Asclepiades Mendes Explained

Asclepiades (Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Ἀσκληπιάδης) was a writer of ancient Egypt who possessed, according to the Suda, a profound knowledge of Ancient Egyptian religion, and wrote hymns on his native gods.[1]

He also composed a work upon the agreement among the different religions, Synthesis of All Theologies (τῶν θεολογιῶν ἁπασῶν ἡ συμφωνία), a second on the history of Egypt, and a third on the mythological ruler Ogyges.[2] The sixtieth book of his history of Egypt is quoted by the grammarian Athenaeus.[3]

Many scholars believe that this Asclepiades is the same as the one whom the historian Suetonius calls the author of Theologizing (Θεολογούμενα) and of whom he quotes a fragment.[4] [5] This work seems like it might be the same as Synthesis of All Theologies.

Suetonius calls him "Asclepiades Mendes" which seems to be a toponymic surname derived from the name of a town in Egypt.[6] [7] [8]

Notes and References

  1. [Suda]
  2. Mead . G.R.S. . G. R. S. Mead . Annie . Besant . Annie Besant . G.R.S. . Mead . G. R. S. Mead . Orpheus . . 16 . 285 . 1895 . English . 2024-06-29.
  3. [Athenaeus]
  4. [Suetonius]
  5. Gudeman . Alfred . The Sources of Plutarch's Life of Cicero . Publications of the University of Pennsylvania Series in Philology and Literature . 8 . 2 . 59 . 1902 . English . 2024-06-29.
  6. [Scholiast]
  7. [Isaac Casaubon]
  8. [Gerardus Vossius]