340—558, 559, 560,
wisdom which, in Aristophanes, produced the same Camb.
wisdom which, in Aristophanes, produced the same Camb.
William Smith - 1844 - Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities - c
c.
; comp.
Clinton, F.
H.
nias : it is apparently only another MS.
of the
vol. ii. p. xxxv. e. ) All that we know of his work No. 1. No. 2 is in a Florentine MS.
tragedies is contained in a passage of Clemens ascribed, but erroneously, to Simplicius. Beside
Alexandrinus (Protrept. 30, p. 26, Potter), who these works, there is a MS. in the Library of St.
refers to statements made in three of them respect- Mark, containing, -3. Toù coqwTátov uovayou
ing the mere humanity of the Dioscuri. It is, κυρίου Σοφονίου μελέτη, Παύλος εν Αθήναις δημη-
however, a very probable conjecture that, since yopwy, Sophoniae sapientissimi Monachi Declamatio:
Aristophanes of Byzantium pronounced 27 of the Paulus in Athenis Concionem habens ad populum
plays which were extant in his time under the (Graeca D. Marci Biblioth. p. 131). This last
name of the great Sophocles to be spurious, some of work is not mentioned by Fabricius. (Fabric.
these may have been the productions of his grand- Bibl. Graec. vol. iii. pp. 209, 236, vol. xi. Pp.
Suidas also ascribes elegies to the younger 334, 714. )
[J. C. M. ]
Sophocles. (Welcker, die Griech. Trag. p. 979; SOPHONISBA (Σοφόνισσα or Σοφόνιβα, see
Kayser, Hist. Crit. Trag. Graec. pp. 79-81 ; Schweigh. ad Appian. Pun. 27), a daughter of the
Wagner, Poët. Trag. Graec. Frag. in Didot's Carthaginian general, Hasdrubal, the son of Gisco.
Bibliotheca, p. 78. )
She had been betrothed by her father, at a very
3. Suidas also mentions an Athenian tragic and early age, to the Numidian prince Masinissa, but
lyric poet of this name, who lived later than the at a subsequent period Hasdrubal being desirous
poets of the Tragic Pleiad, and to whom fifteen to gain over Syphax, the rival monarch of Numi-
son.
## p. 875 (#891) ############################################
SOPHRON.
875
SOPHRON.
dia, to the Carthaginian alliance, offered him the amusements were connected seem to have been, at
hand of his daughter in marriage. The beauty all events chiefly, those of Dionysus ; and hence
and accomplishments of Sophonisba prevailed over one species of them was the representation of in-
the influence of Scipio: Syphax married her (B. c. cidents in the life of that divinity, as in the in-
206), and from that time became the zealous sup teresting specimen which Xenophon bas preserved
porter and ally of Carthage. Sophonisba, on her of a Jeaua, in which the marriage of Dionysus and
part
, was assiduous in her endeavours to secure Ariadne was represented (Conviv. 9). But they
his adherence to the cause of her countrymen, and also embraced the actions and incidents of every
it was almost entirely through her influence that day life ; thus the common performance of the
Syphax was induced, even after the destruction of Deicelistae was the imitation of a foreign physician,
his camp by Scipio (Syphax), to assemble a new or other person, stealing fruit and the reniains of
army, and to try his fortune once more. But when meals, and being caught in the act.
his final defeat by Masinissa led to the capture of Whether the term uiuos originally included
his capital city of Cirta, Sophonisia herself fell any kind of imitation without words, or whether
into the hands of the conqueror, upon whom, how it was, like those just spoken of, a distinct
ever, her beauty exercised so powerful an influence, species of that general kind of exhibition, we are
that he not only promised to spare her from cap- not sufficiently informed ; but it is clear that the
tivity, but, to prevent her falling into the power of Mimes of Sophron were ethical, that is, they ex-
the Romans, determined to marry her himself. hibited not only incident, but characters. More-
Their nuptials were accordingly celebrated without over, as is implied in the very fact of their being a
delay, but Scipio (who was apprehensive lest she literary composition, words were put into the
should exercise the same influence over Masinissa mouths of the actors, though still quite in subordi-
which she had previously done over Syphax) re nation to their gestures ; and, in proportion as the
fused to ratify this arrangement, and upbraiding spoken part of the performance was increased,
Masinissa with his weakness, insisted on the im- the mime would approach nearer and nearer to a
mediate surrender of the princess. Unable to comedy. Of all such representations instrumental
resist this command, the Numidian king spared music appears to have formed an essential part.
