Palamedes
Frieze-Dennison Vergil
- son of Nauplius, king of Euboea, who lost his life before Troy, through the artifices of Ulysses, Cic. Tusc. 1, 41, 98; id. Off. 3, 26, 98; Auct. Her. 2, 19, 28. He is said, by observing the flight of cranes, to have invented the letters Θ, Ξ, Φ, Χ, acc. to others the letters Υ and Δ, Plin. 7, 56, 57, § 192; Mart. 13, 75, 2.—Hence,
- A Pălămēdēus, a, um, adj., Palamedean, Manil. 4, 206.—
- B Pă-lămēdĭăcus, a, um, adj., Palamedic: Palamediaci calculi, the counters in the game of draughts which Palamedes invented, Cassiod. Var. 8, 31.—
- C Pălămēdĭ-cus, a, um, adj., Palamedic, Aus. Techn. de Monosyll. 25.
(Πναλαμήδης), a son of Nauplius and Clymene, the daughter of Atreus (or Catreus, Tzetz. ad Lyc. 384), and brother of Oeax. He joined the Greeks in their expedition against Troy; but Agamemnon, Diomedes, and Odysseus, envious of his fame, caused a captive Phrygian to write to Palamedes a letter in the name of Priam, and then induced a servant of Palamedes by bribes to conceal the letter under his master's bed. Hereupon they accused Palamedes of treachery; they searched his tent, and as they found the letter which they themselves had dictated, they caused him to be stoned to death. When Palamedes was led to death, he exclaimed, "Truth, I lament thee, for thou hast died even before me." (Schol. ad Eur. Orest. 422; Philostr. Her. 10; Ov. Met. 13.56.) According to some traditions, it was Odysseus alone who hated and persecuted Palamedes. (Hyg. Fab. 105; Xemoph. Memor. 4.2.23, Apolog. § 26.) The cause of this hatred too is not the same in all writers; for according to some, Odysseus hated him because he had been compelled by him to join the Greeks against Troy (Hyg. Fab. 95; Ov. Met. 13.58; comp. Odysseus, or because lie had been severely censured by Palamedes for returning from a foraging excursion into Thrace with empty hands. (Serv. ad Aen. 2.81; comp. Philostr. Her. 10.) The manner of Palamedes' death is likewise related differently: some say that Odysseus and Diomedes induced him to descend into a well, where they pretended they had discovered a treasure, and as he was below they cast stones upon him, and killed him (Dict. Cret. 2.15); others state that he was drowned by them whilst fishing (Paus. 10.31.1); and according to Dares Phrygius (28) he was killed by Pads with an arrow. The place where he was killed is either Colonae in Troas, or in Tenedos, or at Geraestus. The story of Palamedes, which is not mentioned by Homer, seems to have been first related in the Cypria, and was afterwards developed by the tragic poets, especially Euripides, and lastly by the sophists, who liked to look upon Palanedes as their pattern. (Paus. 10.31.1; Philostr. l.c.) The tragic poets and sophists describe him as a sage among the Greeks, and as a poet; and he is said to have invented light-houses, measures, scales, discus, dice, the alphabet, and the art of regulating sentinels. (Philostr. Her. 10; Paus. 2.20.3, 10.31.1; Schol. ad Eur. Orest. 422.) A sanctuary and a statue of Palamedes existed on the Aeolian coast of Asia Minor, opposite to Methymna in Lesbos. (Philostr. Vit. Apollon. 4.13; Tzetz. ad Lycoph. 384. [L.S]
(Παλαμήδης), a Greek grammarian, was a contemporary of Athenaeus, who introduces him as one of the speakers in his work. Suidas says, that he wrote Κωμικὴν καὶ τραγικὴν λέξιν, ὀνοματολόγον, and a commentary on Pindar. Suidas gives him the epithet ἐλεάτης, and Athenaeus terms him ἐλεατικός. He was also called ὀνοματολόγος, that is, "a collector of words," probably because he gave in his writings an explanation of the difficult words in the tragic and comic poets. The passage in Suidas, in which he is said to have written a work called by his name, is probably corrupt. (Suidas, s. v. Παλαμήδης ; Athen. 9.397., a; Etym. M. s. v. Ἀρμάτειον μέλος, where for Παλαμήδης ἱστορικός we ought perhaps to read Παλαμήδης Ἐλεατικός ; Schol. ad Apoll. Rhod. 1.704, 3.107, 4.1563 ; Schol. ad Arist. Vesp. 708, 1103, 1117, Pac. 916 ; Hemster. ad Arist. Plut. p. 98.)
(Παλαμήδης). (1) The son of Nauplius and brother of Oeax, a hero of the post-Homeric cycle of Trojan legend. Odysseus envied his wisdom and ingenuity, and was bent on avenging himself on Palamedes for detecting his feigned madness. Accordingly he is said to have conspired with Diomedes and drowned him while engaged in fishing; or (according to another account) they persuaded him to enter a well, in which treasure was said to be concealed, and then overwhelmed him with stones. According to others, Agamemnon also hated him as head of the peace party among the Greeks. He accordingly got Odysseus and Diomedes to conceal in his tent a letter purporting to be written by Priam, as well as some money, and then accuse him as a traitor; whereupon he was stoned to death by the people. His brother Oeax informed his father of the sad event by writing the news on an oar and throwing it into the sea, upon which he took a terrible vengeance on the returning Greeks. (See Nauplius.) Palamedes was considered by the Greeks as the inventor of the alphabet and of lighthouses; also of measures and weights, and of dice and draughts and the discus.
(2) A Greek grammarian mentioned by Athenaeus, who makes him one of the speakers in his book.
- Apollod. 2.1.5, Apollod. 3.2.1
- invents dice: Paus. 10.31.1
- dedicates dice in temple of Fortune: Paus. 2.20.3
- detects the feigned madness of Odysseus: Apollod. E.3.5
- drowned by Odysseus and Diomedes: Paus. 10.31.2
- stoned as a traitor at Troy through the machinations of Odysseus: Apollod. E.3.7, Apollod. E.6.7