Duris of Samos (
GreekGreek , an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, is the language of the Greeks. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. In its ancient form, it is the language of classical...
); probably born around
350 BC-Persian Empire:* Sidon, the centre of the revolt against Persia, seeks help from its sister city of Tyre and from Egypt but gets very little.* Idrieus, the second son of Hecatomnus, succeeds to the throne of Caria on the death of Artemisia II, the widow of his elder brother Mausolus...
; died after
281 BC-Asia Minor:* The Battle of Corupedium in Lydia is the last battle of the Diadochi, the rival successors to Alexander the Great. It is fought between the armies of Lysimachus, King of Thrace and Macedonia, and Seleucus, ruler of Eastern Anatolia, Syria, Phoenicia, Judaea, Babylonia and Iran...
) was a
GreekThe Greeks , also known as Hellenes, are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighbouring regions, who can also be found in diaspora communities around the world....
historianAn historian is an individual who studies and writes about history, and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all events in time...
and was at some period
tyrantIn classical politics, a tyrant is one who has taken power by their own means as opposed to hereditary or constitutional power. This mode of rule is referred to as tyranny....
of
SamosSamos is a Greek island in the North Aegean sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off the coast of Asia Minor.-Geography:...
.
Duris claimed to be a descendant of
AlcibiadesAlcibiades Cleiniou Scambonides , was a prominent Athenian statesman, orator, and general. He was the last famous member of his mother's aristocratic family, the Alcmaeonidae, which fell from prominence after the Peloponnesian War...
, and was the brother of
Lynceus of SamosLynceus of Samos brother of the historian Duris of Samos, was a classical Greek author of comedies, letters and humorous anecdotes. He lived in the late 4th and early 3rd centuries BC and was a pupil of Theophrastus. His works, especially his letters and the essay Shopping for Food, show a special...
. He had a son, Scaeus, who won the boys' boxing at the Olympian Games "while the Samians were in exile", that is, before
324 BC-Macedonian Empire:* On returning to Susa, Persia, Alexander the Great punishes those who he considers to have failed in their duties in his absence in India, particularly those who have plundered tombs and temples. Alexander continues his policy of replacing senior officials and executing...
; from 352 to 324 Samos was occupied by Athenian cleruchs who had expelled the native Samians.
Duris of Samos (
GreekGreek , an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, is the language of the Greeks. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. In its ancient form, it is the language of classical...
); probably born around
350 BC-Persian Empire:* Sidon, the centre of the revolt against Persia, seeks help from its sister city of Tyre and from Egypt but gets very little.* Idrieus, the second son of Hecatomnus, succeeds to the throne of Caria on the death of Artemisia II, the widow of his elder brother Mausolus...
; died after
281 BC-Asia Minor:* The Battle of Corupedium in Lydia is the last battle of the Diadochi, the rival successors to Alexander the Great. It is fought between the armies of Lysimachus, King of Thrace and Macedonia, and Seleucus, ruler of Eastern Anatolia, Syria, Phoenicia, Judaea, Babylonia and Iran...
) was a
GreekThe Greeks , also known as Hellenes, are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighbouring regions, who can also be found in diaspora communities around the world....
historianAn historian is an individual who studies and writes about history, and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all events in time...
and was at some period
tyrantIn classical politics, a tyrant is one who has taken power by their own means as opposed to hereditary or constitutional power. This mode of rule is referred to as tyranny....
of
SamosSamos is a Greek island in the North Aegean sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off the coast of Asia Minor.-Geography:...
.
Personal and political life
Duris claimed to be a descendant of
AlcibiadesAlcibiades Cleiniou Scambonides , was a prominent Athenian statesman, orator, and general. He was the last famous member of his mother's aristocratic family, the Alcmaeonidae, which fell from prominence after the Peloponnesian War...
, and was the brother of
Lynceus of SamosLynceus of Samos brother of the historian Duris of Samos, was a classical Greek author of comedies, letters and humorous anecdotes. He lived in the late 4th and early 3rd centuries BC and was a pupil of Theophrastus. His works, especially his letters and the essay Shopping for Food, show a special...
. He had a son, Scaeus, who won the boys' boxing at the Olympian Games "while the Samians were in exile", that is, before
324 BC-Macedonian Empire:* On returning to Susa, Persia, Alexander the Great punishes those who he considers to have failed in their duties in his absence in India, particularly those who have plundered tombs and temples. Alexander continues his policy of replacing senior officials and executing...
