Phrynichus must,
was not at heart more friendly to an oligarchy therefore, have flourished at least 35 years.
was not at heart more friendly to an oligarchy therefore, have flourished at least 35 years.
William Smith - 1844 - Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities - c
i.
24.
§ 2), and gave its skin to Rochette accounts these three medals to be among
Aeetes, who fastened it to an oak tree in the the most precious remains of ancient numismatic
art.
By Chalciope Phrixus became the father of The identification, in this instance, of a distin-
Argus, Melas, Phrontis, Cytisorus, and Presbon guished medallist and gem-engraver, goes far to
(Apollod. i. 9. § 1; Hygin. Fab. 14; Paus. settle the question, which has been long discussed,
ix. 34. & 5; Schol. ad Apollon. Rhod. ii. 1123; whether those professions were pursued by the
Tzetz. ad Lyc. 22 ; Diod. iv, 47). Phrixus same or by different classes of artists among the
died in old age in the kingdom of Aeetes, or, Greeks. (R. Rochette, Lettre à M. Schorn, pp. 79
according to others, he was killed by Aeetes in -33, 148, 2d edition. )
(P. S. ]
consequence of an oracle (Apollon. Rhod. ii. 1151; PHRYLUS, a painter, whom Pliny places at
Hygin. Fab. 3), or he returned to Orchomenus, in Ol. 90, B. c. 420, with Aglaophon, Cephissodorus,
the country of the Minyans. (Paus. ix. 34. & 5; and Evenor, the father of Parrhasius ; of all of
comp. ATHAMAS; JASON. )
[L. S. ) whom he says, that they were distinguished, but
PHRONTIS (opóvtis). 1. A son of Phrixus not deserving of any lengthened discussion (omnes
and Chalciope. (Apollod. i. 9. § 1; Apollon. Rhod. jam illustres, non tamen in quibus haerere erpositio
ü. 1157 ; Hygin. Fab. 14. )
debeat, H. N. xxxv. 9. s. 36).
[P. S. )
Plazma, mer
ham bere vertas
Prevare, a des
besoieti
dengan En. i Si; Pa
NA: Pre 15; Ja
02. 12. 39. dej
DET VIES X
ener, at man 32
Lactose
: ܕ ܦܶܬܗ ܫ
Asa Y. . . The
e vee non
జ, ra arred in
Υγει το
Report
AV UTOLS Were
grove of Ares.
aan Pertama
## p. 359 (#375) ############################################
PHRYNICHUS.
359
PHRYNICHUS.
PHRYNE (opów), one of the most celebrated | tion to Tissaphernes and Alcibiades, and the latter
Athenian hetairac, was the daughter of Epicles, and complained to his friends in the Athenian arma-
a native of Thespiae in Boeotia. She was of very ment of the treason of Phrynichus, and demanded
humble origin, and originally gained her livelihood that he should be put to death. Thirlwall (vol. iv.
by gathering capers ; but her beauty procured for her p. 34) is at a loss to decide whether the conduct of
afterwards so much wealth that she is said to have Phrynichus upon this occasion was the result of a
offered to rebuild the walls of Thebes, after they blind want of caution, or a bold and subtle artifice.
had been destroyed by Alexander, if she might be He wrote again to Astyochus, offering to betray
allowed to put up this inscription on the walls :- the Athenian armament into his hands, and before
“ Alexander destroyed them, but Phryne, the he- the letter of Alcibiades, to whom Astyochus again
taira, rebuilt them. ” She had among her admirers showed the letter of Phrynichus, who sent a
many of the most celebrated men of the age of fresh charge against Phrynichus, could reach the
Philip and Alexander, and the beauty of her form Athenians, Phrynichus warned the Athenians that
gave rise to some of the greatest works of art. The the enemy were preparing to surprise their encamp-
orator Hyperides was one of her lovers, and he de- ment. By these means he made it appear that
fended her when she was accused by Euthias on the charges of Alcibiades were groundless, and
one occasion of some capital charge ; but when the preferred against him out of personal enmity.
