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Philitas of Cos (; (ギリシア語:Φιλίτας), ''Philītas''; – ), sometimes spelled Philetas (; , ''Philētas''; see Bibliography below), was a scholar and poet during the early Hellenistic period of ancient Greece.〔 A Greek associated with Alexandria, he flourished in the second half of the 4th century BC and was appointed tutor to the heir to the throne of Ptolemaic Egypt. He was thin and frail; Athenaeus later caricatured him as an academic so consumed by his studies that he wasted away and died.〔 Philitas was the first major Greek writer who was both a scholar and a poet.〔 His reputation continued for centuries, based on both his pioneering study of words and his verse in elegiac meter. His vocabulary ''Disorderly Words'' described the meanings of rare literary words, including those used by Homer. His poetry, notably his elegiac poem ''Demeter'', was highly respected by later ancient poets. However, almost all his work has since been lost.〔 ==Life== Little is known of Philitas' life. Ancient sources refer to him as a Coan, a native or long-time inhabitant of Cos,〔 one of the Dodecanese islands in the Aegean Sea just off the coast of Asia. His student Theocritus wrote that Philetas' father was Telephos (Τήλεφος, ') and his mother, assuming the manuscript is supplemented correctly, Euctione (Εὐκτιόνη, '). From a comment about Philitas in the ''Suda'', a 10th-century AD historical encyclopedia, it is estimated he was born , and that he might have established a reputation in Cos by . During the Wars of the Diadochi that followed the death of Alexander the Great and divided Alexander's empire, Ptolemy had captured Cos from his rival successor, Antigonus, in 310 BC; his son, Ptolemy II Philadelphus, was born there in 308 BC. It was a favorite retreat for men of letters weary of Alexandria. Philetas was appointed Philadelphus' tutor, which suggests he moved to Alexandria and moved back to Cos in the later 290s BC. He may also have tutored Arsinoe II, Philadelphus' older sister and eventual wife. Later tutors of royal offspring in Ptolemaic Egypt generally headed the Library of Alexandria, but it is unknown whether Philitas held that position.〔 Philitas also taught the poets Hermesianax and Theocritus and the grammarian Zenodotus, and after he returned to Cos he seems to have spent at least ten years leading a brotherhood of intellectuals and poets that included Aratus, Hermesianax, and Theocritus.〔〔 Hermesianax wrote of "Philitas, singing of nimble Bittis", and Ovid twice calls her "Battis". It is commonly thought that Bittis or Battis was Philitas' mistress, and that Hermesianax referred to love poetry; another possibility is that her name connoted "chatterbox", and that she was a humorous personification of Philitas' passion for words.〔 Philitas was thin and frail, and may have suffered and died from a wasting disease. He seems to have died in Cos sometime in the 280s BC.〔 His pupil Hermesianax wrote that a statue of him was erected under a plane tree by the people of Cos, depicting him as "frail with all the glosses".〔 His contemporary Posidippus wrote that Philadelphus commissioned a bronze of Philitas in old age from the sculptor Hecataeus,〔 which "included nothing from the physique of heroes. No, ... he cast the old man full of cares."〔〔An alternate translation of Posidippus' poem is on p. 31 of 〕 The 3rd century AD Roman author Aelian skeptically passed along a story that Philitas was so thin that he put lead weights in the soles of his shoes to avoid being blown away by a stiff wind.〔Aelian (tr. Thomas Stanley). ''Various History'', (9.14 ). Retrieved 2009-08-26.〕 A 2nd century AD Greek author, Athenaeus of Naucratis, wrote that Philitas studied false arguments and erroneous word-usage so intensely that he wasted away and starved to death, and that his epitaph read:〔Athenaeus (tr. C.D. Yonge). ''The Gastronomers'', (9.401e ). Retrieved 2009-08-26.〕 St. George Stock analyzed the story as saying Philitas studied the Megarian school of philosophy, which cultivated and studied paradoxes such as the liar paradox: if someone says "I am lying", is what he says true or false? Stock wrote that Philitas worried so much over the liar paradox that he died of insomnia, and translated the epitaph as follows: Philetas of Cos am I, 'Twas the Liar who made me die, And the bad nights caused thereby. A more literal translation suggests that the invented epitaph pokes fun at Philitas' focus on using the right words: Stranger, I am Philitas. The lying word and nights' evening cares destroyed me.〔 • An earlier version appeared in: 〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Philitas of Cos」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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