Hellanicus was born in
Mytilene on the isle of
Lesbos in 490 BC and is reputed to have lived to the age of 85. According to the
Suda, he lived for some time at the court of one of the kings of
Macedon, and died at
Perperene, a city in
Aeolis on the plateau of Kozak near
Pergamon, opposite
Lesbos. He was one of the most prolific of early historians. His many works, though now lost, were very influential. He was cited by a number of other authors, who thereby preserved many fragments of his works, the most recent collection of which is by José J. Caerols Pérez, who includes a biography of Hellanicus. 1084, early 2nd century).Hellanicus authored works of chronology, geography, and history, particularly concerning
Attica, in which he made a distinction between what he saw as
Greek mythology and
history. His influence on the
historiography of
Athens was considerable, lasting until the time of
Eratosthenes (3rd century BC). He transcended the narrow local limits of the older logographers, and was not content to merely repeat the traditions that had gained general acceptance through the poets. He tried to record the traditions as they were locally current, and availed himself of the few national or priestly registers that presented something like contemporary registration. Some of his text may have come from an epic poem which
Carl Robert called
Atlantis, a fragment of which may be
Oxyrhynchus Papyri 11, 1359. His work includes the first mention of the legendary founding of
Rome by the
Trojans; he writes that the city was founded by
Aeneas when accompanying
Odysseus on his travels through
Latium. He also supported the idea that an incoming group of
Pelasgians lay behind the origins of the
Etruscans. The latter idea, from
Phoronis, influenced
Dionysius of Halicarnassus, who cites him [I.28] as a source. ==References==