eloquence of her advocate failed to move the judges, Soon afterwards Peisander, wishing to get Phry-
he bade her uncover her breast, and thus ensured nichus out of the way, procured his recal. In the
her acquittal. The most celebrated picture of subsequent progress of the oligarchical intrigues,
A pelles, his “Venus Anadyomene” [APELLES, when the oligarchical faction found that the hopes
p. 222, b. ), is said to have been a representation of held out to them by Alcibiades were groundless,
Phryne, who, at a public festival at Eleusis, entered and that they could get on better without him
the sea with dishevelled hair. The celebrated than with him, Phrynichus again joined them, and,
Cnidian Venus of Praxiteles, who was one of her in conjunction with Antiphon, Peisander, and
lovers, was taken from her [PRAXITELES), and he Theramenes, took a prominent part in the revolu-
expressed his love for her in an epigram which he tion which issued in the establishment of the oli-
inscribed on the base of a statue of Cupid, which garchy of the Four Hundred. When, on the
he gave to her, and which she dedicated at Thes- junction effected between Alcibiades and the
piae. Such admiration did she excite, that her Athenians at Samos, Theramenes and others
neighbours dedicated at Delphi a statue of her, counselled the oligarchs to make the best terms
made of gold, and resting on a base of Pentelican they could with their antagonists, Phrynichus was
marble. According to Apollodorus (ap. Athen. xiii. one of the foremost in opposing every thing of the
p. 591, e. ) there were two hetairae of the name of kind, and with Antiphon and ten others was
Phryne, one of whom was surnamed Clausilegos sent to Sparta to negotiate a peace. On his return
and the other Saperdium; and according to Hero- he was assassinated in the agora by a young
dicus (Ibid. ) there were also two, one the Thespian, Athenian, who was assisted by an Argive. The
and the other surnamed Sestus. The Thespian former escaped, but the latter was seized and put
Phryne, however, is the only one of whom we have to the torture. It appeared that the assassination
any account. (Athen. xiii. pp. 590, 591, 558, c. was the result of a conspiracy among those op-
567, e, 583, b. č. 585, e. f. ; Aelian, V. 11. ix. 32; posed to the oligarchs, and the latter found it the
Alciphron, Ep. i. 31 ; Plin. H. N. xxxiv. 8. s. 19. most prudent plan not to pursue the investigation
§ 10; Propert. ii. 5 ; Jacobs, Atl. Mus. vol. iii. (Thuc. viii. 48, 50, &c. , 54, 68, 90, 92). Ly-
Pp. 18, &c. 36, &c. )
curgus (adv. Leocr. p. 217, ed. Reiske) gives a
PHRY'NICHUS (púviyos), an Athenian different account of his assassination. [C. P. M. ]
general, the son of Stratonides (Schol. ad Aristoph. PHRY'NICHUS (púvixus), literary. 1. The
Lys. 313). In B. C. 412 he was sent out with two son of Polyphradmon (or, according to others, of Mi-
others in command of a fleet of 40 ships to the nyras), an Athenian, was one of the poets to whom
coast of Asia Minor. The troops encamped in the the invention of tragedy is ascribed: he is said to
territory of Miletus. A battle ensued in which have been the disciple of Thespis (Suid. s. v. ). He
the Athenians were victorious. A Peloponnesian is also spoken of as before Aeschylus (Schol. in Aris-
fleet having arrived soon after, the colleagues of toph. Ran. 941). He is mentioned by the chrono-
Phrynichus were for risking an engagement, from graphers as flourishing at Ol. 74, B. C. 483 (Cyrill.
which Phrynichus (wisely, as Thucydides thinks) Julian, i. p. 13, b. ; Euseb. Chron. 3. Q. 1534;
dissuaded them (Thuc. viii. 25, 27, &c. ). In Clinton, F. H. s. a. ). He gained his first tragic
411, when proposals were made to the Athenians victory in Ol. 67, B. c. 511 (Suid. s. v. ), twenty-
at Samos on the part of Alcibiades, who offered to four years after Thespis (B. c. 535), twelve years
secure for them Persian aid if an oligarchy were after Choerilus (B. c. 523), and twelve years before
established instead of a democracy, Phrynichus Aeschylus (B. C. 499); and his last in Ol. 76,
again offered some sagacious advice, pointing out B. C. 476, on which occasion Themistocles was
the dangers into which such a course would plunge his choragus, and recorded the event by an in-
them, and expressing his belief that Alcibiades scription (Plut. Themist. 5).
Phrynichus must,
was not at heart more friendly to an oligarchy therefore, have flourished at least 35 years. He
than to a democracy, and his doubts as to his probably went, like other poets of the age, to the
power of executing his promises. Peisander and court of Hiero, and there died; for the statement
the other members of the oligarchical faction, how of the anonymous writer on Comedy, in his account
ever, slighted his advice, and sent a deputation to of Phrynichus, the comic poet (p. 29), that Phry-
Athens. Phrynichus, fearing for his safety in case nichus, the son of Phradmon, died in Sicily, evi-
Alcibiades should be restored, sent a letter to dently refers properly to the tragic poet, on account
Astyochus, informing him of the machinations of of his father's name.
Alcibiades. Astyochus betrayed the communica- In all the accounts of the rise and development
A A4
## p. 360 (#376) ############################################
360
PHRYNICHUS.
PIIRYNICHUS.
.
