We know nothing of the life of Timaeus the philosopher;
the only thing we know is that he lived in the IV century
b.C. and that he died at a good old age after having been in
charge of
the highest government offices of Locri Epizephyrii for a
long time.
It is supposed that he wrote many books of science and
philosophy but, unfortunately, they didn't reach our age.
But we know one of the theories of these books, whose title
is "De Anima Mundi et Natura", thanks to Plato
that stated it in a dialogue dedicated to Timaeus, in which
Socrates, speaking about the Locrian philosopher, says:
Our friend Timaeus is a native of a most well-governed State,
Italian Locris, where he is inferior to none of its citizens either in property or in rank; and not only
he has occupied the highest law offices of his State, but he has also attained, in my opinion, the very summit of eminence in all branches of philosophy.
(Plato, Timaeus, II)
Also
Dante, the Great poet, mentions Timaeus, speaking about his soul
theory, in the IV canto of the Paradiso:
"That
which Timaeus argues of the soul
do not resemble that which here is seen
because it seems that, as it's said, he thinks".
(Dante Alighieri, Divine Comedy - Paradiso, canto IV, 49-51)
It
is also supposed that, thanks to Timaeus, in Locri
developed a thriving philosophical school that instructed
many capable philosophers, legislators and also doctors,
such as, for instance, Philistion.
Euthymus is the first of a long series of Locrians
athletes (such as Hagesidamus, of whom it's speak later on,
Euthycles and Keton, of whom we have very few information)
who for a long period took the lead in the Olympic games.
Euthymus, son of Astikles, won the Olympic games for three
times in a row in boxing competition, the first time in 484
b.C.; he enjoyed an exceptional reputation not only in his
native land and his undoubted bravery was recognized by many
ancient writers such as Elianus, Pliny, Pausania and Strabo.
Of the last one, Strabo, we reproduce here his words which
remember the legend which says that Euthymus defeated the
monster of Temesa, freeing the town from the yearly tribute
of a girl chosen amongst the most beautiful, which the town
had to pay to the monster to avoid its rage:
(It
is said that), when the Epizephyrian Locrians captured the city,
Euthymus the pugilist faced the monster, defeated him in the fight and forced him to release the natives from the tribute.
(Strabo, Geography VI,
5)
Quiet apart from what were the legends which grew
themselves around his name, the fame and the bravery of
Euthymus are confirmed by the tradition which handed down
that, after his death, occurred in tragic circumstances, he
was mourned not only in his own homeland, Locri Epizephyrii,
but in the whole Greek world.
Also Hagesidamus, son of Archestratus, like Euthymus, takes
his fame from the victory in the Olympic games (476 b.C.),
in boxing competition. But, unlike Euthymus, his exploits
were handed down thanks to Pindar who dedicated to
Hagesidamus two of his Olympian Odes, of which here there
are some fragments:
Read
me the name of the Olympic victor,
the son of Archestratus, where it has been written
in my mind; for I owed him a sweet song,
and I have forgotten.
(Pindar, Olympian
Odes X, 1-4)
The
highest Law rules
Locri Epizephyrii... and Calliope
is important to them, and bronze-armored Ares.
Battle with Cycnus set back even
Heracles, strong and violent; let Hagesidamus,
victorious as a boxer at Olympia, offer thanks to
Ilas,
just as Patroclus did to Achilles
(Pindar, Olympian
Odes X, 17-23)
But on you
(Hagesidamus) the soft-singing lyre and the sweet flute
scatter grace and the Pierian
daughters of Zeus nurture your wide fame.
While I, earnestly lending my hand, have embraced
the famous tribe of the Locrians,
showering with honey their city of fine me;
and I praised the lovely son of Archestratus,
whom I saw at that time
beside the Olympic altar,
winning victory with the valour of his hands beautiful in form,
and blended with that youthful bloom which once
kept Ganymede from shameless death, with the help of Cyprian
(Pindar, Olympian
Odes X, 113-125)
And now know, Hagesidamus son of Archestratus,
for the sake of your boxing victory, that
I shall loudly sing, on your garland of golden olive,
a sweet song, adorned by
the honouring of the race of the Western Locrians.
(All) go There! And to the Muses
I shall pledge my word that they will find there
a race
that does not repel the stranger, or is inexperienced in fine deeds,
but one that is wise and warlike too. (Pindar, Olympian
Odes XI, 10-19)
Thanks to
the Odes (from which these fragments are taken) written by
Pindar, the name and the exploits of Hagesidamus reached our
age.
The information which we have about Senocrito are few and
fragmentary; he was musician and lyric poet in the ancient
Locri. His skill was highly appreciated by Plutarch and also
Pindar dedicated him his attention, such as, for instance,
in this fragment (of which this part is the more readable,
taken from one of the Papyri of Oxyrhynchus:
[...] and I hearing
a little of the sweet melody
was egged on the singing, on the reply,
like the dolphin, when he is restless
due to the sweetest sound of the flutes
in the vastness of the great sea. (Pindar, Uncertain
Fragmenta, 2)
In the
less readable part, Pindar mentions that this singing and
this sweet melody were due "to
someone of Locri, thriving city near the Zephyrium in the
far Ausonia".
The fact that, in this poetry, Pindar was speaking about Senocrito is confirmed by Callimachus in one of his works.
Amongst the renowned historical figures which Locri had in
the ancient ages, there was a cithara-bard, Eunomus, who enjoyed
a lot of fame.
And in Locri Epizephyrii, in that age, there was a statue
which depicted Eunomus with, in his hand, a cithara on which
were seated a cicada.
Of this statue talks Strabo who, mentioning as source
Timaeus, show us the reason of the presence of the cicada on
the cithara of Eunomus' statue:
[…]
Some time ago (people) used to show in Locri a statue of the cithara-bard Eunomus with a cicada seated on the cithara. Timaeus says that Eunomus and Ariston of Rhegium were once contesting with each other at the Pythian games to gain the victory.
[…]
Ariston was none the less held in
favour and hoped for the victory, and yet Eunomus gained the victory and set up the aforesaid
statue in (his) native land, because during the contest, when one of the chords broke, a cicada lit on his cithara and supplied the missing sound.
(Strabo,
Geography VI,
9)
Here,
then, the reason for which on the statue dedicated to
Eunomus there was a cicada seated on the cithara-bard's
cithara.
If we know very few things
about the other renowned historical figures of the ancient
Locri Epizephyrii, of Teano we know less than usual.
Teano was a poetess, probably contemporary of Stesichor. The
tradition handed down very few information about her,
particularly the experts believe that her work was composed
by lyrics which had, as subject, her own homeland, her own
city.
That's all we know about Teano and, nowadays, what we can do
here is, at least, to remember her name, because,
unfortunately, nothing of her works was handed down by
tradition.