ESICHIOL of ALEXANDRIA. - A Greek lexicographer about whom only the scant information contained in the title of his work survives; this too, moreover, has been considered spurious by some without serious grounds. Conjectures about the period in which he lived range from the 4th century to the later Byzantine era.
He is the author of an extensive Greek lexicon, which substantially derives from that of Diogenian of Heraclea, who lived in the time of Hadrian. The numerous interpolations to which the lexicon (which has come down to us in an abridged form) has been subjected are proven, among other things, by the fact that it does not follow the order proposed in the preface to Eulogius. With a high degree of probability, E. was a pagan. Since the text of his work contains numerous biblical and ecclesiastical glosses, it has been thought that it was contaminated with that of a namesake, identified with a Bishop E. of the 3rd century, translator of Holy Scripture. But since this hypothesis lacks solid foundations, it is generally held that those interpolations are of a later period. Indeed, the true value of the work lies in the quotations from ancient texts and in the information provided on Greek dialects: it has thus offered, in modern times, the opportunity to correct a good number of erroneous readings.