1
1
1
.
iD
of tragedy, the chief place after Thespis is assigned | Sympos. iii. I). Suidas also says that he composed
to Phrynichus. The external and mechanical im- pyrrhic dances (s. r. ).
provements in the drama are indeed ascribed to In the drama of Phrynichus, however, the chorus
cach of the great tragedians who lived at the end still retained the principal place, and it was re-
of the sixth and beginning of the fifth centuries served for Aeschylus and Sophocles to bring the
B. C. , namely, Choerilus, Phrynichus, Pratinas, and dialogue and action into their due position. Thus
Aeschylus; and there might well be doubts on Aristophanes, while attacking Aeschylus for this
such matters, as every formal improvement made very fault, intimates that it was a remnant of the
by either of these poets must, of necessity, have drama of Phrynichus (Ran. 906, &c. ); and one of
been adopted by the others ; 80 that the tragedy the problems of Aristotle is, “Why were the poets
which Phrynichus exhibited in B. C. 476, after of the age of Phrynichus more lyric than the later
the introduction of those improvements which are tragedians ? ” to which his answer is that the lyric
usually ascribed to Aeschylus, must have been parts were much more extensive than the narrative
altogether a different kind of drama from that with in their tragedies. (Prob. xix. 31. )
which he gained his first prize in B. c. 511. or Of the several plays of Phrynichus we have very
such inventions, the one ascribed to Phrynichus is little information. Suidas, who (as in other in-
the introduction of masks representing female stances) has two articles upon him, derived, no
persons in the drama. But those improvements doubt, from different sources, gives the following
which are ascribed specially to Phrynichus affect titles :- Ievpwviai (or 1Acúpwv, Paus. x. 31. &
the internal poetical character of the drama, and | 2), Αιγύπτιοι, 'Ακταίων, 'Αλκηστις, 'Ανταίος ή
entitle him to be considered as the real inventor of | Λίβυες, Δίκαιοι ή Πέρσαι η Σύνθωκοι, Δαναίδες,
tragedy, an honour which the ancients were in 'Ανδρομέδα, Ηριγόνη, and "Αλωσις Μιλησίων (or
doubt whether to assign to him or to Thespis (Plato, Mantou alwois). The last of these plays, which
Minos, p. 321). For the light, ludicrous, Baccha- has already been referred to, must have been acted
nalian stories of the latter, he substituted regular after B. C. 494, the year in which Miletus was
and serious subjects, taken either from the heroic | taken by the Persians. Suidas omits one of his
age, or the heroic deeds which illustrated the most celebrated, and apparently one of his best
history of his own time. In these he aimed, not plays, namely, the Phoenissae, which had for its
60 much to amuse the audience as to move their subject the defeat of the Persian invaders, and to
passions ; and so powerful was the effect of his which Aeschylus is said by an ancient writer to
tragedy on the capture of Miletus, that the audience have been greatly indebted in his Persae (Argum.
burst into tears, and fined the poet a thousand in Aesch. Pers. ). The conjecture of Bentley seenis
drachmae, because he had exhibited the sufferings very probable, that this was the play with which
of a kindred people, and even passed a law that no Phrynichus gained his last recorded victory, with
one should ever again make use of that drama Themistocles for his choragus. Phrynichus had a
(Herod. vi. 21). It has been supposed by some son, Polyphradmon, who was also a tragic poet.
that the subjects chosen by Phrynichus, and his (Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. ii. p. 316; Bentley, An-
mode of treating them, may have been influenced swer to Boyle ; Welcker, Die Griech. Trag. pp. 18,
by the recent publication, under the care of Peisis | 127 ; Müller ; Bode ; Bernhardy. )
tratus, of the collected poems of Homer ; which 2. A tragic actor, son of Chorocles, whom Suidas
poems, in fact, Aristotle regards as the source of confounds with the great tragic poet, but who is
the first idea of tragedy. Aeschylus, the great distinguished from him by a scholiast on Aris-
successor of Phrynicbus, used to acknowledge his tophanes (Av. 750), who mentions four Phrynichi,
obligations to Homer, by saying that his tragedies the tragic poet, the tragic actor, the comic poet, and
were only τεμάχη των Ομήρου μεγάλων δείπνων. a general. This actor is no doubt the person
(Ath. viii. p. 348. )
whose dancing is ridiculed by Aristophanes, in pas-
In the poetry of the drama, also, Phrynichus sages which Bentley erroneously referred to the
made very great improvements. To the light mi- tragic poet (Vesp. 1481, 1515). He is also men-
metic chorus of Thespis he added the sublime tioned by Andocides as $púvixos ó ópx no áuevos
music of the dithyrambic chorusses ; and the effect (De Myst. p. 24); and an attack in the Clouds of
of this alteration must have been to expel from the Aristophanes (1092), on the tragic actors of the
chorus much of the former element, and to cause a day is explained by the scholiast as referring to
better arrangement of the parts which were assigned Phrynichus. (See Meineke, Ilist. Crit. Com. Graec.
