Chaeremon of Alexandria
Chaeremon of Alexandria (/kəˈriːmən, -mɒn/; Greek: Χαιρήμων ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς, gen.: Ancient Greek: Χαιρήμονος; fl. 1st century AD) was a Stoic philosopher and historian[1] who wrote on Egyptian mythology from a "typically Stoic" perspective.[2] All of Chaeremon's works are lost, though a number of fragments are quoted by later authors.[2] Three titles are preserved: the History of Egypt, Hieroglyphika, and On Comets, with another fragment quoted from an unknown grammatical treatise of his.[2] According to the Suda, he was the head of the Alexandrian school of grammarians, and he may also have been head of the Museion.[2]
He was probably one of the ambassadors to Claudius from Alexandria in 40 AD.[2] He also taught Nero, probably before 49 AD when Seneca the Younger became Nero's tutor.[2] He may have been the grandson of the Chaeremon who accompanied the Roman prefect Aelius Gallus on his tour of Egypt in 26 AD.[1] His father – about whom nothing is known – was called Leonidas, and he was probably born no later than 10 AD.[1]
One of the poems from Martial's eleventh book of Epigrams mocks Chaeremon; as Martial did not usually attack living figures Chaeremon presumably died before 96 AD when Epigrams XI was published.[2]
Notes
Editions and Translations
Pieter van der Horst includes 14 certain and 14 doubtful fragments in his edition of Chaeramon's works:
- van der Horst, Pieter Willem (1987). Chaeremon: Egyptian Priest and Stoic Philosopher. Leiden: Brill.
References
- Gates, ed. (2012). "Chaeremon". Oxford Dictionary of African Biography. ISBN 9780195382075.
