Hesychius of Miletus (Greek:Ἡσύχιος ὁ Μιλήσιος,romanized: Hesychios o Milesios),Greek chronicler and biographer, surnamedIllustrius, son of an advocate, lived inConstantinople in the 6th century AD during the reign ofJustinian. His writings contain more references to pagan Greek culture than Christianity, but his actual religion remains a matter of dispute among scholars.
According toPhotius (cod. 69) he was the author of three important works:
ACompendium of Universal History in six books, from Belus, the reputed founder of theAssyrian empire, toAnastasius I (d. 518). A considerable fragment has been preserved from the sixth book, a history of Byzantium from its earliest beginnings until the time ofConstantine the Great.[1]
ABiographical Dictionary of Learned Men, arranged according to classes (poets, philosophers), the chief sources of which were the works ofAelius Dionysius and ofHerennius Philo. Much of it has been incorporated in theSuda, as we learn from that book. It is disputed, however, whether the words in theSuda ("of which this book is an epitome") mean thatSuda's compiler himself epitomized the work of Hesychius, or whether they are part of the title of an already epitomized Hesychius used in the compilation of theSuda. The second view is more generally held. The epitome referred to, in which alphabetical order was substituted for arrangement in classes and some articles on Christian writers added as a concession to the times, is assigned from internal indications to the years 829-837. Both it and the original work are lost, with the exception of the excerpts in Photius and theSuda. A smaller compilation, chiefly fromDiogenes Laërtius and theSuda, with a similar title, is the work of an unknown author of the 11th or 12th century.[1]
AHistory of the Reign ofJustin I (518–527) and the early years of Justinian, completely lost.[1]
In 1663,Gilles Ménage published an anonymousVita Aristotelis that is commonly attributed to Hesychius.
Photius praised the style of Hesychius, and credited him with being a veracious historian.[1]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Hesychius of Miletus".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 13 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 415.
Apocrypha public domain audiobook atLibriVox. Collection includes Hesychius.George Burges, translator (1855).