respectively to the chorus and the actor. We have pp. 148, 149. )
several allusions to the sublime grandeur, and the 3. A comic poet of the Old Comedy (TWV ÉTTIDEV-
sweet harmony of his choral songs. Aristophanes Tépww cſs apxalas Kwuwbias), was, according to
more than once contrasts these ancient and beauti- the most probable statement, the son of Eunomides
ful melodies with the involved refinements of later (Schol. ad Aristoph. Ran. 14). He first exhibited,
poets (Av. 748, Vesp. 219, 269, Ran. 911, 1294, according to Suidas, in Ol. 86, B. C. 435, where,
Thesm. 164 ; comp. Schol. ad loc. and ud Run. 941); however, we should perhaps read Ol. 87, for the
some writers ascribe to Phrynichus the ancient anonymous writer on Comedy (p. 29) places him,
hymn Pallas which Aristophanes refers to as with polis, at Ol. 87. 3, B. C. 429 (Clinton, F. H.
model of the old poetry (Nub. 964 ; comp. Lam- sub ann. ). Nothing more is known of the life of
PROCLES); and his were among the paeans which Phrynichus, for the statement of the anonymous
it was customary to sing at the close of banquets writer, that he died in Sicily, refers, in all proba-
and of sacrifices (Bode, Gesch. d. Hellen. Dichtkunst, bility, to the tragic poet (see above), and the story
vol. ii. pt. 1, p. 70).
of a scholiast (ad Aristoph. Ran. 700) about his
Phrynichus appears moreover to have paid being elected a general, is an error which has been
particular attention to the dances of the chorus ; sufficiently exposed by Bentley and Meineke.
and there is an epigram ascribed to him, cele- Phrynichus was ranked by the grammarians
brating his skill in the invention of figures (Plut. among the most distinguished poets of the Old
Town, W728.
in Artiere
Lure, Casertising
rate
AVE
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West,
## p. 361 (#377) ############################################
PHRYNNIS.
361
PHTHIA.
Comedy (Anon. de Com. p. 28), and the elegance of this musician, Phrynnis had been a flute-player,
and vigour of his extant fragments sustain this which may partly account for the liberties he took
judgment. Aristophanes, indeed, attacks him, to- with the music of the cithara. His innovations,
gether with other comic poets, for the use of low effeminacies, and frigidness are repeatedly attacked
and obsolete buffoonery (Ran. 14), but the scholiast by the comic poets, especially Pherecrates (ap. Plut.
on the passage asserts that there was nothing of de Mus. p. 1146 ; Meineke, Frag. Com. Graec. vol.
the sort in his extant plays. He was also charged ii. p. 326, &c. ) and Aristophanes (Nub. 971, comp.
with corrupting both language and metre, and with Schol. ). Among the innovations which he is said
plagiarism; the last of these charges was brought to have made, was the
addition of two strings to
against him by the comic poet Hermippus, in his the heptachord ; and Plutarch relates that, when
popuópopot (Schol. ad Aristoph. l. c. , and Av. 750). he went to Sparta, the Ephors cut off two of his
These accusations are probably to be regarded rather nine strings, only leaving him the choice, whether
as indications of the height to which the rivalry of he would sacrifice the two lowest or the two highest.
the comic poets was carried, than as the statement The whole story, however, is doubtful ; for it is
of actual truths. We find Eupolis also charged by not improbable that the number of strings had been
Aristophanes with plagiarisms from Phrynichus increased at an earlier period. (For a fuller dis-
(Nub. 553). On the subject of metre, we are in-cussion of his musical innovations, see Schmidt,
formed that Phrynichus invented the Ionic a Mi- Dithyramb. pp. 89—95. )
nore Catalectic verse, which was named after him Phrynnis was the first who gained the victory in
(Marius Victor, p. 2542, Putsch ; Hephaest. p. 67, the musical contests established by Pericles, in
Gaisf. ): about another metre, the Trinician, there connection with the Panathenaic festival (Schol. ad
is some doubt (see Meineke, pp: 150, 151). His Aristoph. Nub. l. c. ), probably in B. C. 445 (Müller,
language is generally terse and elegant, but he Gesch. d. Griech. Litt. vol. ii. p. 286). He was
sometimes uses words of peculiar formation (Mei- one of the instructors of Timotheus, who, however,
neke, p. 151). The celebrated grammarian, Didy- defeated him on one occasion. (Müller, l. c. ) [P. S. ]
mus of Alexandria, wrote commentaries on Phry. PHRYNON. (ALCAEUS. ]
nichus, one of which, on the Kpóvos, is quoted by PHRYNON, a statuary, whom Pliny mentions
Athenaeus (ix. p. 371, f. ).
