Nicomachus
(Νικόμαχος).
1. One of the sons of Machaon, the son of Aesculapius, by Anticleia, the daughter of Diocles, king of Pherae, in Messenia. According to Pausanias (4.30.2), he succeeded to the kingdom after the death of his grandfather, together with his brother Gorgasus, and is therefore placed by some in the twelfth century B. C. Both brothers followed the example of their father, by practising the art of healing, for which they received divine honours after their death, and had a sanctuary at Pherae, founded by Isthmius, the son of G(laucus (id. 4.3.6). Suidas (s. v. Νικόμ.) says he was a native of Stageira, in Macedonia; but it is not likely that this city was then in existence. He also seems to say that he wrote six books on medicine (Ἰατρικά), and one on natural science (Φυσικά); but this is probably incorrect. In fact Nicomachus must be regarded as a purely mythical personage. According to Hermippus (ap. D. L. 5.1.1), he was the ancestor of Nicomachus, the father of Aristotle.
2. The father of Aristotle, who belonged to the family of the Asclepiadae, and was descended from Nicomachus, the son of Machaon. He had another son named Arimnestus, and a daughter named Arimneste, by his wife Phaestis, or Phaestias, who was also descended from Aesculapius. He was a native of Stageira, and the friend and physician of Amyntas II., king of Macedonia, B. C. 393-369. He was perhaps the author of the works attributed (apparently) by Suidas to his ancestor, the son of Machaon. (Suid. s. v. Ἀριστοτέλης, Νικόμαχος; Ammon. in vita Aristot.; D. L. 5.1.1.; Dionys. De Demosth. et Aristot. § 5; Joann. Tzetz. Chil. 10.727). [W.A.G]
(Νικόμαχος), a scribe at Athens (γραμματεύς), rose to citizenship from a servile origin, if we may believe the statements in the speech of Lysias against him. According to the same authority he was entrusted with a commission to transcribe the laws of Solon, a period of four months being allowed him for the purpose ; but he extended the time, on various pretences, to six years, and drove a profitable trade by tampering with the laws, in the way of interpolation or omission, as it suited his several employers. In particular, he lent himself to the intrigues of the oligarchical party, in B. C. 405, and fabricated a law giving power to the council to take cognisance of the alleged offence of Cleophon. Notwithstanding, however, his services to the oligarchs, he was obliged to fly from Athens under the government of the Thirty. On the re-establishment of democracy he seems to have been again employed in the transcription and registering of the laws, and it was for misconduct in the execution of this duty that he was visited with the prosecution for which the speech of Lysias was written. (Xen. Hell. 1.7.35; Lys. c. Agor. p. 130, c. Nicom.) It was perhaps the same Nicomachus who is mentioned by Aristophanes (Aristoph. Frogs 1502) as a ποριστης --one of those whose business it was to levy extraordinary supplies (see Dict. of Ant. s. v.) --and to whom Pluto is made to send, through Aeschylus, a present of a rope, with an urgent demand for his early appearance in the regions below. The Nicomachus also mentioned by Isocrates (c. Callim. pp. 373, 374) may, perhaps, have been the same person. [E.E]
(Νικόμαχος), a son of Aristotle by the slave Herpyllis. We are destitute of any particulars of his life. The following points are merely indicated by their several authorities. From the will of Aristotle, as given by Laertiu;, we infer that Nicomachus was a mere boy when the will was made, and that he was entrusted first to the care of tutors therein named, and then to the discretion of Nicanor, Aristotle's adopted son. We are told by the same authority that Theophrastus was his teacher. Eusebius (Praep. 15.2) states that, while still young, he died in war. (D. L. 5.1, 12, 35; Euseb. 1. c.; Suid. s. v. Νικόμαχζς.) He must have lived about B. C. 320.
His name, as an author, has become mixed tip with that of his illustrious father. Cicero (de Fin. 5.5) and Laertius (8.88) seem to attribute to him certain ethical writings that are generally ascribed to Aristotle. Some modern writers have assented to this, but on slender grounds. (Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. iii. p. 262.) It is not difficult to see how the mistake may have arisen. A portion of the moral writings of Aristotle bears the name of Ἠθικὰ Νικομαχεία, why we cannot tell; whether the father so named them, as a memorial of his affection to his young son, or whether they derived their title from being afterwards edited and commented on by Nicomachus. [See Vol. I. of this work, p. 331a. Ἠθικὰ Ἐυδήμεια.] This last reason is rendered not improbable from the circumstance mentioned by Suidas (l.c.), that Nicomachus wrote six books (probably a comment) on ethics, and a comment on his father's work Περὶτῆζ θυσικῆς Ἀκροάσεως. Hence the confusion between the editor and commentator, and the original author. [W.M.G]
(Νικόμαχος), literary. Two dramatic poets of the name have been mentioned by Suidas (s.v. The whole question regarding them has been examined minutely by Meineke (Frag. Com. Graec. vol. i. pp. 75, &c., 496, &c ), and we shall briefly give his views, as probable and well supported by his authorities.
