Lycon

(Λύκων), the name of two mythical personages, one, a son of Hippocoon, was killed by Heracles (Apollod. 3.10.5; Hippocoon), and the other a Trojan. (Hom. Il. 16.335.) [L.S]

(Λύκων), historical.

1. An orator and demagogue at Athens, was one of the three accusers of Socrates and prepared the case against him. According to Stallbanm, Lycon was one of the ten regular advocates (συνήγοροι) employed by the state to conduct public prosecutions but there seems to be no authority for this statement. When the Athenians repented of their condemnation of Socrates, they put Melitus to death and banished Anytus and Lycon. (Plat. Apol. p. 23e; Stallb. ad loc.; D. L. 2.38, 39, 43; Menag. ad loc.) The Lycon, who is mentioned by Aristophanes (Aristoph. Wasps 1301) as a drunken brawler, has been identified by some with the accuser of Socrates (Stallb. l.c.; Kühner, ad Xen. Mem. 1.1.1); and, if we may believe the scholiast on Plato (Apol. l.c.), the latter was also the same person as the husband of the notoriously profligate Rhodia, satirized by Eupolis. From the same authority we learn that he was an Ionian by descent, belonged to the demus of Thoricus, and was noted for his poverty by C ratinus in the πυτίνη, (Arist. Lysistr. 270; Schol. ad loc.; Schn. Praef. ad Xen. Anab. p. xxxii; Meineke, Fragm. Com. Graec. vol. i. p. 117, ii. pp. 131, 441, 442, 515, 535.)

2. A Syracusan, who, when the Zacynthian assassins had entered the house of Dion unarmed, and were in want of a weapon to despatch him, handed a dagger to one of them through the window, B. C. 353. (Plut. Dio 57; Diod. 16.31; Corn. Nep. Dion, 9.)

3. An admiral of Antigonus, king of Asia, was sent by him, in B. C. 313, to the aid of Callatia in Moesia, against Lysimachus, from whom it had revolted, and who was besieging it. Lycon, however, appears to have effected nothing. (Diod. 19.73.)

4. Of Scarphea, a comic actor, who, while performing on one occasion before Alexander the Great, inserted in a speech of the comedy a line asking the king for ten talents. Alexander laughed and gave them to him. (Plut. Alex. 29, de Alex. Fort. 2.2; Athen. 12.539a.) The Lycon, whose convivial qualities are extolled in his epitaph by Phalaecus, was probably the same person; and perhaps also the play of Antiphanes, called "Lycon," had reference to him. (Anth. Graec. vol. i. p. 210, vii. p. 246, ed. Jacobs; Meineke, Fragm. Com. Graec. vol. i. p. 327, iii. p. 80.) [E.E]

(Λύκων), literary.

1. A Pythagorean philosopher. (Iamblich. Vit. Pyth. 36.)

2. Of Iasos, wrote upon Pythagoras. (Ath. ii. p. 47a., p. 69e., 10.418, f.; D. L. 5.69.) It is not clear whether he was the same person as the Pythagorean mentioned by Eusebius (Praep). Evang. 15.2), as a contemporary and a calumniator of Aristotle.

3. Of Troas, a distinguished Peripatetic philosopher, who was the son of Astyanax, and the disciple of Straton, whom he succeeded as the head of the Peripatetic school, in the 127th Olympiad, B. C. 272; and he held that post for more than forty-four years. He resided at Pergamus, under the patronage of Attalus and Eumenes, from whom Antigonus Gonatas of Macedonia in vain sought to entice him (the old reading in the text of Laertius was Antiochus). On several occasions his counsel was of great service to the Athenians. He was celebrated for his eloquence (comp. Cic. de Fin. 5.5), and for his skill in educating boys. He paid great attention to the body as well as to the mind, and, constantly practising athletic exercises, wants exceedingly healthy and robust. Nevertheles, lie died of gout at the age of 74. He was a bitter rival of Hieronymus the peripatetic.

Among the writings of Lycon was probably a work on Characters (similar to the work of Theophrastus), a fragment of which is preserved by Rutilius Lupus (de Fig. 2.7), though the title of the book is not mentioned by any ancient writer. It appears from Cicero (Tusc. Disp. 3.32) and Clement of Alexandria (Clem. Al. Strom. ii. p. 497), that he wrote on the boundaries of good and evil (De Finibus). A work of his on the nature of animals is quoted by Appuleius (Apol. p. 42). In his will, as preserved by Diogenes Laertius, there is a reference to his writings, but no mention of their titles.

Diogenes states, that on account of his sweet eloquence, his name was often written Γλύκων. The fact appears to be that the guttural was originally a part of the word. (D. L. 5.65_74 ; Ruhnken, ad Rutil. Lup. l.c., Opusc. vol. i. p. 393; Jonsius, Script. Hist. Philos. vol. iv. p. 340; Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. i. p. 851, ol. iii. p. 498.) [P.S]

(Λύκων) (1) of Troas. A distinguished Peripatetic philosopher and the disciple of Straton, whom he succeeded as the head of the Peripatetic school, B.C. 272.

(2) An orator and demagogue who, with Anytus and Meletus, accused Socrates. He was afterwards banished for his share in the prosecution. See Socrates.