Aeetes, who fastened it to an oak tree in the the most precious remains of ancient numismatic
art.
By Chalciope Phrixus became the father of The identification, in this instance, of a distin-
Argus, Melas, Phrontis, Cytisorus, and Presbon guished medallist and gem-engraver, goes far to
(Apollod. i. 9. § 1; Hygin. Fab. 14; Paus. settle the question, which has been long discussed,
ix. 34. & 5; Schol. ad Apollon. Rhod. ii. 1123; whether those professions were pursued by the
Tzetz. ad Lyc. 22 ; Diod. iv, 47). Phrixus same or by different classes of artists among the
died in old age in the kingdom of Aeetes, or, Greeks. (R. Rochette, Lettre à M. Schorn, pp. 79
according to others, he was killed by Aeetes in -33, 148, 2d edition. )
(P. S. ]
consequence of an oracle (Apollon. Rhod. ii. 1151; PHRYLUS, a painter, whom Pliny places at
Hygin. Fab. 3), or he returned to Orchomenus, in Ol. 90, B. c. 420, with Aglaophon, Cephissodorus,
the country of the Minyans. (Paus. ix. 34. & 5; and Evenor, the father of Parrhasius ; of all of
comp. ATHAMAS; JASON. )
[L. S. ) whom he says, that they were distinguished, but
PHRONTIS (opóvtis). 1. A son of Phrixus not deserving of any lengthened discussion (omnes
and Chalciope. (Apollod. i. 9. § 1; Apollon. Rhod. jam illustres, non tamen in quibus haerere erpositio
ü. 1157 ; Hygin. Fab. 14. )
debeat, H. N. xxxv. 9. s. 36).
[P. S. )
Plazma, mer
ham bere vertas
Prevare, a des
besoieti
dengan En. i Si; Pa
NA: Pre 15; Ja
02. 12. 39. dej
DET VIES X
ener, at man 32
Lactose
: ܕ ܦܶܬܗ ܫ
Asa Y. . . The
e vee non
జ, ra arred in
Υγει το
Report
AV UTOLS Were
grove of Ares.
aan Pertama
## p. 359 (#375) ############################################
PHRYNICHUS.
359
PHRYNICHUS.
PHRYNE (opów), one of the most celebrated | tion to Tissaphernes and Alcibiades, and the latter
Athenian hetairac, was the daughter of Epicles, and complained to his friends in the Athenian arma-
a native of Thespiae in Boeotia. She was of very ment of the treason of Phrynichus, and demanded
humble origin, and originally gained her livelihood that he should be put to death. Thirlwall (vol. iv.
by gathering capers ; but her beauty procured for her p. 34) is at a loss to decide whether the conduct of
afterwards so much wealth that she is said to have Phrynichus upon this occasion was the result of a
offered to rebuild the walls of Thebes, after they blind want of caution, or a bold and subtle artifice.
had been destroyed by Alexander, if she might be He wrote again to Astyochus, offering to betray
allowed to put up this inscription on the walls :- the Athenian armament into his hands, and before
“ Alexander destroyed them, but Phryne, the he- the letter of Alcibiades, to whom Astyochus again
taira, rebuilt them. ” She had among her admirers showed the letter of Phrynichus, who sent a
many of the most celebrated men of the age of fresh charge against Phrynichus, could reach the
Philip and Alexander, and the beauty of her form Athenians, Phrynichus warned the Athenians that
gave rise to some of the greatest works of art. The the enemy were preparing to surprise their encamp-
orator Hyperides was one of her lovers, and he de- ment. By these means he made it appear that
fended her when she was accused by Euthias on the charges of Alcibiades were groundless, and
one occasion of some capital charge ; but when the preferred against him out of personal enmity.