her the humiliation of captivity, by sending her a (See Xenoph. I. c. )
bowl of poison, which she drank without hesitation, One feature of the Mimes of Sophron, which
and thus put an end to her own life. (Liv. xxix. formed a marked distinction between them and
23, xxx. 3, 7, 12–15; Polyb. xiv. 1,7; Appian. comic poetry, was the nature of their rhythm. There
Pun. 10, 27, 28 ; Diod. xxvii
. Exc. Vales. p. 571 ; is, however, some difficulty in determining whether
Dion Cass. Fr. 61; Zonar. ix. 11, 12, 13. ) [E. H. B. ) they were in mere prose, or in mingled poetry and
SOPHRON (Suppwv), of Syracuse, the son of prose, or in prose with a peculiar rhythmical move-
Agathocles and' Damnasyllis, was the principal ment but no metrical arrangement. Suidas (s. v. )
writer, and in one sense the inventor, of that species expressly states that they were in prose (katalá
of composition called the Mime (uâuos), which was ráðnu); and the existing fragments confirm the
one of the numerous varieties of the Dorian Comedy, general truth of this assertion, for they defy all
For this reason he is sometimes called a comic poet, attempt at scansion. Nevertheless, they frequently
a denomination which has led Suidas (s. v. ) and, fall into a sort of rhythmical cadence, or swing,
after bim, some modern writers, into the mistake of which is different from the rhythm of ordinary prose,
distinguishing two persons of the name, the one a and answers to the description of an ancient scho-
cornic poet, and the other the mimographer. liast on Gregory Nazianzen, who says of Sophron,
The time at which Sophron Hourished is loosely ούτος γαρ μόνος ποιητών ρυθμούς τισι και κώλοις
stated by Suidas as “ the times of Xerxes and | έχρήσατο, ποιητικής αναλογίας καταφρονήσας (Bibl.
Euripides ;” but we have another evidence for his Coislin. p. 120 ; Hermann, ad Aristot. Poet. i. 8).
date in the statement that his son Xenarchus lived The short, broken, unconnected sentences, of which
at the court of Dionysius I. , during the Rhegian the extant passages of Sophron generally consist,
War (B. C. 399—387 ; see Clinton, F. H. &. an containing a large number of short syllables, and
393). All that can be said, therefore, with any mostly ending in trochees like the choliambic
certainty, is that Sophron flourished during the rerses, produce the effect, described by the scholiast,
middle, and perhaps the latter part of the fifth of a sort of irregular halting rhythm (Suduos @los).
century B. C. , perhaps about B. c. 460—420, rather The following is a fair specimen (Fr. 52):- 18€
more than half a century later than Epicharmus. καλάν κουρίδων· ίδε καμμάρων· ίδε φίλα ως ερυ-
When Sophron is called the inventor of mimes, θραί τ' εντί και λείοστρακιώσαι,
the meaning is, as in the case of similar statements This prosaic structure of the mimes of Sophron
respecting the other branches of Dorian Comedy, has given rise to a doubt whether they were ever
that he reduced to the form of a literary composition intended for public exhibition ; a doubt which
a species of amusement which the Greeks of Sicily, appears to us very unreasonable. Not to insist on
who were pre-eminent for broad humour and merri- the fact that Sophron lived at a period when no
ment, had practised from time immemorial at their works, except of history and philosophy, were
public festivals, and the nature of which was very composed for private reading, we have before us
similar to the performances of the Spartan Dei- the certainty that the Mime was, in its very nature,
celistae. Such mimetic performances prevailed a public exhibition, and, in accordance with the
throughout the Dorian states under various names analogy of all similar improvements at that period,
Thus the delKnAiotai of Sparta seem to have been we must infer that all the efforts of Sophron were
represented by the opxnotal of Syracuse ; and we directed, not to withdraw it from its appropriate
meet also with similar exhibitions under the names sphere, but to adapt it to the growing requirements
of Sabuara, Jekuata, &c. (Respecting these of a more refined age, and to make it acceptable to
various terms, see Grysar, de Comoed. Dor. pp. 59, spectators less easily satisfied than those who had
foll. ) The religious festivals with which these welcomed its ruder forms. Moreover, to suppose
## p. 876 (#892) ############################################
876
SOPHRON.
SOPHRONIUS
+
that these mimes were not acted, is to divest them guishes the mimes which existed in bis time into
of their essential feature, the exhibition by mimetic two classes, in a manner which throws an impor-
gestures, to which the words were entirely sub. tant light both on the character and the form of
ordinate ; and it is hardly credible that the Greeks these compositions. (Quacst. Conviv. vii. 8. $ 4. )
of that age, who lived in public, and who could He calls the two classes of mimes únod édels and
witness the masterpieces of the old Doric and the Falyvia, and considers neither species suitable for
new Attic drama in their theatres, would be con- performance at a banquet ; the former on account
tent to sit down and pore over so dull a jest book of their length and the difficulty of command-
as the mimes of Sophron must have been when the ing the proper scenic apparatus (rd duo xopory
action was left out. To these arguments from the lov, another proof, by the way, that they were
nature of the case may be added the express intended for public performance, and not for
statement of Solinus (Polyhist. 5), that in Sicily private reading), the latter on account of their
"cavillatio mimica in scena stetit. "
scurrility and obscenity. Although neither here,
The dialect of Sophron is the old Doric, inter- nor in the description given by Xenophon of a
spersed with Sicilian peculiarities; and it appears very licentious mime (l. c. ), is the name of Sophron
to have been chiefly as a specimen of the Doric mentioned, yet it would be too much to assume
dialect that the ancient grammarians made his that his compositions were all of the better kind.
