Dicaearchus of Messene

David Mirhady (Simon Fraser University)
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Dicaearchus of Messene (or Messana) in Sicily was a student of Aristotle and a member of the Peripatos, as Aristotle’s school was known. He was, however, not in agreement with Aristotle on all things, and Dicaearchus’ name is often linked with that of the musical theorist Aristoxenus (also a pupil of Aristotle). Dicaearchus was admired as a good teacher, citizen, and human being. Like Aristotle and other members of his school, he had a broad range of intellectual interests, from psychology to cultural history to literature and geography. None of his works survive; we have some fragments from, or reports on his writings, but all of this material has come down to us in the form of citations embedded in later texts. His work was well known to Cicero, Plutarch, and Athenaeus who, along…

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Citation: Mirhady, David. "Dicaearchus of Messene". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 02 December 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=11979, accessed 03 October 2024.]

11979 Dicaearchus of Messene 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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