eloquence of her advocate failed to move the judges, Soon afterwards Peisander, wishing to get Phry-
he bade her uncover her breast, and thus ensured nichus out of the way, procured his recal. In the
her acquittal. The most celebrated picture of subsequent progress of the oligarchical intrigues,
A pelles, his “Venus Anadyomene” [APELLES, when the oligarchical faction found that the hopes
p. 222, b. ), is said to have been a representation of held out to them by Alcibiades were groundless,
Phryne, who, at a public festival at Eleusis, entered and that they could get on better without him
the sea with dishevelled hair. The celebrated than with him, Phrynichus again joined them, and,
Cnidian Venus of Praxiteles, who was one of her in conjunction with Antiphon, Peisander, and
lovers, was taken from her [PRAXITELES), and he Theramenes, took a prominent part in the revolu-
expressed his love for her in an epigram which he tion which issued in the establishment of the oli-
inscribed on the base of a statue of Cupid, which garchy of the Four Hundred. When, on the
he gave to her, and which she dedicated at Thes- junction effected between Alcibiades and the
piae. Such admiration did she excite, that her Athenians at Samos, Theramenes and others
neighbours dedicated at Delphi a statue of her, counselled the oligarchs to make the best terms
made of gold, and resting on a base of Pentelican they could with their antagonists, Phrynichus was
marble. According to Apollodorus (ap. Athen. xiii. one of the foremost in opposing every thing of the
p. 591, e. ) there were two hetairae of the name of kind, and with Antiphon and ten others was
Phryne, one of whom was surnamed Clausilegos sent to Sparta to negotiate a peace. On his return
and the other Saperdium; and according to Hero- he was assassinated in the agora by a young
dicus (Ibid. ) there were also two, one the Thespian, Athenian, who was assisted by an Argive. The
and the other surnamed Sestus. The Thespian former escaped, but the latter was seized and put
Phryne, however, is the only one of whom we have to the torture. It appeared that the assassination
any account. (Athen. xiii. pp. 590, 591, 558, c. was the result of a conspiracy among those op-
567, e, 583, b. č. 585, e. f. ; Aelian, V. 11. ix. 32; posed to the oligarchs, and the latter found it the
Alciphron, Ep. i. 31 ; Plin. H. N. xxxiv. 8. s. 19. most prudent plan not to pursue the investigation
§ 10; Propert. ii. 5 ; Jacobs, Atl. Mus. vol. iii. (Thuc. viii. 48, 50, &c. , 54, 68, 90, 92). Ly-
Pp. 18, &c. 36, &c. )
curgus (adv. Leocr. p. 217, ed. Reiske) gives a
PHRY'NICHUS (púviyos), an Athenian different account of his assassination. [C. P. M. ]
general, the son of Stratonides (Schol. ad Aristoph. PHRY'NICHUS (púvixus), literary. 1. The
Lys. 313). In B. C. 412 he was sent out with two son of Polyphradmon (or, according to others, of Mi-
others in command of a fleet of 40 ships to the nyras), an Athenian, was one of the poets to whom
coast of Asia Minor. The troops encamped in the the invention of tragedy is ascribed: he is said to
territory of Miletus. A battle ensued in which have been the disciple of Thespis (Suid. s. v. ). He
the Athenians were victorious. A Peloponnesian is also spoken of as before Aeschylus (Schol. in Aris-
fleet having arrived soon after, the colleagues of toph. Ran. 941). He is mentioned by the chrono-
Phrynichus were for risking an engagement, from graphers as flourishing at Ol. 74, B. C. 483 (Cyrill.
which Phrynichus (wisely, as Thucydides thinks) Julian, i. p. 13, b. ; Euseb. Chron. 3. Q. 1534;
dissuaded them (Thuc. viii. 25, 27, &c. ). In Clinton, F. H. s. a. ). He gained his first tragic
411, when proposals were made to the Athenians victory in Ol. 67, B. c. 511 (Suid. s. v. ), twenty-
at Samos on the part of Alcibiades, who offered to four years after Thespis (B. c. 535), twelve years
secure for them Persian aid if an oligarchy were after Choerilus (B. c. 523), and twelve years before
established instead of a democracy, Phrynichus Aeschylus (B. C. 499); and his last in Ol. 76,
again offered some sagacious advice, pointing out B. C. 476, on which occasion Themistocles was
the dangers into which such a course would plunge his choragus, and recorded the event by an in-
them, and expressing his belief that Alcibiades scription (Plut. Themist. 5).
Phrynichus must,
was not at heart more friendly to an oligarchy therefore, have flourished at least 35 years. He
than to a democracy, and his doubts as to his probably went, like other poets of the age, to the
power of executing his promises. Peisander and court of Hiero, and there died; for the statement
the other members of the oligarchical faction, how of the anonymous writer on Comedy, in his account
ever, slighted his advice, and sent a deputation to of Phrynichus, the comic poet (p. 29), that Phry-
Athens. Phrynichus, fearing for his safety in case nichus, the son of Phradmon, died in Sicily, evi-
Alcibiades should be restored, sent a letter to dently refers properly to the tragic poet, on account
Astyochus, informing him of the machinations of of his father's name.
Alcibiades. Astyochus betrayed the communica- In all the accounts of the rise and development
A A4
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360
PHRYNICHUS.
PIIRYNICHUS.
.
1
1
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.