works a particular object of study. Apollodorus, for Lastly, Aristotle ranks Sophron as anong those
example, wrote commentaries on Sophron, consist- who are to be considered poets, on account of their
ing of at least four books, the fragments of which subject and stylc, in spite of the absence of metre.
are preserved in Heyne's edition. The fragments (Poët. i. 8, and more fully in his repl mount, ap.
of Sophron frequently exhibit anomalous forms, Ath. xi. p. 505, c. )
which are evidently imitations of vulgar provin- It has been asserted that Sophron was an imi-
cialisms or personal peculiarities of speech (see an tator of Epicharmus; but there is no proof of the
example in the Etym. Mag. s. v. Unins). There fact though it can hardly be doubted that the
are also many words coined in jest, such as oids elder poet had some considerable influence on his
olótepov (Fr. 96). Further information on the later fellow-countryman. It is, however, certain
dialect of Sophron will be found in the work of that Sophron was closely imitated by Theocritus,
Ahrens, who has collected the Fragments. (Ahrens, and that the Idyls of the latter were, in many re-
de Graecae Linguae Dialectis, lib. ii. , de Dialecto spects, developments of the mimes of the former.
Dorica, vol. ij. pp. 464, &c. )
(Argum. ad Theocr. Id. ii. xv. )
With regard to the substance of these compo- The admiration of Plato for Sophron has been
sitions, their character, so far as it can be ascer- already referred to. The philosopher is said to
tained, appears, as we have said above, to have have been the first who made the mimes known at
been ethical ; that is, the scenes represented were Athens, to have been largely indebted to them in
those of ordinary life, and the language employed his delineations of character, and to have had them
was intended to bring out more clearly the cha- so constantly at hand, that he slept with them
racters of the persons exhibited in those scenes, under his pillow, and actually had his head resting
not only for the amusement, but also for the in- upon them at the moment of his death (Suid.
struction of the spectators. There must have been 3. v. ; Diog. iii. 8 ; Quintil. i. 10. 17. )
something of sound philosophy in his works to have The fragments of Sophron have been collected
inspired Plato with that profound admiration for by Blomfield, in the Classical Journal for 1811,
their author which will presently be mentioned ; No. 8, pp. 380—390, and more fully in the Mu
something, probably, of that same sound practical seum Criticum, vol. ii. pp.
340—558, 559, 560,
wisdom which, in Aristophanes, produced the same Camb. 1826 ; and by Abrens, as above quoted.
effect on Plato's mind. " Unfortunately, however, The titles will also be found in Fabricius. (Fabric.
we know nothing of the philosophical complexion Bibl. Graec. vol. ii. pp. 493—495; Müller, Dorier,
of Sophron's mimes, except that they abounded in bk. iv. c. 7. $ 5; Hermann and Ritter, ad Aristot.
the most pithy proverbs, thrown together often two Poet. i. 8; Grysar, de Sophrone Mimographo,
or three at a time, and worked into the composition Colon. 1838 ; Bernhardy, Grundriss d. Griech. Lit.
with an exuberance of fancy and wit which the vol. ii. pp. 908—911. )
[P. S. ]
ancients compared with the spirit of the Attic SOPHRONISCUS (Ewopoviokos), of Athens,
Comedy. (Demetr. de Eloc. 156, 127, 128. ) In the father of the celebrated Socrates, is described
fact, we think it would not be far wrong to speak by the ancient Greek writers as Acoupyós, Aida
of the mimes of Sophron as being, among the fóos, Arbogaúoos, épuoydupos, terms which un-
Dorians, a closely kindred fruit of the same in doubtedly signify a sculptor in marble, and not, as
tellectual impulse which, among the Athenians, Hemsterbusius and others have supposed, merely a
produced the Old Comedy ; although we do not mason. (Diog. Laërt. ii. 18; Lucian, Somn, 12,
mean to place the two on any thing like the same vol. i. p. 18 ; comp. Hemsterh. ad loc. ; Schol, ad
footing as to their degrees of excellence.
Aristoph. Nub. 773 ; Val. Max. iii. 4, ext. 1 ;
The serious purpose which was aimed at in the Thiersch, Epochen, p. 125. ) He must have flou-
works of Sophron was always, as in the Attic rished about B. C. 470, and have belonged to the
Comedy, clothed under a sportive form ; and it can old Attic school, which preceded that of Pheidias,
easily be imagined that sometimes the latter ele- and to a family of Athenian artists, for Socrates is
ment prevailed, even to the extent of obscenity, as frequently represented, both by Xenophon and
the extant fragments and the parallel of the Attic Plato, as tracing his descent from Daedalus. (Comp.
