Cleitarchus

Cleitarchus (Greek: Κλείταρχος, Kleitarchos; fl. c. mid to late 4th century BC) was one of the historians of Alexander the Great. Son of the historian Dinon of Colophon, he spent a considerable time at the court of Ptolemy Lagus. His work, the History of Alexander, is almost completely lost and has survived only in some thirty fragments preserved by ancient authors, especially by Aelian and Strabo.

Quotes

• ὁ δὲ Κλείταρχός φησιν ἁμάξας τετρακύκλους δένδρα κομιζούσας τῶν μεγαλοφύλλων, ἐξ ὧν ἀπήρτηται γένη τετιθασσευμένων ὀρνέων, ὧν εὐφωνότατον μὲν εἴρηκε τὸν ὠρίωνα, λαμπρότατον δὲ κατὰ τὴν ὄψιν καὶ πλείστην ἔχοντα ποικιλίαν τὸν καλούμενον κατρέα· τὴν γὰρ ἰδέαν ταῷ μάλιστα ἐγγίζειν, τὴν δὲ λοιπὴν εἰκονογραφίαν παρ᾿ ἐκείνου ληπτέον.
  • Cleitarchus speaks of four-wheeled carriages bearing trees with large leaves, from which were suspended (in cages) different kinds of tame birds, among which the orion was said to possess the sweetest note, but the catreus was the most beautiful in appearance, and had the most variegated plumage. In shape it approached nearest to the peacock, but the rest of the description must be taken from Cleitarchus.
  • F 20 FGrHist; Strabo, Geography, bk. XV, ch. i, sec. 69 (tr. H. C. Hamilton and W. Falconer, 1854)

• λέγει δὲ Κλείταρχος ἐν Ἰνδοῖς γίνεσθαι ὄρνιν καὶ εἶναι σφόδρα ἐρωτικόν, καὶ τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ λέγει ὠρίωνα εἶναι. φέρε δὲ καὶ γράψωμεν αὐτὸν τῷ λόγῳ, ὡς ἐκεῖνος διδάσκει. τοῖς μὲν καλουμένοις ἐρωδίοις ὅμοιος τὸ μέγεθος ὅδε ⟨ὁ⟩ ὠρίων ἐστίν· ἐστὶ δὲ καὶ τὰ σκέλη ὡς ἐκεῖνοι φοῖνιξ· ὀφθαλμοὺς δὲ κυανοῦς ἔχει — τοῦτο μὲν οὐχ ὡς ἐκεῖνοι. μέλος δὲ μουσουργεῖν ὑπὸ τῆς φύσεως πεπαίδευται, οἷα δήπου μέλη [ταῦτα] γλυκέα καὶ [πρὸς τὸν ᾀδόμενον ὑμεναῖον βλέπει] θέλγοντα γονὴν ὕμνῳ τινὶ γαμικῷ †προσείοντα Σειρῆνας.
  • He [Cleitarchus] says that in India there occurs a bird with strongly amorous propensities and that it is called the Orion. Well now, let us depict it as he has described it. This 'Orion' is the same size as the birds they call herons and its legs are red like theirs; its eyes are dark (in this respect it is unlike them), and Nature has taught it to make melody sweet as any bridal song with its alluring charms.
  • F 22 FGrHist; Aelian, Characteristics of Animals, bk. XVII, ch. xxii (tr. A. F. Scholfield, 1958)

• Cleitarchus says that in India there are monkeys of a mottled hue and immense size. And in mountainous districts they are so numerous that, says Cleitarchus, Alexander, the son of Philip, and the army under his command also were quite terrified at the sight of their massed numbers, imagining that they saw an army marshalled and waiting in ambush for them. You see, the monkeys happened to be standing upright when they appeared. These creatures are not to be caught with nets or by means of hounds following a scent, however great their skill in hunting. But this monkey is ready to dance if it sees a man dancing; it is even willing to play the pipe if it could learn how to blow. Further, if it catches sight of someone putting on his shoes, it imitates the action; and if a man underlines his eyes with lamp-black, it is anxious to do this too. Accordingly in place of the aforesaid objects men put out hollow, heavy shoes made of lead, to which they attach a noose underneath, so that when the monkeys slip their feet into them they are caught in the snare and cannot escape. And as a bait for their eyes men put out bird-lime in place of lampblack. And an Indian after using a mirror in sight of the monkeys [...] displaying not genuine mirrors but ones of a different kind, on to which they lace strong nooses. Such then is the apparatus which they employ. And so the monkeys come and gaze steadily, imitating what they have seen. And from the reflecting surface opposite their sight there is a surge of strongly gluey substance that gums up their eyelids, when they gaze intently into it. Then being unable to see, they are caught without any difficulty, for they are no longer able to escape.
  • Aelian, Characteristics of Animals, bk. XVII, ch. xxv (tr. A. F. Scholfield, 1958)

• And Clitarchus and others say that in Carthage, during great prayers, they place a boy in the hands of Cronus (a bronze statue is set up, with outstretched hands, and under it a baking oven) and then put fire under; the boy shrunk by the fire seems to laugh.
  • Suda, σ 124, s.v. Σαρδάνιος γέλως (tr. Robert Dyer, Suda On Line)

External links

• Encyclopedic article on Cleitarchus on Wikipedia