- Eutychius Proclus
Eutychius Proclus (Latin; Greek polytonic|Εὐτυχίος Πρόκλος Eutychios Proklos) was a
grammarian who flourished in the 2nd century CE. He was born at Sicca in Africa. He was the instructor of the Roman emperorMarcus Aurelius . [Jul. Capit. "Vit. Ant". c. 2.]It is probably this Proclus who is mentioned by
Trebellius Pollio as the most learned grammarian of his age. [Pollio "Aemil. Tyr".] He was made consul by Marcus Aurelius. [Fabric. "Bibl. Graec." ix.365.]Works
No works by Eutychius Proclus are known for sure to survive, and little is known about him personally. However, it is widely thought that he is to be identified with the author of a "
Chrestomathy " which is our most important source of information on theEpic Cycle . [See e.g. D.B. Monro 1883, "On the fragment of Proclus' abstract of the Epic Cycle contained in the Codex Venetus of the "Iliad", "Journal of Hellenic Studies" 4: 305-334.]If so, Eutychius Proclus is to be identified with the Proklos discussed by the 9th century scholar and
patriarch Photius. Photius writes that the "Chrestomathy" comprised four books, which covered numerous topics to do withancient Greek literature , and he describes the contents of the first two books as follows: [Photius cod. 239, = 318b.22-322a.40 ed. Bekker.]* biographies of the "five greatest" epic poets,
Homer ,Hesiod ,Peisander ,Panyasis , andAntimachus
* an account of a long version of theEpic Cycle (including the "Titanomachy " andTheban Cycle as well as the Trojan War)
* a discussion of the authorship of theCypria
* discussions of various iambic and lyric poets and prose writersA famous manuscript of the "
Iliad " known asVenetus A preserves a "Life of Homer", and summaries of the Epic Cycle, except that the section on the "Cypria" is damaged. Several other manuscripts preserve the "Life", or the "Cypria" summary, or both (but none of the rest of the Epic Cycle).References
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