Calamites

An Attic hero, who is mentioned only by Demosthenes,1 and is otherwise entirely unknown.2 The commentators on Demosthenes have endeavored in various ways to gain a definite notion of Calamites: some think that Calamites is a false reading for Cyamites, and others that the name is a mere epithet, and that ἰατπός (iatpos) is understood. According to the latter view, Calamites would be a hero of the art of surgery, or a being well skilled in handling the κάλαμος (kalamos) or reed which was used in dressing fractured arms and legs. Others again find in Calamites the patron of the art of writing and of writing masters.3

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References

Notes

  1. De Corona, p. 270.
  2. Comp. Hesychius and Suidas, s.v. Καλαμίτης.
  3. Comp. Jahn. (1838). Jahrbücher für Philologie und Paedagogik.

Source

  • Smith, William. (1870). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. London: Taylor, Walton, and Maberly.

This article incorporates text from Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) by William Smith, which is in the public domain.