Beginning of letter π, detail of Marc. Pi (uppercase &Pi, lower case &pi) is the sixteenth letter of the Greek alphabet. Gr. 622.

Hesychius of Alexandria (῾Ησύχιος ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς), a grammarian that flourished probably in the 5th century CE, compiled the richest lexicon of unusual and obscure Greek words that has survived (in a single 15th century manuscript). Alexandria ( Egyptian Arabic: اسكندريه Eskendereyya; Standard Arabic: ar الإسكندرية Al-Iskandariyya; Ἀλεξάνδρεια Grammar is the field of Linguistics that covers the Rules governing the use of any given natural language. The 5th century is the period from 401 to 500 in accordance with the Julian calendar in Anno Domini / Common Era. The work includes approximately 51,000 entries, a copious list of peculiar words, forms and phrases, with an explanation of their meaning, and often with a reference to the author who used them or to the district of Greece where they were current. Hence the book is of great value to the student of the Greek dialects; while in the restoration of the text of the classical authors generally, and particularly of such writers as Aeschylus and Theocritus, who used many unusual words, its value can hardly be exaggerated. Aeschylus (ˈɛskɨləs or /ˈiːskɨləs/ Greek: Ασχύλος, Aischylos, 525 BC/524 BC 456 BC/455 BC was an ancient Greek Playwright Theocritus ( Greek: Θεόκριτος the creator of Ancient Greek Bucolic Poetry, flourished in the 3rd century BC Hesychius is important, not only for Greek philology but also for studying lost languages (such as Thracian and the ancient Macedonian language) and in reconstructing Proto-Indo-European. "Thracians" also refers to modern inhabitants of Thrace, regardless of ethnicity For the unrelated modern Slavic language see Macedonian language.

Hesychius' explanations of many epithets and phrases also reveal many important facts about the religion and social life of the ancients.

In a prefatory letter Hesychius mentions that his lexicon is based on that of Diogenianus (itself extracted from an earlier work by Pamphilus), but that he has also used similar works by the grammarian Aristarchus of Samothrace, Apion, Heliodorus, Amerias and others. Diogenianus was a Greek Grammarian from Heraclea in Pontus (or in Caria) who flourished during the reign of Hadrian. Pamphilus (1st century AD was a Greek Grammarian of the school of Aristarchus of Samothrace. Aristarchus of Samothrace (, 220? &ndash 143 BC?) was a Grammarian noted as the most influential of all scholars of Homeric poetry Samothrace (Σαμοθράκη is an island municipality in Greece, in the northern Aegean Sea. Amerias ( Greek: Ἀμερίας 3rd century BC) was an ancient Macedonian lexicographer known for his compilation of a Glossary entitled ( Γλῶσσαι

Hesychius was probably a pagan. Paganism (from Latin paganus, meaning "country dweller rustic" is a word used to refer to various religions and religious beliefs from across the world Explanations of words from Gregory Nazianzus and other Christian writers (glossae sacrae) are later interpolations. Gregory of Nazianzus (329 – January 25 389) (also known as Gregory the Theologian or Gregory Nazianzen) was a 4th-century Archbishop A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth

The lexicon survives in one deeply corrupt 15th century manuscript, which is preserved in the library of San Marco at Venice, (Marc. Gr. 622, 15th century). The best edition is by Moriz Wilhelm Constantin Schmidt (1858-1868), but no complete comparative edition of the ms has been published since it was first printed by Marcus Musurus (at the press of Aldus Manutius) in Venice, 1514 (reprinted in 1520 and 1521 with modest revisions). Marcus Musurus ( Greek: Μάρκος Μουσούρος c 1470&ndash1517 was a Greek scholar and philosopher born in Rethymno, Crete. Aldus Manutius (1449/1450 – February 6, 1515) the Latinized name of Teobaldo Mannucci, sometimes called Aldus Manutius the Elder to distinguish

Under the auspices of the Danish Academy in Copenhagen a modern edition has been in intermittent publication since 1953: alpha to omicron have been published.

References

• Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities 1898

External links

• The ongoing new edition.