1. A tragic poet of Alexandria in the Troad, according to Suidas. He was a contemporary of Euripides and Theognis, B. C. 425, with whom he competed, and successfully, contrary to universal expectation. We may infer from the language of Suidas that the play which gained the prize was on the subject of Oedipus. He wrote, according to Suidas, eleven tragedies. But his list evidently contains two comedies. As corrected by Meineke, it contains the following subjects :-- Alexander, Eriphyle, Geryones, Aletides, Neoptolemus, Mysi, Oedipus, Hii Excidium sive Polyxena, Tyndareus, Alcmaeon, and Teucer, the last three constituting a trilogy. He was of no great reputation, as the language of Suidas implies. Only four words remain that can be traced to him.
2. A comic poet of the time of Pherecrates, B. C. 420. To him are doubtfully assigned (Ath. 8.364, a, where he designates him ὁ ῥυθμικὸς), the comedy of Χείρων, and (Harpoer. s.v. Μεταλλεῖς, p. 242) the comedy of Μεταλλεῖζ, usually assigned to Pherecrates.
3. A poet of the new comedy. The Εἰλήθυια, perhaps the Μετεκβαίνουσαι, both attributed to the first Nicomachus, by Suidas, and another, the Ναυμαχια were probably written by him. Of the first, we have an extract, consisting of forty-two lines, in Athenaeus (vii. p. 290e.), containing a humorous dialogue, wherein a cook magnifies the requirements of his office. (Meineke, vol. v. p. 583, &c.) Of the last we have two lines preserved by Stobaeus, 33. 10. (Meineke, vol.v. p.583; Stob. vol. ii. p.59, ed. Gaisford.) Athenaeus gives (ii. p. 58a.) three lines, and (xi. p. 781f.) one line (Meineke, vol. v. p. 587, &c.), from plays of Nicomachus, whose titles he does not mention.
There are several other literary persons of this name. By one of them there is an epigram on an earthquake which desolated Plataea. The point of it lies in the ruins of Plataea, constituting the monument of those that perished. Of the date of the earthquake, or the writer of the epigram, we know nothing. (Anth. Graec. vol. ii. p. 258, ed. Jacobs.) Nor do we know who the Nicomachus is who wrote περὶ ἑορτῶν Αἰγυπτίων, quoted by Athenaeus (xi. p. 478a.), though this work is sometimes attributed to Nicomachus Gerasenus. [W.M.G]
Νικόμαχος Γερασηνός, (or Γερασινός), called Gerasenus, from his native place, Gerasa in Arabia, was a Pythagorean, and the writer of a life of Pythagoras, now lost. His date is inferred from his mention of Thrasyllus, who lived under Tiberius. He wrote on arithmetic and music, and is the earliest, we believe, of those whose names became bye-words to express skill in computation. In the Philopatris is the phrase "you number like Nicomachus of Gerasa." This writer exercised no small influence on European studies, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries; but indirectly. Boethius, in his arithmetical work, is no more than the abbreviator of the larger work of Nicomachus, now lost. The never-ending distinction of specific ratios by names (see Numbers, old appellations of, in the Supplement to the Penny Cyclopaedia), is the remote consequence of Nicomachus having been a Pythagorean. Works
The extant works of N icomachus are:-- 1. Ἀριθμητικης εἰσααγωγῆς Βιβλία Β
The lesser work on arithmetic. Editions
It was printed (Gr.) by Christian Wechel, Paris, 1538, 4to.; also, after theteologumena Arithmeticae, attributed to Iambilichus, Leipzig, 1817, 8vo. A Latin version by one Appuleius is lost, as also various commentaries, of which only fragments remain. 2. Ἐγχειρίδιον ἁρμονικῆς Βιβλία Β
A work on music, first printed (Gr.) by Joh. Meursius, in his collection, Leyden, 1616, 4to, and afterward in the collection of Meibomius, (Gr. Lat.), Amsterdam, 1652, 4to; and again in the works of Meursius by Lami, Florence, 1745, fol. Lost Works
The works which are lost are a collection of Pythagorean dogmata, referred to by Iambilichus; a larger work on music, promised by Nicomachus himself, and apparently referred to by Eutocius in his comment on the sphere and cylinder of Archimedes; θεολογούμενα ἀριθμητικῆς, mentioned by Photius, but a different work from that above alluded to; τέχνη ἀριθμητικὴ, the larger work above noted, distinctively mentioned by Photius; a work on geometry, to which Nicomachus himself once refers; περὶ ἑορτῶν Αἰγυπψίων, mentioned by Athenaeus, but whether by this Nicomachus or another, uncertain. Further Information
Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. v. p. 629; Hoffman; Schweiger. [A. De M.]
(Νικόμαχος), artists.