Comedy combine to prove. Hence the division, Socrates, p. 847, b, P: 856, a ; Daedalus, p.
which the ancients made of these compositions, 928, b. ) No works of Sophroniscus are men-
into μιμοι σπουδαίοι and γελοίοι, though most of tioned.
[P. S. ]
Sophron's works were of the former character SOPHRO'NIUS (Ewopóvios). Among the nu-
(Ulpian. ad Demosth. Ol. p. 30) Plutarch distin- merous ecclesiastical writers of this name, treated
le
## p. 877 (#893) ############################################
SOPHRONIUS.
877
SOPOLIS.
of hy Fabricius (Bill. Gracc. Wk. v. c. xvi. $ 7), that both the Latin cpistle and the Greek version belo
there are only two that require any notice here. long to an age later than that of Jerome and Sophro-
1. A contemporary and friend of St. Jerome, nius (Fabric. Bibl. Gracc. vol. ix. pp. 158-161;
who gives him a section in his treatise De Viris Cave, Script. Eccles. Hist. Litt. 5. a. , 390, p. 285, ed.
Illustribus (c. 134), where he informs us that“ So- Basil. ; Vossius, de Hist. Grucc. p. 306, ed. Wes-
phronius, a man of distinguished learning, wrote termann. )
the Praises of Bethlehem (Laudes Bethlehem) while 2. Patriarch of Jerusalem, A. D. 629-. 638,
yet a boy, and lately composed an excellent work, was a native of Damascus, and at first a sophist,
De Subversione Serapis ;” that is, on the destruc- afterwards a monk, and in A. D. 629 he succeeded
tion of the temple of Serapis at Rome, in A. 1). 389 Modestus as patriarch of Jerusalem. Ile dis-
or 390 (sce Clinton, Fust. Rom. 8. a. 389): " he tinguislied himself as a defender of orthodoxy;
translated into Greek, in an elegant style, my and at the Council of Alexandria, in A. D. 633, he
works, De l'irginitute ad Eustochium und Vitu openly charged Cyrus with introducing heresy into
llilarionis monachi ; also the Psalter and the Pro- the church under pretence of peace, and renounced
phets, which we translated from Hebrew into all communion with him. When Jerusalem was
Latin. ” Now, since the Catalogue of Jerome was taken by Omar, in A. D. 636, he obtined for the
written in A. D. 392, the date of Sophronius is Christians the frec exercise of their worship. llo
clearly determined by this passage. We have no died, according to some, in the same year ; nccord-
information respecting his country or condition in ing to others, two years later, in A. D. 638.
life.
There are extant in MS. numerous epistles, dis-
In the year 1539, Erasmus published at Basel, courses, commentaries, and other treatises, by
from what he calls an ancient and corrected MS. , a Sophronius, full lists of which are given by Fa-
Greek version of the Catalogue of Jerome, pur- bricius and Care. He also wrote hymns and other
porting to be made by Sophronius. This publica- poems. An Anacreontic poem by him, on the sub-
tion has ever since been a literary stumbling-block. (ject of Simeon taking Christ into his arms, was
Soon after its appearance there were not wanting published by Leo Allatius, in his Diatriba de
persons who accused Erasmus of fabricating the Simeonibus, pp. 5, foll. Three epigrams in the
version from motives of vanity. Isaac Vossius (ad Greek Anthology are ascribed to himn. (Fabric.
S. Ignatü Epist. ad Smyrn. p. 257), while pro- Bibl. Graec. vol. ix. pp. 162–169 ; Cave, Script.
fessing to reject this imputation, but solely on the Eccles. Hist. Litt. s. a. 629, p. 579 ; Vossius, de
faith of Erasmus's veracity (“ nisi Erasmus haec Hist. Graec. pp. 333, 334, ed. Westermann ;
diceret, multum de ejus fide dubitarem"), strongly Brunck, Anal. vol. iii. p. 125 ; Jacob's, Anth. Graec.
contends, on the ground of the badness of the Greek, vol. iv. p. 95. vol. xiii. pp. 619, 954, 955. ) [P. S. ]
and on other internal evidence, that Erasmus had SOPHUS, P. SEMPRONIUS, is mentioned
been imposed upon by a modern forgery. Stephanus by Pomponius (Dig. 1. tit. 2. 6. 2. $ 37) after App.
le Moyne (ad Var. Sac. p. 418) replies to the charge Claudius Caecus, as one who owed his name o.
against Erasmus by asserting that there are MSS. Sophus or Wise to his great merits. He was
older than the one used by him, and that the version Tribunus plebis in B. C. 310, and attempted to
is quoted by earlier writers ; but he does not say compel the censor Appius Claudius to conform to
where these MSS. and quotations are to be found. the Lex Aemilia which limited the censor's func-
Fabricius and Cave defend the genuineness of the tions to eighteen months. (Liv. ix. 33. ) He was
version, chiefly on the following ground, which ap- consul B. c. 304 with P. Sulpicius Severus (Liv.
