The Epistles of Phalaris or Letters of Phalaris is a collection of 148 ancient Greek letters, all but one attributed to Phalaris, the Greek tyrant of Akragas in the 6th century BC. One is attributed to Abaris and addressed to Phalaris.. The letters are pseudepigrapha or forgeries composed sometime between the 4th century BC and the 4th century AD. They portray Phalaris as a friend of poets and philosophers rather than a cruel tyrant..
The unknown author or authors may be known as Pseudo-Phalaris..
Date and authorship The date and circumstances of composition of the letters are disputed. They may be the work of a single author, but most scholars consider them the product of many, "the collection ... having been formed progressively by the addition of letters from different origins and authors".
It has been argued that the first letters were written in Sicily in the 4th century BC, with the collection being finalized in the Roman Empire. Another theory puts their composition around AD 190, being influenced by the satirical treatises of Lucian purporting to rehabilitate Phalaris's reputation. Another, detecting Byzantine clausulae in the Epistles, dates the collection to the 4th century AD..
Transmission history
There are 132 manuscripts of the Epistles, although the number of letters found in any given manuscript varies from one to 139. The order of letters also varies. The earliest manuscript is from the 10th century, the latest from the 18th.. The earliest writer to quote the letters, however, is Stobaeus in the late 5th or early 6th century. They are mentioned by Photius in the 9th century and by the Suidas in the 10th. They are quoted extensively by John Tzetzes in the 12th century..
A copy of the Epistles was brought to Italy in 1427 by Francesco Filelfo. The first to suspect their authenticity was Poliziano, who thought they were a work of Lucian. A first translation into Latin was made before 1449 by Francesco Griffolini., pp. 116–117. This was printed at Rome in 1468 or 1469. The editio princeps (first printed edition) of the Greek text was published in Venice in June 1498. It contained only 139 letters. A full edition appeared from the Aldine Press in April 1499. The letters take up 38 and a half leaves in that edition. Neither the number nor the order in the Aldine edition matches any known manuscript. It is a composite based on many manuscripts. Its editor was Marcus Musurus. The numbering of the letters used by scholars today is based on the order created by Musurus.
In the 17th century, Gilles Ménage again raised doubts about their authenticity. An English translation by Charles Boyle, 4th Earl of Orrery, was published in 1695. The work was praised by William Temple. In 1699, Richard Bentley published an influential Dissertation on the Epistles of Phalaris demonstrating that the epistles were misattributed and had actually been written around the 2nd century AD.. This caused a controversy over the methods of textual criticism. Boyle wrote a defence of the letters' authenticity in 1698 and Bentley responded in 1699. Jonathan Swift's The Battle of the Books derives some of its inspiration from this controversy.
List of epistles The list is derived from the most recent Greek edition with Latin translation by Rudolf Hercher.. It is not a critical edition.
At least one of the letters (27) was not originally composed as a letter of Phalaris. It is in fact a letter of Libanius that found its way into the collection. The short letter to Hiero (86) that claims "the elephant pays no attention to the mosquito" was also probably never intended to be read as a letter of Phalaris.
To Lycinus To the Megaraeans To Tyrsenus To Lycinus To the Leontines To Zeuxippus To Euenus To Sameas To Cleostratus To Lacritus To Megacles To Aglaus To Herodicus To Eumelus To Teucrus To Aristophon To Amphinomus To Erythia To Paurolas To Paurolas To the Messinans To Androcles To Pythagoras To Thorax To Leon To Aristophon To Antimachus To Aristomenes To Xenopithes To the Catanians To Stesichorus's daughters To Critodemus To Ctesippus To Pollux To Polygnotus To Cleomenides To Gorgias To Demoteles To Polystratus To Paurolas To Hippolytion To Hippolytion To Teucrus To Nicias To Adimantus To the Aegestaeans To Antisthenes and Theotimus To Menemachus To Epistratus To Onetor To Eteonicus To the Megaraeans To the Leontines To the Himeraeans To Timosthenes To Abaris Abaris to that tyrant Phalaris To Polystratus and Daescus To Nausicles To Aristolochus To Epicharmus To Timosthenes To Aristolochus To Amphidamas and Thrasybulus To Pelopidas To Teleclides To Paurolas To Paurolas To Erythia To Polyclitus To Polyclitus To Peristhenes To Evandrus To Orsilochus To Leontides To Demaratus To Hegesippus To Stesichorus To Stesichorus To Cleaeneta and Theano To the Ennaeans To Timander To the Melitaeans To the Messinans To Timonax To Hiero To Aristaenetus To the Himeraeans To Neolaidas To Mnesicles To Alcander To Stesichorus To the Himeraeans To Stesichorus To Autonoë To Nicophemus To Lysinus To Epicharmus To Cebron To Euctemon To Cleobulus To Cleodicus To Stesichorus's sons To the Catanians To Nicenaetus To Pollux To the Engyines To the Himeraeans To Stesichorus To Clisthenes To Nicippus To Hieronymus To Lamachus To Nicarchus To Nicaeus To Cleomedon To the Melitaeans To the Camarinaeans To the Astypalaeans To Axiochus To the Himeraeans To the Athenians To Lysicles To Pollux To Lacritus To Lacritus To Epistratus To Aristophon To Timolaus To Phaedimus To Philodemus To Agesilaus To Polymnestor To Polymnestor To Teucrus To Timander To the Ennaeans To Lysander To Arimachus To Polystratus To Agemortus To Teucrus To Cleaeneta To Nicocles To Stesichorus To Stesichorus To Stesichorus To the Ennaeans
Editions Whately, S., ed. The Epistles of Phalaris: Translated into English from the Original Greek. 2nd ed. London, 1706. Different digitization
Notes
References
Further reading Christy, J. P. Writing to Power: Tyrant and Sage in Greek Epistolography. PhD dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 2010.