Paradoxography is a genre ofclassical literature which deals with the occurrence of abnormal or inexplicable phenomena of the natural or human worlds (Latinmirabilia, 'marvels, miracles'). The termparadoxographos (paradoxographer) was coined byTzetzes.[1]
Early surviving examples of the genre include:
It is believed that the content of thepseudo-AristotelianOn Marvellous Things Heard (De mirabilibus auscultationibus) originated in theHellenistic period, while the final form reflects centuries of expansion at least as recent as the second century of the Christian era.[2]
Phlegon of Tralles'sΠερὶ θαυμασίων, (De mirabilibus,On Marvels), which dates from the 2nd century CE, is perhaps the most famous example of the genre, including various stories of human abnormalities. Phlegon's brief accounts of prodigies and wonders include ghost stories, accounts of monstrous births, strange animals like centaurs, hermaphrodites, giant skeletons and prophesying heads. Phlegon's writing is characterised by brief and forthright description, as well as a tongue-in-cheek insistence on the veracity of his claims.
Other works of this genre in Greek includeHeraclitus the Paradoxographer'sΠερὶ Ἀπίστων ("On Incredible Things",c. 1st or 2nd century CE) andClaudius Aelianus'sOn the Nature of Animals (3rd century CE).
InLatin literature, bothMarcus Terentius Varro andCicero wrote works onadmiranda ("marvelous things"), which do not survive.
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