Styppax
Stypax (or Styppax or Stipax or Stippax) of Cyprus, was an ancient sculptor whose reputation, according to Pliny the Elder, rested on a single celebrated work. This statue, known as the Splanchnoptes (σπλαγχνόπτης; "the roaster of entrails/Man cooking entrails"), represented a slave of Pericles engaged in a sacrificial task, roasting the entrails of the victim and kindling the fire by blowing upon it with his breath. Pliny associates the figure in the statue with a story concerning a slave of Pericles who fell from the summit of the Parthenon and was healed by the use of a herb revealed to Pericles by Athena in a dream, though Plutarch tells a similar story of the architect Mnesicles.
Also recorded as Stypax of Cyprus
Styppax
- Born
- 500
- Occupation
- sculptor
- Languages
- Ancient Greek
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Documentary summary
Stypax (or Styppax or Stipax or Stippax) of Cyprus, was an ancient sculptor whose reputation, according to Pliny the Elder, rested on a single celebrated work. This statue, known as the Splanchnoptes (σπλαγχνόπτης; "the roaster of entrails/Man cooking entrails"), represented a slave of Pericles engaged in a sacrificial task, roasting the entrails of the victim and kindling the fire by blowing upon it with his breath. Pliny associates the figure in the statue with a story concerning a slave of Pericles who fell from the summit of the Parthenon and was healed by the use of a herb revealed to Pericles by Athena in a dream, though Plutarch tells a similar story of the architect Mnesicles.
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Documentary evidence
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wikidata · Q3501354 · wikipedia · Stypax of Cyprus
In this article
Biography
Modern researchers have suggested that fragments discovered on the Athenian Acropolis may have belonged to the base of the Splanchnoptes. It has also been proposed that the name "Stypax" as preserved in Pliny's text may be a corruption of another name, possibly Strabax. These scholarly conjectures remain uncertain and subject to debate.
The recorded working language is Ancient Greek.
Primary material
Documents and archives
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q3501354: Styppax
General reference · Wikidata
reference work
- “Stypax of Cyprus”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Citations
References
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Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
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