The Encyclopedia of Ancient Natural Scientists: The Greek tradition and its many heirs

(Ron) #1

Knorr convincingly refuted Mogenet’s previous attribution to E and proposed
instead A, but the argument is weak. Mogenet conjectured that the text is a clan-
destine edition of notes on a public course on the Almagest. Later MSS (14th c. onwards)
attribute the text to T   A or D.


J. Mogenet, “L’introduction à l’Almageste” (1956); Knorr (1989) 155–211, 689–751, 787–793;
Decorps-Foulquier (2000) 66, nn.27–30.
Alain Bernard


Promathos of Samos (460 – 430 BCE?)


Cited by the A C O  F   N, as the source of
A’ opinion that the Nile rises when snow melts on the mountain at the head-
waters of the Khremes river, an opinion rejected by H 2.22, but echoed by
A, Meteor. 1.13 (350a14–350b23). The name is rare, cf. only LGPN 3A.378
(7th c. BCE).


RE 23 (1957) 1285–1286, Fr. Gisinger.
PTK


Pro ̄ros of Kure ̄ne ̄ (370 – 340 BCE?)


Said by I to be from Kure ̄ne ̄ (VP 127, 267), he became impoverished in a
political upheaval but was restored to fortune by K  T (D 
S Book 10, fr.4.1; Iamblikhos, VP 239). Diodo ̄ros (16.2.1) and Pausanias (10.2.3) name
Pro ̄ros of Kure ̄ne ̄ victor in the stadion sprint of the 105th Olympiad. His only known work,
On the Heptad, of which two brief testimonia survive (pseudo-Iamblikhos, T. A.
7 [ p. 57 de Falco]), discussed the holiness of the number seven.


Thesleff (1965) 154–155.
PTK and GLIM


Prosdokhos (200 BCE – ca 400 CE)


M  B 29.55 (CML 5, p. 518) refers to his collection of recipes,
and cites a quasi-magical recipe for ikhneumo ̄n-urine and black-cow milk as a remedy for
colon-troubles. The name is attested once elsewhere, Prosdokhe ̄ of Edessa (LGPN 4.292,
ca 100 CE). Cf. perhaps P.


Fabricius (1726) 380.
PTK


Pro ̄tagoras (200 – 300 CE?)


Geographer, working in the tradition of P. He lived after him but long before
M  H, who regarded him as one of the arkhaioi andres (ancient
authors) and used his material extensively. Pro ̄tagoras wrote a work in six books, entitled
either Geo ̄metria (Pho ̄tios, Bibl. 188) or Geo ̄graphia te ̄s oikoumene ̄s (GGM 1.543), preserved only in
fragments. The first five books, written in a poor style (Pho ̄tios), described Asia Minor,
Libya, and Europe in general; the last book mentioned doxologoumena (marvelous things) of
the oikoumene ̄. Some material was taken from older sources, some based on autopsy


PROMATHOS OF SAMOS
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