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of tragedy, the chief place after Thespis is assigned | Sympos. iii. I). Suidas also says that he composed
to Phrynichus. The external and mechanical im- pyrrhic dances (s. r. ).
provements in the drama are indeed ascribed to In the drama of Phrynichus, however, the chorus
cach of the great tragedians who lived at the end still retained the principal place, and it was re-
of the sixth and beginning of the fifth centuries served for Aeschylus and Sophocles to bring the
B. C. , namely, Choerilus, Phrynichus, Pratinas, and dialogue and action into their due position. Thus
Aeschylus; and there might well be doubts on Aristophanes, while attacking Aeschylus for this
such matters, as every formal improvement made very fault, intimates that it was a remnant of the
by either of these poets must, of necessity, have drama of Phrynichus (Ran. 906, &c. ); and one of
been adopted by the others ; 80 that the tragedy the problems of Aristotle is, “Why were the poets
which Phrynichus exhibited in B. C. 476, after of the age of Phrynichus more lyric than the later
the introduction of those improvements which are tragedians ? ” to which his answer is that the lyric
usually ascribed to Aeschylus, must have been parts were much more extensive than the narrative
altogether a different kind of drama from that with in their tragedies. (Prob. xix. 31. )
which he gained his first prize in B. c. 511. or Of the several plays of Phrynichus we have very
such inventions, the one ascribed to Phrynichus is little information. Suidas, who (as in other in-
the introduction of masks representing female stances) has two articles upon him, derived, no
persons in the drama. But those improvements doubt, from different sources, gives the following
which are ascribed specially to Phrynichus affect titles :- Ievpwviai (or 1Acúpwv, Paus. x. 31. &
the internal poetical character of the drama, and | 2), Αιγύπτιοι, 'Ακταίων, 'Αλκηστις, 'Ανταίος ή
entitle him to be considered as the real inventor of | Λίβυες, Δίκαιοι ή Πέρσαι η Σύνθωκοι, Δαναίδες,
tragedy, an honour which the ancients were in 'Ανδρομέδα, Ηριγόνη, and "Αλωσις Μιλησίων (or
doubt whether to assign to him or to Thespis (Plato, Mantou alwois). The last of these plays, which
Minos, p. 321). For the light, ludicrous, Baccha- has already been referred to, must have been acted
nalian stories of the latter, he substituted regular after B. C. 494, the year in which Miletus was
and serious subjects, taken either from the heroic | taken by the Persians. Suidas omits one of his
age, or the heroic deeds which illustrated the most celebrated, and apparently one of his best
history of his own time. In these he aimed, not plays, namely, the Phoenissae, which had for its
60 much to amuse the audience as to move their subject the defeat of the Persian invaders, and to
passions ; and so powerful was the effect of his which Aeschylus is said by an ancient writer to
tragedy on the capture of Miletus, that the audience have been greatly indebted in his Persae (Argum.
burst into tears, and fined the poet a thousand in Aesch. Pers. ). The conjecture of Bentley seenis
drachmae, because he had exhibited the sufferings very probable, that this was the play with which
of a kindred people, and even passed a law that no Phrynichus gained his last recorded victory, with
one should ever again make use of that drama Themistocles for his choragus. Phrynichus had a
(Herod. vi. 21). It has been supposed by some son, Polyphradmon, who was also a tragic poet.
that the subjects chosen by Phrynichus, and his (Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. ii. p. 316; Bentley, An-
mode of treating them, may have been influenced swer to Boyle ; Welcker, Die Griech. Trag. pp. 18,
by the recent publication, under the care of Peisis | 127 ; Müller ; Bode ; Bernhardy. )
tratus, of the collected poems of Homer ; which 2. A tragic actor, son of Chorocles, whom Suidas
poems, in fact, Aristotle regards as the source of confounds with the great tragic poet, but who is
the first idea of tragedy. Aeschylus, the great distinguished from him by a scholiast on Aris-
successor of Phrynicbus, used to acknowledge his tophanes (Av. 750), who mentions four Phrynichi,
obligations to Homer, by saying that his tragedies the tragic poet, the tragic actor, the comic poet, and
were only τεμάχη των Ομήρου μεγάλων δείπνων. a general. This actor is no doubt the person
(Ath. viii. p. 348. )
whose dancing is ridiculed by Aristophanes, in pas-
In the poetry of the drama, also, Phrynichus sages which Bentley erroneously referred to the
made very great improvements. To the light mi- tragic poet (Vesp. 1481, 1515). He is also men-
metic chorus of Thespis he added the sublime tioned by Andocides as $púvixos ó ópx no áuevos
music of the dithyrambic chorusses ; and the effect (De Myst. p. 24); and an attack in the Clouds of
of this alteration must have been to expel from the Aristophanes (1092), on the tragic actors of the
chorus much of the former element, and to cause a day is explained by the scholiast as referring to
better arrangement of the parts which were assigned Phrynichus. (See Meineke, Ilist. Crit. Com. Graec.
