What is "archestratus"

Archestratus ( Archestratos) was an Ancient Greek poet of Gela or Syracuse, in Sicily, who wrote some time in the mid 4th century BCE, and was known as "the Daedalus of tasty dishes". His humorous didactic poem Hedypatheia ("Life of Luxury"), written in hexameters but known only from quotations, advises a gastronomic reader on where to find the best food in the Mediterranean world. The writer, who was styled in antiquity the Hesiod or Theognis of gluttons, parodies the pithy style of older gnomic poets; most of his attention is given to fish, although some fragments refer to appetizers, and there was also a section on wine. His poem had a certain notoriety among readers in the 4th and 3rd centuries BCE: it was referred to by the comic poet Antiphanes, by Lynceus of Samos and by the philosophers Aristotle, Chrysippus and Clearchus of Soli. In nearly every case these references are disparaging, implying that Archestratus's poem—like the sex manual by Philaenis - was likely to corrupt its readers. This attitude is exemplified in the Deipnosophistae with citations of Chrysippus:

62 fragments from Archestratus's poem (including two doubtful items) survive, all via quotation by Athenaeus in the Deipnosophistae. The poem was translated or imitated in Latin by Ennius, a work that has not survived. The standard edition of the fragments, with commentary and translation, is by Olson and Sens (2000).

Archestratus was a 4th-century BC gastronomic poet.

Archestratus may also refer to:

• Archestratus (music theorist), 3rd century BC harmonic theorist
• Archestratus of Phrearrhi, Plato's neighbor
• Archestratus, Athenian commander at the Battle of Potidaea, 432 BC
• Archestratus, a banker who did business in 4th century BC Athens, owner of the slave Pasion

Archestratus ( Archestratos) was a harmonic theorist in the Peripatetic tradition and probably lived in the early 3rd century BC. Little is known of his life and career. Athenaeus' reference (XIV.634d) to an Archestratus who wrote On auletes in two books is perhaps to him; it is a "rather remote" possibility that he is identical with Archestratus of Syracuse.