Apollonius Dyscolus (fl. 2nd century AD) is considered one of the greatest of the Greek grammarians. He was born at Alexandria, son of Mnesitheus. Nicknamed ὁ δύσκολος, meaning "the Surly or Crabbed or Hard to please", because of his irascible and heavily analytical personality, he lived in the reigns of Hadrian and Antoninus Pius. He spent the greater part of his life in his native city, where he died; he is also said to have visited Rome and attracted the attention of Antoninus. He was the founder of scientific grammar and is styled by Priscian grammaticorum princeps. He wrote extensively on the parts of speech. Of twenty books named in the Suda, four are extant: on syntax, ed. I. Bekker, 1817, and three smaller treatises: on adverbs, on conjunctions, and on pronouns, ed. Schneider, 1878

He and his son Aelius Herodianus had an enormous influence on all later grammarians. His name is remembered today in the Apollonius Institute of Language and Linguistics.

References

Grammatici Graeci, i. in Teubner series

Émile Egger, Apollonius Dyscole (1854)

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.