1. A painter, of the highest distinction, was (according to the common text of Pliny) a Theban, the son and disciple of the painter Aristodemus, the elder brother and teacher of the great painter Aristeides, and the father and teacher of Aristocles. (Plin. H. N. 35.10. s. 36.22.)
We have thus the following stemma :--
But the names vary in the MSS., and in the Bamberg MS. they are altogether different, giving the following stemma: --
To decide with certainty between the readings is impossible: it may, however, be remarked that there is no other passage in which the names of Aristodemus and Aristocles occur. (Comp. the Kunstblatt, for 1832, p. 188.)
Nicomlachus flourished under Aristratus of Sicyon, and Philip of Macedonia. He may therefore be placed at B. C. 360, and onwards. He was an elder contemporary of Apelles and Protogenes.
He is frequently mentioned by the ancient writers in terms of the highest praise. Cicero says that in his works, as well as in those of Echion, Protogenes, and Apelles, every thing was already perfect. (Brutus, 18.) Plutarch mentions his paintings, with the poems of Homer, as possessing, in addition to their force and grace, the appearance of having been executed with little toil or effort. (Timol. 36.) Vitruvius mentions him as among the artists who were prevented from attaining to the very highest fame, not from any want of skill or industry, but from accidental circumstances (iii. Prooem. § 2).
Pliny tells us that Nicomachus was one of the artists who used only four colours (H. N. 35.7. s. 32; comp. Dict. of Antiq. s. v. Colores), and that, like Parrhasius, he used the Eretrian ochre in his shadows (ibid. 6. s. 21). He was one of the most rapid of painters. As an example, Pliny relates that, having been commissioned by Aristratus to paint the monument which he was erecting to the poet Telestes, Nicomachus postponed the commencement of the work so long as to incur the anger of the tyrant, but, at last, beginning it only a few days before the time fixed for its completion, he fulfilled his engagement with no less skill than rapidity. (Plin. Nat. 35.10. s. 36.22.)
As his works, Pliny mentions, the Rape of Proserpine, which once hung above the shrine of Youth (Juventas) in the temple of Minerva, on the Capitol: a Victory with a four-horsed chariot (quadrigam in sublime rapiens), also in the Capitol, where it had been placed by Plancus: Apollo and Diana: Cybele riding on a lion: a celebrated picture of female bacchanals, surprised by satyrs stealing upon them: and a Scylla, at Rome, in the temple of Peace (Plin. l. c.). He was the first who painted Ulysses with the pileus (ibid.). Pliny also mentions his unfinished picture of the Tyndaridae, among the examples of unfinished works by great masters, which were more highly admired thai even their perfect paintings. (H. N. 35.11. s. 40.41.) His disciples were his brother Aristeides, his son Aristocles, and Philoxenes of Eretria (Plin. l.c. 36.22; but compare the commencement of this article), and also Corybas (ibid. 40. -§ 42).
Stobaeus (Serm. 61) has preserved an interesting sayiug of Nicomachus. An amateur remarking to him that he could see no beauty in the Helen of Zeuxis, the painter, replied, " Take my eyes, and a goddess will be revealed to you." The sameanswer is ascribed by Aelian (Ael. VH 14.47) to a certain Nicostratus, who is not mentioned elsewhere, and whose name is therefore probably an error for Nicomachus.
2. A statuary or sculptor, whose name appears on a marble base recently discovered in Athens. From the form of the letters, the date of the inscription is supposed to fall in the time of the earliest successors of Alexander. (Ross and Thiersch, in the Kunstblatt fr 1840, p. 48.)
3. The engraver of a gem representing a Faun sitting on a tiger's skin. (Bracci, tab. 87; Stosch, 44.) [P.S]
(Νικόμαχος). (1) A scribe at Athens, who, in transcribing the laws of Solon, altered them for a bribe ( Hellen. i. 7, 35).
(2) A Greek painter, probably of Thebes, about B.C. 360. He was celebrated as an artist who could paint with equal rapidity and excellence, and was regarded as rivalling the best painters of his day. A famous painting of his was “The Rape of Persephoné” (Pliny , Pliny H. N. xxxv. 108).
(3) The father of Aristotle (q. v.).
(4) The son of Aristotle, by a slave-girl, Herpyllis. He wrote some philosophical works; and some of Aristotle's writings are called the Nicomachean Ethics (Ἠθικὰ Νικομάχεια). (See Aristoteles.)
(5) Of Gerasa, in Arabia, a follower of the Pythagorean philosophy, about A.D. 150. He composed an introduction to mathematics in two books and a hand-book on harmony, of which only the first book is preserved entire, the second consisting of two fragments, which cannot be said, with certainty, to come from Nicomachus. The first-mentioned work gives valuable information as regards the arithmetic of the Greeks in earlier times. It was translated into Latin by Boëtius, and has been edited by Hoche (1863). The musical work was edited by Meibomius (Amst. 1652).
- worshipped at Pharae, where he heals sick: Paus. 4.3.10, Paus. 4.30.3
- Apollod. E.7.25