Panyassis


Panyassis of Halicarnassus, sometimes known as Panyasis, was a 5th-century BC Greek epic poet from Halicarnassus in the Persian Empire.

Life

Panyassis was the son of Polyarchus from Halicarnassus, but the historian Duris of Samos claimed that Panyasis was the son of Diocles and from Samos. In addition, the historian Herodotus was either his nephew or his cousin.
In 454 BC, Panyassis was executed for political activities by the tyrant of Halicarnassus and grandson of Artemisia, Lygdamis ΙΙ, after an unsuccessful uprising against him.
The Suda encyclopedia mentions Panyassis.

Works

Panyassis enjoyed relatively little critical appreciation during his lifetime, but was posthumously recognised as one of the greatest poets of archaic Greece. His most famous works are: the Heracleia about the hero Heracles, written in epic hexameter, and the Ionica about the histories of the Ionian cities of Asia Minor, reportedly written in pentameter. These works are preserved today only in fragments. It is believed that he also wrote other works which have since been lost.