Alexamenus ofTeos (Ancient Greek:Τήιος Ἀλεξαμενός, 5th century BC?) was one of the potential inventors of Greek literary genre of prosedialogue. Also known as Alexamenus of Tenos[1] or Alexamenus of Styra,[2] the only surviving news about him have been handed down, centuries later, by three sources:Athenaeus of Naucratis,[3]Diogenes Laërtius[4] and a papyrus fromOxyrhynchus.[5]
Atheneus (XI 550c) reports the dual testimony ofNicias of Nicaea andSotion, according to whichAristotle, in the lost workOn the Poets (Περὶ ποιητῶν), gave Alexamenus chronological priority in the invention of dialogue:
Ἐγκώμια αὐτοῦ (sc. τοῦ Μένωνος) διεξέρχεται ὁ τοὺς ἄλλους ἁπαξαπλῶς κακολογήσας (sc. Πλάτων), ἐν μὲν τῇ πολιτείᾳ Ὅμηρον ἐκβάλλων καὶ τὴν μιμητικὴν ποίησιν, αὐτὸς δὲ τοὺς διαλόγους μιμητικῶς γράψας, ὧν τῆς ἰδέας οὐδ' αὐτὸς εὑρετὴς ἐστι. πρὸ γὰρ αὐτοῦ τοῦθ' εὗρε τὸ εἶδος τῶν λόγων ὁ Τήιος Ἀλεξαμενός, ὡς Νικίας ὁ Νικαεὺς ἱστορεῖ καὶ Σωτίων. Ἀριστοτέλης δὲ ἐν τῷ περὶ ποιητῶν οὕτως γράφει, " οὐκοῦν οὐδὲ ἐμμέτρους τοὺς καλουμένους Σώφρονος μίμους μὴ φῶμεν εἶναι λόγους καὶ μιμήσεις, ἢ τοὺς Ἀλεξαμενοῦ τοῦ Τήιου τοὺςπρώτους [or:προτέρους/πρότερον] γραφέντας τῶν Σωξρατικῶν διαλόγων; " ἀντικρὺς φάσκων ὁ πολυμαθέστατος Ἀριστοτέλης πρὸ Πλάτωνος διαλόγους γεγραφέναι τὸν Ἀλεξαμενόν.
«And his encomium (sc. of Menon) is uttered by him who despised others on the whole (sc.Plato), by banishingHomer and imitative poetry in theRepublic, even though he himself had written dialogues in mimetic form, of whose form he is not even the inventor. In fact before him Alexamenus of Teos invented this kind of speeches, as witnessed byNicias of Nicaea andSotion.Aristotle then, in his workOn the Poets, writes thus: “Then, do we not say that the so-called mimes ofSophron, written in verse, are speeches and imitations, or that those [the writings?] of Alexamenus of Teos, writtenfirst among [or:before] theSocratic dialogues, are so?”, thus asserting, that great sageAristotle, that some dialogues were composed beforePlato».
It is unclear whether the priority refers toSocratic dialogues or to dialogue in general.[6] Some scholars accept this testimony in the form preserved by manuscripts, according to which Alexamenus wrote the first (πρώτους) among theSocratic dialogues. Others propose to correct πρώτους to προτέρους[7] or πρότερον,[8] altering the meaning: Alexamenus would not be the inventor of the Socratic dialogues, but a precursor.
Aristotelian opinion is critically witnessed byDiogenes Laërtius (III 48), who also finds mention of it inFavorinus:
Διαλόγους τοίνυν φασὶ πρῶτον γράψαι Ζήνωνα τὸν Ἐλεάτην· Ἀριστοτέλης δὲ ἐν πρώτῳ Περὶ ποιητῶν Ἀλεξαμενὸν Στυρέα ἢ Τήιον, ὡς καὶ Φαβωρῖνος ἐν Ἀπομνημονεύμασι. δοκεῖ δέ μοι Πλάτων ἀκριβώσας τὸ εἶδος καὶ τὰ πρωτεῖα δικαίως ἂν ὥσπερ τοῦ κάλλους οὕτω καὶ τῆς εὑρέσεως ἀποφέρεσθαι.
«So they say that the first to write dialogues was the Eleatic Zeno; butAristotle, in the first book ofOn the Poets, [says that he was] Alexamenus of Styra or Teos, asFavorinus also [says] in theMemoirs. But it seems to me thatPlato, having perfected the literary genre, would rightly hold the primacy, as of beauty, so also of invention».
