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Ptolemy Hephaestion · early 2nd century AD (Alexandria)

New History

Καινὴ ἱστορία
Ancient Sources / Ptolemy Hephaestion / New History

This is Photius' summary of the New History, which lists the contents of each of its seven books and adds a short judgment of the work. It reads as a catalogue of variant myths, strange explanations of names and coincidences of history, many of them found nowhere else. Section numbers follow our own division of Photius' sentences within each book; "book 0" is Photius' introduction. The English is a new GreekMythology.com translation of Bekker's Greek text of 1824.

Read from the start
Text
Greek original with English translation, 7 passages, about 6100 words in English.
Translator
GreekMythology.com (2026)
Edition
Immanuel Bekker (ed.), Photii Bibliotheca, vol. 1, Berlin: Reimer, 1824, codex 190, pp. 146b–153b (the summary of Ptolemy Hephaestion's Καινὴ ἱστορία)
Cite as
Ptolemy Hephaestion, New History 0.1 (by book, section)

Contents · 7 passages

  1. 0.1–1.19Photius' verdict; Book 1: deaths and attendants722 words
  2. 2.1–24Book 2: Heracles, his beloveds and the tomb of Zeus602 words
  3. 3.1–33Book 3: marvels, famous births and coincidences894 words
  4. 4.1–26Book 4: Helen and the women called Helen910 words
  5. 5.1–43Book 5: Jason, Cretan liars and the names of the letters1297 words
  6. 6.1–25Book 6: Achilles, his ankle and his namesakes778 words
  7. 7.1–29Book 7: the Leucadian rock867 words

English translation by GreekMythology.com (2026). Original text: Immanuel Bekker (ed.), Photii Bibliotheca, vol. 1, Berlin: Reimer, 1824, codex 190, pp. 146b–153b (the summary of Ptolemy Hephaestion's Καινὴ ἱστορία).

Text layer: Greek text: public domain (Bekker, 1824; our transcription and correction from the Internet Archive scan bibliothecaexrec00photuoft). English translation © GreekMythology.com.. Introductions, summaries and notes © GreekMythology.com.