pears decisive, that many articles of Suidas are in ix.
vol. ii. p. xxxv. e. ) All that we know of his work No. 1. No. 2 is in a Florentine MS.
tragedies is contained in a passage of Clemens ascribed, but erroneously, to Simplicius. Beside
Alexandrinus (Protrept. 30, p. 26, Potter), who these works, there is a MS. in the Library of St.
refers to statements made in three of them respect- Mark, containing, -3. Toù coqwTátov uovayou
ing the mere humanity of the Dioscuri. It is, κυρίου Σοφονίου μελέτη, Παύλος εν Αθήναις δημη-
however, a very probable conjecture that, since yopwy, Sophoniae sapientissimi Monachi Declamatio:
Aristophanes of Byzantium pronounced 27 of the Paulus in Athenis Concionem habens ad populum
plays which were extant in his time under the (Graeca D. Marci Biblioth. p. 131). This last
name of the great Sophocles to be spurious, some of work is not mentioned by Fabricius. (Fabric.
these may have been the productions of his grand- Bibl. Graec. vol. iii. pp. 209, 236, vol. xi. Pp.
Suidas also ascribes elegies to the younger 334, 714. )
[J. C. M. ]
Sophocles. (Welcker, die Griech. Trag. p. 979; SOPHONISBA (Σοφόνισσα or Σοφόνιβα, see
Kayser, Hist. Crit. Trag. Graec. pp. 79-81 ; Schweigh. ad Appian. Pun. 27), a daughter of the
Wagner, Poët. Trag. Graec. Frag. in Didot's Carthaginian general, Hasdrubal, the son of Gisco.
Bibliotheca, p. 78. )
She had been betrothed by her father, at a very
3. Suidas also mentions an Athenian tragic and early age, to the Numidian prince Masinissa, but
lyric poet of this name, who lived later than the at a subsequent period Hasdrubal being desirous
poets of the Tragic Pleiad, and to whom fifteen to gain over Syphax, the rival monarch of Numi-
son.
## p. 875 (#891) ############################################
SOPHRON.
875
SOPHRON.
dia, to the Carthaginian alliance, offered him the amusements were connected seem to have been, at
hand of his daughter in marriage. The beauty all events chiefly, those of Dionysus ; and hence
and accomplishments of Sophonisba prevailed over one species of them was the representation of in-
the influence of Scipio: Syphax married her (B. c. cidents in the life of that divinity, as in the in-
206), and from that time became the zealous sup teresting specimen which Xenophon bas preserved
porter and ally of Carthage. Sophonisba, on her of a Jeaua, in which the marriage of Dionysus and
part
, was assiduous in her endeavours to secure Ariadne was represented (Conviv. 9). But they
his adherence to the cause of her countrymen, and also embraced the actions and incidents of every
it was almost entirely through her influence that day life ; thus the common performance of the
Syphax was induced, even after the destruction of Deicelistae was the imitation of a foreign physician,
his camp by Scipio (Syphax), to assemble a new or other person, stealing fruit and the reniains of
army, and to try his fortune once more. But when meals, and being caught in the act.
his final defeat by Masinissa led to the capture of Whether the term uiuos originally included
his capital city of Cirta, Sophonisia herself fell any kind of imitation without words, or whether
into the hands of the conqueror, upon whom, how it was, like those just spoken of, a distinct
ever, her beauty exercised so powerful an influence, species of that general kind of exhibition, we are
that he not only promised to spare her from cap- not sufficiently informed ; but it is clear that the
tivity, but, to prevent her falling into the power of Mimes of Sophron were ethical, that is, they ex-
the Romans, determined to marry her himself. hibited not only incident, but characters. More-
Their nuptials were accordingly celebrated without over, as is implied in the very fact of their being a
delay, but Scipio (who was apprehensive lest she literary composition, words were put into the
should exercise the same influence over Masinissa mouths of the actors, though still quite in subordi-
which she had previously done over Syphax) re nation to their gestures ; and, in proportion as the
fused to ratify this arrangement, and upbraiding spoken part of the performance was increased,
Masinissa with his weakness, insisted on the im- the mime would approach nearer and nearer to a
mediate surrender of the princess. Unable to comedy. Of all such representations instrumental
resist this command, the Numidian king spared music appears to have formed an essential part.
