Stephanos of Buzantion (525 – 565 CE)
Greek grammarian, probably from Constantinople and a contemporary of Justinian I.
Author of the Ethnika, an alphabetical list of geographical names together with information
on etymologies, foundation-legends, changes of names, historical anecdotes, etc. Initially
containing 55 to 60 books, it might have been a compendium for the officials and soldiery
of the recently enlarged Byzantine Empire. Constantine VII Pophurogenne ̄tos (10th c.)
was perhaps the last scholar to see the original Ethnika intact. The Souda, Eustathios of
Thessalonike ̄, and others used H’ abridgement, extant in several MSS. Stephanos,
not entirely uncritically, drew from grammarians and philologists, historians and geographers.
He knew the works of P, S, and Pausanias, but, in spite of his Christianity,
seldom quoted Christian writings.
Ed.: A. Meineke (1849, repr. 1958, 1992); M. Billerbeck, Stephani Byzantini Ethnica v.1 (Α–Γ) (2006).
RE 3A.2 (1929) 2369–2399 (#12), E. Honigmann; A. Diller, “The Tradition of Stephanus Byzantius,”
TA PA 69 (1938) 333–348; HLB 1.530–531; ODB 1953 – 1954, A. Kazhdan; OCD3 1442, R. Browning.
Andreas Kuelzer
Stephanos of Tralleis (475 – 525 CE?)
The father of A, A, Dioskoros (doctor), M, and Olympios
(lawyer), of Tralleis, himself a practicing physician (Agathias 5.6.3–6), cited by his son,
Alexander (2.139 Puschm.), for a sore-throat remedy, containing Egyptian acanthus, bran,
“Nikolaos” dates (cf. P 13.45, Ath., Deipn. 14.22 [652a–b]), iris, licorice, and dried roses,
all boiled, and used as a gargle, hourly.
PLRE 2 (1980) 1030 (#9).
PTK
Ste ̄simbrotos of Thasos (ca 470 – ca 420 BCE)
References in X (Symposium 3.6) and P (Ion 530d) indicate that Ste ̄simbrotos
was one of the foremost interpreters of H in 5th c. Athens, able to reveal the poems’
hidden meanings (huponoia) and to offer solutions to assumed textual puzzles. The nature of
Ste ̄simbrotos’ interpretations is debated, but probably he sometimes used physical allegory,
as for example in his solution to the following assumed inconsistency: Homer says first that
everything was divided into three to be distributed among Zeus, Poseido ̄n, and Hade ̄s (Iliad
15.189), but then he states that Earth and Olympus remained common. Ste ̄simbrotos’
solution seems to be based on an identification of the gods with physical elements. (Cf.
T R.) In On Initiations Ste ̄simbrotos discussed the Samothrakian mys-
teries, and interpreted mythical stories allegorically and divine names etymologically.
Because of his interest in mystery cults and allegorical interpretation of traditional poetry,
Ste ̄simbrotos has been suggested as the author of the D P. P pre-
serves about a dozen fragments from a political pamphlet by Ste ̄simbrotos containing
mainly gossip about leading Athenian politicians and generals.
Ed.: FGrHist 107, 1002 (biography).
NP 11.975–976, M. Baumbach.
Gábor Betegh
STEPHANOS OF BUZANTION