WRITER

Palaephatus

400 BC - 360 BC

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Palaephatus (Ancient Greek: Παλαίφατος) was the author of a rationalizing text on Greek mythology, the paradoxographical work On Incredible Things (Περὶ ἀπίστων (ἱστοριῶν); Incredibilia), which survives in a (probably corrupt) Byzantine edition. This work consists of an introduction and 52 brief sections on various Greek myths. The first 45 have a common format: a brief statement of a wonder tale from Greek mythology, usually followed by a claim of disbelief ("This is absurd" or "This is not likely" or "The true version is..."), and then a sequence of every-day occurrences which gave rise to the wonder-story through misunderstanding. The last seven are equally brief retellings of myth, without any rationalizing explanation. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Palaephatus is the 2,597th most popular writer (up from 3,973rd in 2019). (up from 3,310th in 2019)

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Among WRITERS

Among writers, Palaephatus ranks 2,597 out of 7,302. Before him are Olha Kobylianska, Giovanni de' Bardi, Sophie de Condorcet, Jung Chang, Sophie Kinsella, and Alice B. Toklas. After him are Bhanubhakta Acharya, Timotheus of Miletus, Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart, André Salmon, Isaac Casaubon, and Jorge Guillén.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 400 BC, Palaephatus ranks 60. Before him are Archidamus IV, Axiothea of Phlius, Silanion, Publius Decius Mus, Antipater Etesias, and Hecataeus of Abdera. After him are Lais of Hyccara, Metrocles, Antimachus, Bryaxis, Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus, and Khabash. Among people deceased in 360 BC, Palaephatus ranks 12. Before him are Lais of Corinth, Dinocrates, Aeschines of Sphettus, Campaspe, Polykleitos the Younger, and Silanion. After him are Timotheus of Miletus, Lais of Hyccara, Bryaxis, Philitas of Cos, Quintus Hortensius, and Antiphilus.

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