Suda Lexicon
Quick Summary
The Suda, also known as the Suda Lexicon, is a 10th-century Byzantine encyclopedia. It is a comprehensive work that includes entries on grammar, literature, history, and biography. The Suda is particularly valuable for its preservation of information about ancient Greek literature and history that would otherwise be lost.1
While the Suda is an encyclopedia, the term "lexicon" specifically refers to a reference book that provides information about words, such as their meanings, pronunciations, and origins, listed in alphabetical order. Hesychius of Alexandria, who flourished in the 5th century AD, authored an important Greek lexicon that is a key authority for understanding ancient inscriptions, poetic texts, and the writings of Greek Church Fathers.21
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encyclopaediaThe role of encyclopaedias…as the 10th- or 11th-century Suidas, forms a convenient bridge between the dictionary and the encyclopaedia, in that it combines the essential features of both, embellishing them where necessary with pictures or diagrams, at the same time that it reduces most entries to a few lines that can provide a…
Read More…as the 10th- or 11th-century Suidas, forms a convenient bridge between the dictionary and the encyclopaedia, in that it combines the essential features of both, embellishing them where necessary with pictures or diagrams, at the same time that it reduces most entries to a few lines that can provide a…
Read More- encyclopaediaEarly development
…dictionary known as Suda, or Suidas, broke with tradition by adopting alphabetical order for its contents. This had no effect on the plan of later encyclopaedias, but its contents included so much useful information that it has retained its importance as a source throughout the succeeding centuries.
Read More…dictionary known as Suda, or Suidas, broke with tradition by adopting alphabetical order for its contents. This had no effect on the plan of later encyclopaedias, but its contents included so much useful information that it has retained its importance as a source throughout the succeeding centuries.
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- Alcman
The Suda, a Byzantine lexicon (late 10th century ad), describes Alcman as a man “of an extremely amorous disposition and the inventor of love poems.” His learned verse is full of geographic detail. One fragment, telling of the sleeping world at the end of the day,…
Read MoreThe Suda, a Byzantine lexicon (late 10th century ad), describes Alcman as a man “of an extremely amorous disposition and the inventor of love poems.” His learned verse is full of geographic detail. One fragment, telling of the sleeping world at the end of the day,…
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PlutarchLifeAccording to the Suda lexicon (a Greek dictionary dating from about 1000 ce), Trajan bestowed the high honor of ornamenta consularia upon him. Although that may be true, a report of a 4th-century church historian, Eusebius, that Hadrian made Plutarch governor of Greece is probably apocryphal. A Delphic…
Read MoreAccording to the Suda lexicon (a Greek dictionary dating from about 1000 ce), Trajan bestowed the high honor of ornamenta consularia upon him. Although that may be true, a report of a 4th-century church historian, Eusebius, that Hadrian made Plutarch governor of Greece is probably apocryphal. A Delphic…
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