Everything about Zoilus totally explained
Zoilus (c.
400 BC-
320 BC) was a
Greek grammarian,
Cynic philosopher, and
literary critic from
Amphipolis in
Macedon. Took the name Homeromastix later in life.
According to
Vitruvius (vii., preface) he lived during the age of
Ptolemy Philadelphus, by whom he was crucified as the punishment of his criticisms on the king; but this account should probably be rejected as a fiction based on Zoilus' reputation. Vitruvius goes on to state that Zoilus also may have been stoned at Chios or thrown alive upon a funeral pyre at Smyrna. Either way Vitruvius felt it was just as well since he deserved to be dead for slandering an author who couldn't defend himself. Zoilus appears to have been at one time a follower of
Isocrates, but subsequently a pupil of
Polycrates, whom he heard at
Athens, where he was a teacher of rhetoric.
Zoilus is especially notable for his role in the beginnings of
Homeric scholarship. His monograph
Homeric questions seems to have analysed continuity errors in
Homer, but also criticised the impropriety of Homer's depiction of gods indulging in allegedly inappropriate behaviour. This monograph is widely regarded as the beginning of
classical scholarship. Zoilus also wrote responses to works by
Isocrates and
Plato, who had attacked the style of
Lysias of which he approved.
However, the
Homeric questions led to his name becoming a byword for harsh and malignant criticism: in antiquity he gained the name
Homeromastix, "scourge of Homer"; in the
modern period,
Cervantes calls Zoilus a "slanderer" in the preface to
Don Quixote and there's also a (now disused) proverb, "Every poet has his Zoilus." Since his writings don't survive, it's impossible to know whether this caricature is justified.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Zoilus'.
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