Julius Pollux  

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 +'''Julius Pollux''' (Ἰούλιος Πολυδεύκης, ''Ioulios Poludeukes'') (2nd century) was a [[Greeks|Greek]] or [[Ancient Egypt|Egyptian]] grammarian and [[sophist]] from [[Alexandria]] who taught at [[Athens]], where he was appointed professor of rhetoric at the [[Academy]] by the emperor [[Commodus]] — on account of his melodious voice, according to [[Philostratus]]' ''[[Lives of the Sophists]].'' Nothing of his rhetorical works has survived except some of their titles (in the [[Suda]]). Pollux was the author of the ''[[Onomasticon]],'' a Greek [[thesaurus]] or dictionary of [[Attic]] synonyms and phrases, arranged not alphabetically but according to subject-matter, in ten books. It supplies in passing much rare and valuable information on many points of classical antiquity— objects in daily life, the theater, politics— and quotes numerous fragments of [[lost work]]s. Pollux was probably the person satirized by [[Lucian]] as a worthless and ignorant person who gains a reputation as an orator by sheer effrontery, and pilloried in his ''[[Lexiphanes]]'', a satire upon the affectation of obscure and obsolete words. A first Latin translation, published at Venice in 1502, made Julius Pollux more available to [[Renaissance]] [[Antiquary|antiquaries]] and scholars, and anatomists, who adopted obscure Greek words for parts of the body. Julius Pollux was invaluable for [[William Smith]]'s ''[[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities]],'' 1842, etc.
-From the 4th century BC, the figurines acquire a decorative function. Thus, figurines represent theatrical characters, such as [[Julius Pollux]] recounts in his ''Onomasticon'' (2nd century CE): the slave, the peasant, the nurse, the fat woman, the satyr from the [[satyr play]], etc. The features are readily caricatured and distorted. By the Hellenistic era, the figurines become grotesques: deformed beings with disproportionate heads, sagging breasts or prominent bellies, hunchbacks and bald men. Grotesques are a specialty of the city of [[Smyrna]], even if produced everywhere in the Greek world, for instance, in [[Tarsus (city)|Tarsus]] or [[Alexandria]]. 
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-Lastly, the terracotta is often used to manufacture dolls and other children's toys. Thus, we find articulated figurines or small horses, easy to manipulate for small hands. Sometimes, the nature of a figurine is difficult to determine, such as the curious bell-idols from Boeotia, which appear at the end of the 8th century BC. They are equipped with a long neck and a disproportionate body, cylindrical and lathe-shaped. The arms are atrophied and the legs are mobile. Lastly, the head is pierced with a hole to hang them. It is uncertain if they were toys or votive offerings. 
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-== See also == 
-* [[Tanagra figurine]] 
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Julius Pollux (Ἰούλιος Πολυδεύκης, Ioulios Poludeukes) (2nd century) was a Greek or Egyptian grammarian and sophist from Alexandria who taught at Athens, where he was appointed professor of rhetoric at the Academy by the emperor Commodus — on account of his melodious voice, according to Philostratus' Lives of the Sophists. Nothing of his rhetorical works has survived except some of their titles (in the Suda). Pollux was the author of the Onomasticon, a Greek thesaurus or dictionary of Attic synonyms and phrases, arranged not alphabetically but according to subject-matter, in ten books. It supplies in passing much rare and valuable information on many points of classical antiquity— objects in daily life, the theater, politics— and quotes numerous fragments of lost works. Pollux was probably the person satirized by Lucian as a worthless and ignorant person who gains a reputation as an orator by sheer effrontery, and pilloried in his Lexiphanes, a satire upon the affectation of obscure and obsolete words. A first Latin translation, published at Venice in 1502, made Julius Pollux more available to Renaissance antiquaries and scholars, and anatomists, who adopted obscure Greek words for parts of the body. Julius Pollux was invaluable for William Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, 1842, etc.





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