c. 350–280 BCE · Peripatetic philosopher · governor of Athens · adviser to Ptolemy I
Demetrius of Phalerum
Δημήτριος ὁ Φαληρεύς
In Alexandria: c. 297–283 BCE
A pupil of Theophrastus who governed Athens for Cassander (317–307 BCE) and came, exiled, to Ptolemy I. He advised the king to read books on kingship. The Letter of Aristeas makes him head of the king's library under Ptolemy II, but by Hermippus's account Ptolemy II had him held under guard; his title as librarian is legend, his influence on a Peripatetic research collection probable.
Their life and work
The best evidence for his part is indirect. He was a Peripatetic, and Aristotle's school had begun to gather books systematically; Strabo says Aristotle was the first to collect books and taught the kings of Egypt how to arrange a library (13.1.54), which most scholars read as a reference to Demetrius. His many writings survive only in fragments, and the treatise On Style that bears his name is by a later author. Diogenes, citing Hermippus, says Ptolemy II had him held under guard in the countryside, where he died of an asp's bite (5.78).
The Letter of Aristeas, written probably in the second century BCE, long after his death, makes him the king's librarian, buying books from the whole world and proposing the translation of the Jewish Law. Its Demetrius is a figure of its story. Legend: told story
Our device: Their emblem is a book on kingship. No portrait of any of these people survives. The emblems are our devices.
On the shelves
- Demetrius of Phalerum, Collection of Aesop's Fables · c. 300 BCE · Lost
- Demetrius of Phalerum (attributed), Sayings of the Seven Sages · c. 300 BCE · Survives in large part
Moments
- c. 297 BCE · Demetrius of Phalerum at Ptolemy's court Known: attested
- c. 295–283 BCE · The Mouseion and the Library founded Known: probable
- 283/282 BCE · Ptolemy II sole king; Demetrius disgraced Known: probable
In the show
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Sources (8)
- Diogenes Laertius 5.75–79
- Plutarch, Sayings of Kings and Commanders Moralia 189d
- Letter of Aristeas 9–11
- R. S. Bagnall, "Alexandria: Library of Dreams", Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 146.4 (2002) 348–362 349–351
- Strabo, Geography 13.1.54 (opens in a new tab)
- Diogenes Laertius 5.78
- P. M. Fraser, Ptolemaic Alexandria, 3 vols. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972)
- L. Canfora, The Vanished Library: A Wonder of the Ancient World, trans. M. Ryle (Berkeley, 1989; Italian 1986)