The writer of the papyrus ofOxyrhynchus (P. Oxy. 45 3219), which probably contains a treatise onPlato and thedialogue,[9] confirms the news, but takes an anti-Aristotelian position[10] and states that the main influence on Plato comes from the Sicilian mimographerSophron:
ἐ]ν τούτῳ κ[αὶ C]ώφρον[α] μειμηcάμε-
νοc τὸν μιμογράφον κα<τὰ> τὸ δραμα-
τικὸν τῶν διαλόγων· οὐ γὰρ πειc-
τ[έ]ον Ἀριcτοτέλει ὑπὸ τῆc πρὸc Πλά-
τωνα βαcκανίας ε[ἰ]πόντι ἐν τῷ
πρώτῳ Περὶ ποιητικῆς καὶ πρὸ
Πλάτωνοc γεγράφθαι δραματικοὺc
διαλό]γ[ους ὑ]π' [Ἀ]λεξαμενοῦ Τηνίου
«...in this also imitatingSophron, the writer of mimes, for the dramatic quality of the dialogues. For one should not believeAristotle, who, out of jealous spite towardsPlato, says in the first book ofOn poetry [=On the Poets] that even beforePlato dramatic dialogues had been written by Alexamenos of Tenos»[11]
Aristotle's view is therefore differently evaluated. However, if we believe his testimony, it seems that the literature of Alexamenos, whatever attributes it had, is comparable to themimes ofSophron, of which little survived anyway. The basic question is: should we assume that Alexamenus was the first Socratic to have composed in a new literary genre, or that he was an earlier dialogue writer and uncoupled fromSocratics and Socratic literature?,[12][13]
Two suggestions, absolutely speculative.
First, one could perhaps compare the previous fragment ofOn the Poets with the well-known passage inAristotle'sOn poetry, 1449b:
(On the Poets) «οὐκοῦν οὐδὲ ἐμμέτρουςτοὺς καλουμένους Σώφρονος μίμους μὴ φῶμεν εἶναι λόγους καὶ μιμήσεις, ἢτοὺς Ἀλεξαμενοῦ τοῦ Τήιου τοὺς πρώτους [or: προτέρους/πρότερον] γραφέντας τῶν Σωξρατικῶν διαλόγων»
«Then, do we not say thatthe so-called mimes of Sophron, written in verse, are speeches and imitations, or thatthose [the writings?] of Alexamenus of Teos, written first among [or: before] the Socratic dialogues, are so?»
(On poetry) «Οὐδὲν γὰρ ἂν ἔχοιμεν ὀνομάσαι κοινὸντοὺς Σώφρονος καὶ Ξενάρχου μίμους καὶτοὺς Σωρατικοὺς λόγους»
«Indeed, we would have no common name forthe mimes of Sophron and Xenarchos and forthe Socratic speeches»
In both texts the pairmimes -Socratic discourses/dialogues is compared. The name ofXenarchos, related to the groupmimes, is implied inOn the Poets and expressed inOn poetry: conversely, the name of Alexamenus, related to the groupSocratic discourses / dialogues, could be expressed inOn the Poets and implied inOn poetry. Moreover, manuscript tradition ofAtheneus, which transmits the fragment ofOn the Poets, suggests that Alexamenus is author of the firstamong the Socratic writings. So, againstAtheneus's proposed corrections of the text, it would perhaps be more economical to assume thatAristotle classifies Alexamenus within the groupSocratic discourses/dialogues, and not as a pre-Socratic, in the same way that he placesXenarchos in the groupmimes. IfAristotle is telling the truth, Alexamenus would be the first writer ofSocratic discourses / dialogues and obviously would have known Socrates in person.
Secondly, assuming the previous hypothesis is true, the question might be asked: what were the writings of Alexamenos like? Clearly there is no verifiable evidence. Perhaps his activity took a form similar to that of the other authors of Socratic writings. According toDiogenes Laërtius (II 122–123), the mysterious AthenianSimon the Shoemaker used to take note of what he remembered of conversations betweenSocrates and some interlocutor ([Σωκράτους] διαλεγομένου τινά, ὧν ἐμνημόνευεν ὑποσημειώσεις ἐποιεῖτο). According then toPlato'sTheethetus (142a1-143c8), the character Euclid, after witnessing the dialogue betweenSocrates and Theetetus, urgently writes some first notes (ὑπομνήματα), later returns with greater ease to his work through an effort of memory, then seizes every subsequent opportunity to meet withSocrates to correct his mistakes and thus makes the Socratic conversations known to Terpsion. Still according toDiogenes Laërtius (II 48),Xenophon was the first to publish the notes jotted down in the presence ofSocrates (πρῶτος ὑποσημειωσάμενος τὰ λεγόμενα εἰς ἀνθρώπους ἤγαγεν), writing ἀπομνημονεύματα. The work of Alexamenus may fit within the scope of this type of practice.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870). "Alexamenus 1".Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.