her the humiliation of captivity, by sending her a (See Xenoph. I. c. )
bowl of poison, which she drank without hesitation, One feature of the Mimes of Sophron, which
and thus put an end to her own life. (Liv. xxix. formed a marked distinction between them and
23, xxx. 3, 7, 12–15; Polyb. xiv. 1,7; Appian. comic poetry, was the nature of their rhythm. There
Pun. 10, 27, 28 ; Diod. xxvii
. Exc. Vales. p. 571 ; is, however, some difficulty in determining whether
Dion Cass. Fr. 61; Zonar. ix. 11, 12, 13. ) [E. H. B. ) they were in mere prose, or in mingled poetry and
SOPHRON (Suppwv), of Syracuse, the son of prose, or in prose with a peculiar rhythmical move-
Agathocles and' Damnasyllis, was the principal ment but no metrical arrangement. Suidas (s. v. )
writer, and in one sense the inventor, of that species expressly states that they were in prose (katalá
of composition called the Mime (uâuos), which was ráðnu); and the existing fragments confirm the
one of the numerous varieties of the Dorian Comedy, general truth of this assertion, for they defy all
For this reason he is sometimes called a comic poet, attempt at scansion. Nevertheless, they frequently
a denomination which has led Suidas (s. v. ) and, fall into a sort of rhythmical cadence, or swing,
after bim, some modern writers, into the mistake of which is different from the rhythm of ordinary prose,
distinguishing two persons of the name, the one a and answers to the description of an ancient scho-
cornic poet, and the other the mimographer. liast on Gregory Nazianzen, who says of Sophron,
The time at which Sophron Hourished is loosely ούτος γαρ μόνος ποιητών ρυθμούς τισι και κώλοις
stated by Suidas as “ the times of Xerxes and | έχρήσατο, ποιητικής αναλογίας καταφρονήσας (Bibl.
Euripides ;” but we have another evidence for his Coislin. p. 120 ; Hermann, ad Aristot. Poet. i. 8).
date in the statement that his son Xenarchus lived The short, broken, unconnected sentences, of which
at the court of Dionysius I. , during the Rhegian the extant passages of Sophron generally consist,
War (B. C. 399—387 ; see Clinton, F. H. &. an containing a large number of short syllables, and
393). All that can be said, therefore, with any mostly ending in trochees like the choliambic
certainty, is that Sophron flourished during the rerses, produce the effect, described by the scholiast,
middle, and perhaps the latter part of the fifth of a sort of irregular halting rhythm (Suduos @los).
century B. C. , perhaps about B. c. 460—420, rather The following is a fair specimen (Fr. 52):- 18€
more than half a century later than Epicharmus. καλάν κουρίδων· ίδε καμμάρων· ίδε φίλα ως ερυ-
When Sophron is called the inventor of mimes, θραί τ' εντί και λείοστρακιώσαι,
the meaning is, as in the case of similar statements This prosaic structure of the mimes of Sophron
respecting the other branches of Dorian Comedy, has given rise to a doubt whether they were ever
that he reduced to the form of a literary composition intended for public exhibition ; a doubt which
a species of amusement which the Greeks of Sicily, appears to us very unreasonable. Not to insist on
who were pre-eminent for broad humour and merri- the fact that Sophron lived at a period when no
ment, had practised from time immemorial at their works, except of history and philosophy, were
public festivals, and the nature of which was very composed for private reading, we have before us
similar to the performances of the Spartan Dei- the certainty that the Mime was, in its very nature,
celistae. Such mimetic performances prevailed a public exhibition, and, in accordance with the
throughout the Dorian states under various names analogy of all similar improvements at that period,
Thus the delKnAiotai of Sparta seem to have been we must infer that all the efforts of Sophron were
represented by the opxnotal of Syracuse ; and we directed, not to withdraw it from its appropriate
meet also with similar exhibitions under the names sphere, but to adapt it to the growing requirements
of Sabuara, Jekuata, &c. (Respecting these of a more refined age, and to make it acceptable to
various terms, see Grysar, de Comoed. Dor. pp. 59, spectators less easily satisfied than those who had
foll. ) The religious festivals with which these welcomed its ruder forms. Moreover, to suppose
## p. 876 (#892) ############################################
876
SOPHRON.
SOPHRONIUS
+
that these mimes were not acted, is to divest them guishes the mimes which existed in bis time into
of their essential feature, the exhibition by mimetic two classes, in a manner which throws an impor-
gestures, to which the words were entirely sub. tant light both on the character and the form of
ordinate ; and it is hardly credible that the Greeks these compositions. (Quacst. Conviv. vii. 8. $ 4. )
of that age, who lived in public, and who could He calls the two classes of mimes únod édels and
witness the masterpieces of the old Doric and the Falyvia, and considers neither species suitable for
new Attic drama in their theatres, would be con- performance at a banquet ; the former on account
tent to sit down and pore over so dull a jest book of their length and the difficulty of command-
as the mimes of Sophron must have been when the ing the proper scenic apparatus (rd duo xopory
action was left out. To these arguments from the lov, another proof, by the way, that they were
nature of the case may be added the express intended for public performance, and not for
statement of Solinus (Polyhist. 5), that in Sicily private reading), the latter on account of their
"cavillatio mimica in scena stetit. "
scurrility and obscenity. Although neither here,
The dialect of Sophron is the old Doric, inter- nor in the description given by Xenophon of a
spersed with Sicilian peculiarities; and it appears very licentious mime (l. c. ), is the name of Sophron
to have been chiefly as a specimen of the Doric mentioned, yet it would be too much to assume
dialect that the ancient grammarians made his that his compositions were all of the better kind.
