poseidon to carry him back to Egypt . They met their demise when they challenged Heracles to wrestle at the behest of Hera but lost their life in the battle. Telegonus , the youngest son of Circe and Odysseus . Notes [ edit ] ^ Apollodorus , 2.1.3 ^ Apollodorus , 2.5.9 ^ Lycophron , 116; Tzetzes on Lycophron, 115; Stephanus of Byzantium , s.v. Torōnē ^ Conon , Narrations 10 & 32 ^ Tzetzes, Chiliades 2.321; Tzetzes on Lycophron, 124 ^ Tzetzes, Chiliades 2.320 ^ Apollodorus, Epitome 7.16 References [ edit ] Apollodorus , The Library with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4 . Online version at
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