DICTYS CRETENSIS

dictys cretensis, of cnossus in crete, the supposed companion of idomeneus during the trojan war, and author of a diary of its events. the ms. of this work, written in phoenician characters, was said to have been found in his tomb (enclosed in a leaden box) at the time of an earthquake during the reign of nero, by whose order it was translated into greek. in the 4th century a.d. a certain lucius septimius brought out _dictys cretensis ephemeris belli trojani_, which professed to be a latin translation of the greek version. scholars were not agreed whether any greek original really existed; but all doubt on the point was removed by the discovery of a fragment in greek amongst the papyri found by b. p. grenfell and a. s. hunt in 1905-1906. possibly the latin ephemeris was the work of septimius himself. its chief interest lies in the fact that (together with dares phrygius's _de excidio trojae_) it was the source from which the homeric legends were introduced into the romantic literature of the middle ages. best edition by f. meister (1873), with short but useful introduction and index of latinity; see also g. korting, _diktys und dares_ (1874), with concise bibliography; h. dunger, _die sage vom trojanischen kriege in den bearbeitungen des mittelalters und ihren antiken quellen_ (1869, with a literary genealogical table); e. collilieux, _etude sur dictys de crete et dares de phrygie_ (1887), with bibliography; w. greif, "die mittelalterlichen bearbeitungen der trojanersage," in e. m. stengel's _ausgaben und abhandlungen aus dem gebiete der romanischen philologie_, no. 61 (1886, esp. sections 82, 83, 168-172); f. colagrosso, "ditte cretese" in _atti della r. accademia di archeologia_ (naples, 1897, vol. 18, pt. ii. 2); f. noack, "der griechische dictys," in _philologus_, supp. vi. 403 ff.; n. e. griffin, _dares and dictys, introduction to the study of the medieval versions of the story of troy_ (1907). dicuil (fl. 825), irish monastic scholar, grammarian and geographer. he was the author of the _de mensura orbis terrae_, finished in 825, which contains the earliest clear notice of a european discovery of and settlement in iceland and the most definite western reference to the old freshwater canal between the nile and the red sea, finally blocked up in 767. in 795 (february 1-august 1) irish hermits had visited iceland; on their return they reported the marvel of the perpetual day at midsummer in "thule," where there was then "no darkness to hinder one from doing what one would." these eremites also navigated the sea north of iceland on their first arrival, and found it ice-free for one day's sail, after which they came to the ice-wall. relics of this, and perhaps of other irish religious settlements, were found by the permanent scandinavian colonists of iceland in the 9th century. of the old egyptian freshwater canal dicuil learnt from one "brother fidelis," probably another irish monk, who, on his way to jerusalem, sailed along the "nile" into the red sea--passing on his way the "barns of joseph" or pyramids of giza, which are well described. dicuil's knowledge of the islands north and west of britain is evidently intimate; his references to irish exploration and colonization, and to (more recent) scandinavian devastation of the same, as far as the faeroes, are noteworthy, like his notice of the elephant sent by harun al-rashid (in 801) to charles the great, the most curious item in a political and diplomatic intercourse of high importance. dicuil's reading was wide; he quotes from, or refers to, thirty greek and latin writers, including the classical homer, hecataeus, herodotus, thucydides, virgil, pliny and king juba, the sub-classical solinus, the patristic st isidore and orosius, and his contemporary the irish poet sedulius;--in particular, he professes to utilize the alleged surveys of the roman world executed by order of julius caesar, augustus and theodosius (whether theodosius the great or theodosius ii. is uncertain). he probably did not know greek; his references to greek authors do not imply this. though certainly irish by birth, it has been conjectured (from his references to sedulius and the caliph's elephant) that he was in later life in an irish monastery in the frankish empire. letronne inclines to identify him with dicuil or dichull, abbot of pahlacht, born about 760. there are seven chief mss. of the _de mensura_ (dicuil's tract on grammar is lost); of these the earliest and best are (1) paris, national library, lat. 4806; (2) dresden, regius d. 182; both are of the 10th century. three editions exist: (1) c. a. walckenaer's, paris, 1807; (2) a. letronne's, paris, 1814, best as to commentary; (3) g. parthey's, berlin, 1870, best as to text. see also c. r. beazley, _dawn of modern geography_ (london, 1897), i. 317-327, 522-523, 529; t. wright, _biographia britannica literaria, anglo-saxon period_ (london, 1842), pp. 372-376. (c. r. b.)