Ptolemy Hephaestion
Alexandrian writer whose New History preserved bizarre and otherwise unknown mythological variants
The Meaning of Ptolemy Hephaestion
Ptolemy Hephaestion was an Alexandrian writer of the first or second century CE whose work the New History survives only in a summary by the Byzantine patriarch Photius. The original work in seven books collected strange, surprising, and often apparently invented mythological variants and paradoxes — a genre the Greeks called paradoxography. He claimed, for instance, that Achilles was called Pyrrha as a child, that Helen and Achilles had a son named Euphorion, and that Patroclus and Achilles were lovers reincarnated from previous mythological couples. Whether these represent genuine obscure traditions or creative fabrication remains debated. Despite his dubious reliability, Ptolemy preserves names and narrative threads that no other source records.
Parents
None recorded
Symbols
Fun Fact
Scholars still argue whether Ptolemy preserved lost traditions or simply made up entertaining myths
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
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