; from 352 to 324 Samos was occupied by Athenian cleruchs who had expelled the native Samians. Duris therefore may well have been born at some date close to
350 BC-Persian Empire:* Sidon, the centre of the revolt against Persia, seeks help from its sister city of Tyre and from Egypt but gets very little.* Idrieus, the second son of Hecatomnus, succeeds to the throne of Caria on the death of Artemisia II, the widow of his elder brother Mausolus...
, and, since his main historical work ended with the death of
LysimachusFor other uses, see Lysimachus Lysimachus was a Macedonian officer and diadochus of Alexander the Great, who became a basileus in 306 BCE, ruling Thrace, Asia Minor andMacedonia.-Early career:Lysimachus was born in 362/361 BC, the son of the Thessalian Agathocles from Crannon...
in 281 BC, died at an unknown date after that.
Many 20th century works state that Duris was a pupil of
TheophrastusTheophrastus , a Greek native of Eressos in Lesbos, was the successor of Aristotle in the Peripatetic school. His interests were wide-ranging, extending from biology and physics to ethics and metaphysics. His two surviving botanical works, Enquiry into Plants and On the Causes of Plants, were an...
at Athens. There is no evidence for this claim other than a conjectural emendation (by
Adamantios KoraisAdamantios Korais or Coraïs was a humanist scholar credited with laying the foundations of Modern Greek literature and a major figure in the Greek Enlightenment. His activities paved the way for the Greek War of Independence and emergence of a purified form of the Greek language, known as...
) of the text of the
DeipnosophistaeThe Deipnosophistae may be translated as The Banquet of the Learned or Philosophers at Dinner or The Gastronomers...
of
AthenaeusAthenaeus , of Naucratis in Egypt, Greek rhetorician and grammarian, flourished about the end of the 2nd and beginning of the 3rd century A.D. The Suda only tells us that he lived in the times of Marcus Athenaeus (Ancient Greek - Athếnaios Naukratios, Latin Athenaeus Naucratita), of Naucratis in...
. The manuscript text says not that Duris studied under Theophrastus, but that his brother Lynceus and Lynceus's correspondent Hippolochus did so.
The only recorded fact about Duris's public life is that he was "tyrant" or sole ruler of Samos. How he attained this position, for how long he held it, and what events took place under his rule, are unknown.
Writings
Duris was the author of a narrative history of events in Greece and
MacedonMacedonia or Macedon was an ancient kingdom, centered in the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, bordered by Epirus to the west, Paionia to the north, the region of Thrace to the east and Thessaly to the south...
ia from the
battle of LeuctraThe Battle of Leuctra was a battle fought between the Thebans and the Spartans and their respective allies amidst the post-Corinthian War conflict. The battle took place in the neighbourhood of Leuctra, a village in Boeotia in the territory of Thespiae...
(371 BC) down to the death of Lysimachus. This work, like all his others, is lost; over thirty fragments are known through quotations by other authors, including
PlutarchPlutarch, born Plutarchos then, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. AD 46 – 120, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...
. It was continued in the
Histories of
PhylarchusPhylarchus or Phylarch was a Greek historical writer whose works have been lost, but not before having been considerably used by other historians whose works have survived.-Life:...
. Other works by Duris included a life of Agathocles of Syracuse, which was a source for books 19-21 of the
Historical Library of
Diodorus SiculusDiodorus Siculus , was a Greek historian who flourished in the 1st century BC. According to Diodorus' own work, he was born at Agyrium in Sicily . With one exception, antiquity affords no further information about Diodorus' life and doing than is to be found in his own work, Bibliotheca historica...
. Duris also wrote historical annals of Samos arranged according to the lists of the priests of
HeraIn the Olympian pantheon of classical Greek Mythology, Hera or Here was the wife and older sister of Zeus. Her chief function was as goddess of women and marriage. In Roman mythology, Juno was the equivalent mythical character. The cow, and later, the peacock were sacred to her...
; and a number of treatises on literary and artistic subjects.
List of Works
For the surviving fragments see the editions by Müller and Jacoby.
- Histories (also listed as Macedonica and Hellenica; 33 fragments)
- On Agathocles (also listed as Libyca; 13 fragments)
- Annals of Samos (22 fragments)
- On Laws (2 fragments)
- On Games (4 fragments)
- On Tragedy (and perhaps On Euripides and Sophocles; 2 fragments)
- On Painters (2 fragments)
- On Sculpture (1 fragment)
Later Opinions
Of those later authors who knew Duris's work, few praise it.