works a particular object of study. Apollodorus, for Lastly, Aristotle ranks Sophron as anong those
example, wrote commentaries on Sophron, consist- who are to be considered poets, on account of their
ing of at least four books, the fragments of which subject and stylc, in spite of the absence of metre.
are preserved in Heyne's edition. The fragments (Poët. i. 8, and more fully in his repl mount, ap.
of Sophron frequently exhibit anomalous forms, Ath. xi. p. 505, c. )
which are evidently imitations of vulgar provin- It has been asserted that Sophron was an imi-
cialisms or personal peculiarities of speech (see an tator of Epicharmus; but there is no proof of the
example in the Etym. Mag. s. v. Unins). There fact though it can hardly be doubted that the
are also many words coined in jest, such as oids elder poet had some considerable influence on his
olótepov (Fr. 96). Further information on the later fellow-countryman. It is, however, certain
dialect of Sophron will be found in the work of that Sophron was closely imitated by Theocritus,
Ahrens, who has collected the Fragments. (Ahrens, and that the Idyls of the latter were, in many re-
de Graecae Linguae Dialectis, lib. ii. , de Dialecto spects, developments of the mimes of the former.
Dorica, vol. ij. pp. 464, &c. )
(Argum. ad Theocr. Id. ii. xv. )
With regard to the substance of these compo- The admiration of Plato for Sophron has been
sitions, their character, so far as it can be ascer- already referred to. The philosopher is said to
tained, appears, as we have said above, to have have been the first who made the mimes known at
been ethical ; that is, the scenes represented were Athens, to have been largely indebted to them in
those of ordinary life, and the language employed his delineations of character, and to have had them
was intended to bring out more clearly the cha- so constantly at hand, that he slept with them
racters of the persons exhibited in those scenes, under his pillow, and actually had his head resting
not only for the amusement, but also for the in- upon them at the moment of his death (Suid.
struction of the spectators. There must have been 3. v. ; Diog. iii. 8 ; Quintil. i. 10. 17. )
something of sound philosophy in his works to have The fragments of Sophron have been collected
inspired Plato with that profound admiration for by Blomfield, in the Classical Journal for 1811,
their author which will presently be mentioned ; No. 8, pp. 380—390, and more fully in the Mu
something, probably, of that same sound practical seum Criticum, vol. ii. pp.
340—558, 559, 560,
wisdom which, in Aristophanes, produced the same Camb. 1826 ; and by Abrens, as above quoted.
effect on Plato's mind. " Unfortunately, however, The titles will also be found in Fabricius. (Fabric.
we know nothing of the philosophical complexion Bibl. Graec. vol. ii. pp. 493—495; Müller, Dorier,
of Sophron's mimes, except that they abounded in bk. iv. c. 7. $ 5; Hermann and Ritter, ad Aristot.
the most pithy proverbs, thrown together often two Poet. i. 8; Grysar, de Sophrone Mimographo,
or three at a time, and worked into the composition Colon. 1838 ; Bernhardy, Grundriss d. Griech. Lit.
with an exuberance of fancy and wit which the vol. ii. pp. 908—911. )
[P. S. ]
ancients compared with the spirit of the Attic SOPHRONISCUS (Ewopoviokos), of Athens,
Comedy. (Demetr. de Eloc. 156, 127, 128. ) In the father of the celebrated Socrates, is described
fact, we think it would not be far wrong to speak by the ancient Greek writers as Acoupyós, Aida
of the mimes of Sophron as being, among the fóos, Arbogaúoos, épuoydupos, terms which un-
Dorians, a closely kindred fruit of the same in doubtedly signify a sculptor in marble, and not, as
tellectual impulse which, among the Athenians, Hemsterbusius and others have supposed, merely a
produced the Old Comedy ; although we do not mason. (Diog. Laërt. ii. 18; Lucian, Somn, 12,
mean to place the two on any thing like the same vol. i. p. 18 ; comp. Hemsterh. ad loc. ; Schol, ad
footing as to their degrees of excellence.
Aristoph. Nub. 773 ; Val. Max. iii. 4, ext. 1 ;
The serious purpose which was aimed at in the Thiersch, Epochen, p. 125. ) He must have flou-
works of Sophron was always, as in the Attic rished about B. C. 470, and have belonged to the
Comedy, clothed under a sportive form ; and it can old Attic school, which preceded that of Pheidias,
easily be imagined that sometimes the latter ele- and to a family of Athenian artists, for Socrates is
ment prevailed, even to the extent of obscenity, as frequently represented, both by Xenophon and
the extant fragments and the parallel of the Attic Plato, as tracing his descent from Daedalus. (Comp.
