Editing Gaius Julius Hyginus

{{Short description|Roman freedman and writer (c. 64 BC – AD 17)}}
{{Other uses|Hyginus (disambiguation)}}
'''Gaius Julius Hyginus''' ({{IPAc-en|h|ᵻ|ˈ|dʒ|aɪ|n|ə|s}}; {{circa}} 64 BC – AD 17) was a [[Latin]] author, a pupil of the scholar [[Alexander Polyhistor]], and a freedman of [[Augustus]], and reputed author of the ''[[Fabulae]]'' and the ''[[De astronomia]]'', although this is disputed.

== Life and works ==
Hyginus may have originated either from [[Spain]], or from the [[Egypt]]ian city of [[Alexandria]].<ref>''Brill's New Pauly'', s.v. Hyginus, C. Iulius.</ref> He was elected superintendent of the [[Library of Palatine Apollo|Palatine library]] by Augustus according to [[Suetonius' minor works|Suetonius']] ''De Grammaticis'', 20.<ref>Not everyone is sure that the Hyginus of ''Fabulae'' was this freedman of Augustus; for one, Edward Fitch, reviewing Herbert J. Rose, ''Hygini Fabulae'' in ''The American Journal of Philology'' '''56'''(4), 1935, p. 422.</ref>

Suetonius remarks that Hyginus fell into great poverty in his old age and was supported by the historian [[Clodius Licinus]]. Hyginus was a voluminous author: his works included topographical and biographical treatises, commentaries on [[Helvius Cinna]] and the poems of [[Virgil]], and disquisitions on agriculture and [[apiary|bee-keeping]]. All these are lost.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

== Attributed works ==
Two Latin works which have survived under the name of Hyginus are a mythological handbook, known as the ''Genealogiae'' or the ''[[Fabulae]]'', and an astronomical work, entitled ''[[De astronomia]]''.<ref>''[[Oxford Classical Dictionary]]'', s.v. Hyginus (3).</ref> Though there a handful of scholars who posit that Gaius Julius Hyginus was the Hyginus who authored these works,<ref>Smith, p. 101.</ref> there is general agreement that they were composed by a separate author.<ref>Hard, p. 13.</ref> In the earliest edition of the ''Fabulae'', produced in 1535 by [[Jacob Micyllus]], the work is ascribed to Gaius Julius Hyginus,<ref>Smith, p. 100.</ref> though it is unclear whether this attribution was added by Micyllus himself, or was there prior to him.<ref>Fletcher, p. 200.</ref>

==Legacy==
The lunar crater [[Hyginus (crater)|Hyginus]] and the minor planet [[12155 Hyginus]] are named after him.

The English author Sir [[Thomas Browne]] opens his discourse ''[[The Garden of Cyrus]]'' (1658) with a Creation myth sourced from the ''Fabulae'' of Hyginus. 

==Notes==
{{reflist|25em}}

== References ==
* ''[[Brill's New Pauly]]: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World. Antiquity, Volume 6'', Hat &ndash; Jus, edited by Hubert Cancik and Helmuth Schneider, Brill, 2005. {{ISBN|9004122699}}.
* {{EB1911|wstitle=Hyginus, Gaius Julius|volume=14|page=175}}
* Fletcher, "Hyginus, ''Fabulae''", in ''The Oxford Handbook of Greek and Roman Mythography'', pp. 97–114, edited by R. Scott Smith and Stephen M. Trzaskoma, Oxford University Press, 2022. {{ISBN|978-0-190-64831-2}}.
* Hard, Robin, ''The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology"'', London and New York, Routledge, 2004. {{ISBN|020344633X}}. {{DOI|10.4324/9780203446331}}. [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC Google Books].
* ''[[Oxford Classical Dictionary]]'', edited by Simon Hornblower and Antony Spawforth, Oxford and New York, Oxford University Press, 2003. {{ISBN|0198606419}}. [https://archive.org/details/oxfordclassicald0000unse_w0u7/page/n5/mode/2up Internet Archive].
* Smith, R. Scott, "Mythography in Latin", in ''The Oxford Handbook of Greek and Roman Mythography'', pp. 97–114, edited by R. Scott Smith and Stephen M. Trzaskoma, Oxford University Press, 2022. {{ISBN|978-0-190-64831-2}}.

== Further reading ==
* Smith, R. Scott, and Stephen M. Trzaskoma, ''Apollodorus' ''Library'' and Hyginus' ''Fabulae'': Two Handbooks of Greek Mythology'', Indianapolis and Cambridge, Hackett Publishing, 2007. {{ISBN|9780872208216}}. [https://archive.org/details/apollodoruslibra0000apol/page/n3/mode/2up Internet Archive].

== External links ==
{{Wikisource author}}
* [http://lhldigital.lindahall.org/cdm/ref/collection/astro_atlas/id/8893 ''De Mundi et Sphere'', 1512] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221003302/http://lhldigital.lindahall.org/cdm/ref/collection/astro_atlas/id/8893 |date=2019-12-21 }}—Full digital facsimile, [[Linda Hall Library]].
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120324053652/http://hos.ou.edu/galleries//01Ancient/HeroOfAlexandria/1575//15thCentury/Vespucci//02LateAncient/Hyginus/ Online Galleries, History of Science Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries]—High resolution images of works by Hermes Trismegistus in JPEG and TIFF formats
* ''Grammaticae Romanae Fragmenta'', [[Gino Funaioli]] (a cura di), Lipsiae, in aedibus B. G. Teubneri, 1907, vol. 1, [https://archive.org/stream/grammaticaeroma00funagoog#page/n563/mode/2up pagg. 525 sgg.]
* ''[[Historicorum Romanorum reliquiae]]'', Hermann Peter (ed.), Lipsiae, in aedibus B. G. Teubneri, vol. 1, 1906, [https://archive.org/stream/veterumhistorico02peteuoft#page/72/mode/2up pp. 72–77].

{{Augustus}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Julius Hyginus, Gaius}}
[[Category:17 deaths]]
[[Category:1st-century BC Romans]]
[[Category:1st-century BC writers in Latin]]
[[Category:1st-century Romans]]
[[Category:1st-century writers in Latin]]
[[Category:60s BC births]]
[[Category:Ancient Roman astronomers]]
[[Category:Ancient Roman writers]]
[[Category:Golden Age Latin writers]]
[[Category:Julii|Hyginus, Gaius]]
[[Category:Emperor's slaves and freedmen]]