CiceroMarcus Tullius Cicero was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. Cicero is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.Cicero is generally perceived to be one of the most versatile minds of ancient Rome...
accords him qualified praise as an industrious writer.
PlutarchPlutarch, born Plutarchos then, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. AD 46 – 120, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...
used his work but repeatedly expresses doubt as to his trustworthiness.
Dionysius of HalicarnassusDionysius of Halicarnassus was a Greek historian and teacher of rhetoric, who flourished during the reign of Caesar Augustus.-Life:...
speaks disparagingly of his style. Photius regards the arrangement of his work as altogether faulty. By contrast with recent predecessors such as Ephorus, Duris served as the exemplar of a new fashion for "tragic history" which gave entertainment and excitement greater importance than factual reporting. In Plutarch's "Life of Pericles" a telling example is Duris's elaborate (and, according to Plutarch, exaggerated) description of cruelty and extensive destruction at Samos when Athenian forces, led by Pericles, subdued the island.
Recent critics, believing that Duris was a pupil of Theophrastus, attempted either to demonstrate that "tragic history" agreed with teachings of the Peripatetic school or to analyse Duris's motives for taking a different line from his supposed teachers. The debate was inevitably inconclusive.
Editions of the fragments
- C. Müller, Fragmenta historicorum Graecorum vol. 2 (Paris, 1848) pp. 466-488. [Greek with Latin translation and commentary]
- F. Jacoby
Felix Jacoby was a German classicist and philologist. He is best known among classicists for his work Fragmente der griechischen Historiker, a collection of text fragments of ancient Greek historians...
, Die Fragmente der griechischen Historiker vol. 2A pp. 1136-1158 [Greek text]; vol. 2C pp. 115-131 [German commentary]
Modern scholarship
- J. P. Barron, "The Tyranny of Duris of Samos" in Classical Review new series vol. 12 (1962) pp. 189-192.
- C. O. Brink, "Tragic History and Aristotle's School" in Proceedings of the Cambridge Philological Society vol. 186 (1960) pp. 14-19.
- A. Dalby
Andrew Dalby is an English linguist, translator and historian who most often writes about food history.Dalby studied at the Bristol Grammar School, where he learned some Latin, French and Greek; then at the University of Cambridge. There he studied Latin and Greek at first, afterwards Romance...
, "The Curriculum Vitae of Duris of Samos" in Classical quarterly new series vol. 41 (1991) pp. 539-541.
- R. B. Kebric, In the Shadow of Macedon: Duris of Samos. Wiesbaden, 1977.
- R. B. Kebric, "A Note on Duris in Athens" in Classical Philology vol. 69 (1974) pp. 286-287.
- L. Okin, Studies on Duris of Samos. University of Michigan dissertation, 1974.
- L. Okin, "A Hellenistic Historian Looks at Mythology" in Panhellenica (Lawrence, Kansas, 1980).
- E. Schwartz, "Duris (3)" in Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft: neue Bearbeitung
The Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft, commonly called the Pauly–Wissowa or simply RE, is a German encyclopedia of classical scholarship. With its supplements it comprises well over a hundred volumes....
(Stuttgart: J. B. Metzler, 1894-1980) vol. 5 pt 2 cols 1853-1856.
- F. W. Walbank
Frank William Walbank, CBE was a scholar of ancient history, particularly the history of Polybius. He was born in Bingley, Yorkshire and died in Cambridge.-Biography:...
, "History and Tragedy" in Historia vol. 9 (1960) pp. 216-234.
Other encyclopedias
- M. von Albrecht, "Duris (1)" in Der kleine Pauly ed. Konrat Ziegler, Walther Sontheimer (Munich: Artemis, 1975).
- D. Bowder, "Duris of Samos" in Who Was Who in the Greek World (Ithaca, NY: Cornell UP, 1982) pp. 101-102.
- "Duris of Samos" in The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. (2008).
- J. Hazel, "Duris (2)" in J. Hazel, Who's Who in the Greek World (London, 1999) p. 89.
- R. Schmitt, "Duris of Samos" in Encyclopædia Iranica
Encyclopædia Iranica is a project whose goal is to create a comprehensive and authoritative English language encyclopedia about the history, culture, and civilization of Iranian peoples from prehistory to modern times...
.