Comedy combine to prove. Hence the division, Socrates, p. 847, b, P: 856, a ; Daedalus, p.
which the ancients made of these compositions, 928, b. ) No works of Sophroniscus are men-
into μιμοι σπουδαίοι and γελοίοι, though most of tioned.
[P. S. ]
Sophron's works were of the former character SOPHRO'NIUS (Ewopóvios). Among the nu-
(Ulpian. ad Demosth. Ol. p. 30) Plutarch distin- merous ecclesiastical writers of this name, treated
le
## p. 877 (#893) ############################################
SOPHRONIUS.
877
SOPOLIS.
of hy Fabricius (Bill. Gracc. Wk. v. c. xvi. $ 7), that both the Latin cpistle and the Greek version belo
there are only two that require any notice here. long to an age later than that of Jerome and Sophro-
1. A contemporary and friend of St. Jerome, nius (Fabric. Bibl. Gracc. vol. ix. pp. 158-161;
who gives him a section in his treatise De Viris Cave, Script. Eccles. Hist. Litt. 5. a. , 390, p. 285, ed.
Illustribus (c. 134), where he informs us that“ So- Basil. ; Vossius, de Hist. Grucc. p. 306, ed. Wes-
phronius, a man of distinguished learning, wrote termann. )
the Praises of Bethlehem (Laudes Bethlehem) while 2. Patriarch of Jerusalem, A. D. 629-. 638,
yet a boy, and lately composed an excellent work, was a native of Damascus, and at first a sophist,
De Subversione Serapis ;” that is, on the destruc- afterwards a monk, and in A. D. 629 he succeeded
tion of the temple of Serapis at Rome, in A. 1). 389 Modestus as patriarch of Jerusalem. Ile dis-
or 390 (sce Clinton, Fust. Rom. 8. a. 389): " he tinguislied himself as a defender of orthodoxy;
translated into Greek, in an elegant style, my and at the Council of Alexandria, in A. D. 633, he
works, De l'irginitute ad Eustochium und Vitu openly charged Cyrus with introducing heresy into
llilarionis monachi ; also the Psalter and the Pro- the church under pretence of peace, and renounced
phets, which we translated from Hebrew into all communion with him. When Jerusalem was
Latin. ” Now, since the Catalogue of Jerome was taken by Omar, in A. D. 636, he obtined for the
written in A. D. 392, the date of Sophronius is Christians the frec exercise of their worship. llo
clearly determined by this passage. We have no died, according to some, in the same year ; nccord-
information respecting his country or condition in ing to others, two years later, in A. D. 638.
life.
There are extant in MS. numerous epistles, dis-
In the year 1539, Erasmus published at Basel, courses, commentaries, and other treatises, by
from what he calls an ancient and corrected MS. , a Sophronius, full lists of which are given by Fa-
Greek version of the Catalogue of Jerome, pur- bricius and Care. He also wrote hymns and other
porting to be made by Sophronius. This publica- poems. An Anacreontic poem by him, on the sub-
tion has ever since been a literary stumbling-block. (ject of Simeon taking Christ into his arms, was
Soon after its appearance there were not wanting published by Leo Allatius, in his Diatriba de
persons who accused Erasmus of fabricating the Simeonibus, pp. 5, foll. Three epigrams in the
version from motives of vanity. Isaac Vossius (ad Greek Anthology are ascribed to himn. (Fabric.
S. Ignatü Epist. ad Smyrn. p. 257), while pro- Bibl. Graec. vol. ix. pp. 162–169 ; Cave, Script.
fessing to reject this imputation, but solely on the Eccles. Hist. Litt. s. a. 629, p. 579 ; Vossius, de
faith of Erasmus's veracity (“ nisi Erasmus haec Hist. Graec. pp. 333, 334, ed. Westermann ;
diceret, multum de ejus fide dubitarem"), strongly Brunck, Anal. vol. iii. p. 125 ; Jacob's, Anth. Graec.
contends, on the ground of the badness of the Greek, vol. iv. p. 95. vol. xiii. pp. 619, 954, 955. ) [P. S. ]
and on other internal evidence, that Erasmus had SOPHUS, P. SEMPRONIUS, is mentioned
been imposed upon by a modern forgery. Stephanus by Pomponius (Dig. 1. tit. 2. 6. 2. $ 37) after App.
le Moyne (ad Var. Sac. p. 418) replies to the charge Claudius Caecus, as one who owed his name o.
against Erasmus by asserting that there are MSS. Sophus or Wise to his great merits. He was
older than the one used by him, and that the version Tribunus plebis in B. C. 310, and attempted to
is quoted by earlier writers ; but he does not say compel the censor Appius Claudius to conform to
where these MSS. and quotations are to be found. the Lex Aemilia which limited the censor's func-
Fabricius and Cave defend the genuineness of the tions to eighteen months. (Liv. ix. 33. ) He was
version, chiefly on the following ground, which ap- consul B. c. 304 with P. Sulpicius Severus (Liv.
pears decisive, that many articles of Suidas are in ix.