respectively to the chorus and the actor. We have pp. 148, 149. )
several allusions to the sublime grandeur, and the 3. A comic poet of the Old Comedy (TWV ÉTTIDEV-
sweet harmony of his choral songs. Aristophanes Tépww cſs apxalas Kwuwbias), was, according to
more than once contrasts these ancient and beauti- the most probable statement, the son of Eunomides
ful melodies with the involved refinements of later (Schol. ad Aristoph. Ran. 14). He first exhibited,
poets (Av. 748, Vesp. 219, 269, Ran. 911, 1294, according to Suidas, in Ol. 86, B. C. 435, where,
Thesm. 164 ; comp. Schol. ad loc. and ud Run. 941); however, we should perhaps read Ol. 87, for the
some writers ascribe to Phrynichus the ancient anonymous writer on Comedy (p. 29) places him,
hymn Pallas which Aristophanes refers to as with polis, at Ol. 87. 3, B. C. 429 (Clinton, F. H.
model of the old poetry (Nub. 964 ; comp. Lam- sub ann. ). Nothing more is known of the life of
PROCLES); and his were among the paeans which Phrynichus, for the statement of the anonymous
it was customary to sing at the close of banquets writer, that he died in Sicily, refers, in all proba-
and of sacrifices (Bode, Gesch. d. Hellen. Dichtkunst, bility, to the tragic poet (see above), and the story
vol. ii. pt. 1, p. 70).
of a scholiast (ad Aristoph. Ran. 700) about his
Phrynichus appears moreover to have paid being elected a general, is an error which has been
particular attention to the dances of the chorus ; sufficiently exposed by Bentley and Meineke.
and there is an epigram ascribed to him, cele- Phrynichus was ranked by the grammarians
brating his skill in the invention of figures (Plut. among the most distinguished poets of the Old
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## p. 361 (#377) ############################################
PHRYNNIS.
361
PHTHIA.
Comedy (Anon. de Com. p. 28), and the elegance of this musician, Phrynnis had been a flute-player,
and vigour of his extant fragments sustain this which may partly account for the liberties he took
judgment. Aristophanes, indeed, attacks him, to- with the music of the cithara. His innovations,
gether with other comic poets, for the use of low effeminacies, and frigidness are repeatedly attacked
and obsolete buffoonery (Ran. 14), but the scholiast by the comic poets, especially Pherecrates (ap. Plut.
on the passage asserts that there was nothing of de Mus. p. 1146 ; Meineke, Frag. Com. Graec. vol.
the sort in his extant plays. He was also charged ii. p. 326, &c. ) and Aristophanes (Nub. 971, comp.
with corrupting both language and metre, and with Schol. ). Among the innovations which he is said
plagiarism; the last of these charges was brought to have made, was the
addition of two strings to
against him by the comic poet Hermippus, in his the heptachord ; and Plutarch relates that, when
popuópopot (Schol. ad Aristoph. l. c. , and Av. 750). he went to Sparta, the Ephors cut off two of his
These accusations are probably to be regarded rather nine strings, only leaving him the choice, whether
as indications of the height to which the rivalry of he would sacrifice the two lowest or the two highest.
the comic poets was carried, than as the statement The whole story, however, is doubtful ; for it is
of actual truths. We find Eupolis also charged by not improbable that the number of strings had been
Aristophanes with plagiarisms from Phrynichus increased at an earlier period. (For a fuller dis-
(Nub. 553). On the subject of metre, we are in-cussion of his musical innovations, see Schmidt,
formed that Phrynichus invented the Ionic a Mi- Dithyramb. pp. 89—95. )
nore Catalectic verse, which was named after him Phrynnis was the first who gained the victory in
(Marius Victor, p. 2542, Putsch ; Hephaest. p. 67, the musical contests established by Pericles, in
Gaisf. ): about another metre, the Trinician, there connection with the Panathenaic festival (Schol. ad
is some doubt (see Meineke, pp: 150, 151). His Aristoph. Nub. l. c. ), probably in B. C. 445 (Müller,
language is generally terse and elegant, but he Gesch. d. Griech. Litt. vol. ii. p. 286). He was
sometimes uses words of peculiar formation (Mei- one of the instructors of Timotheus, who, however,
neke, p. 151). The celebrated grammarian, Didy- defeated him on one occasion. (Müller, l. c. ) [P. S. ]
mus of Alexandria, wrote commentaries on Phry. PHRYNON. (ALCAEUS. ]
nichus, one of which, on the Kpóvos, is quoted by PHRYNON, a statuary, whom Pliny mentions
Athenaeus (ix. p. 371, f. ).
