From the book
Empedocles’ The Testimonia, Volume II
Empedocles of Acragas · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordStrophion is a band or strip used in dress; the edition renders it a girdle in the Life.
- In this workDiogenes describes Empedocles as putting on a golden strophion beside purple dress and bronze boots.
- In this editionThe Life’s strophion is translated as a girdle, whereas related notices use bands or wreaths with different materials and locations.
- A place to readGives the golden band within the civic costume account.
Meaning
Strophion is a band or strip used in dress; the edition renders it a girdle in the Life. Stemma is a wreath or garland. Their material and placement vary across the notices, so “golden girdle” should not become the only lexical form of the tradition.
Use in the book
Diogenes describes Empedocles as putting on a golden strophion beside purple dress and bronze boots. The Suda instead places a golden wreath on his head and Delphic garlands in his hands. Philostratus gives a deeply purple band about his hair. These details are not all the same object under interchangeable names. They show a repertoire of conspicuous signs adapted by different narrators to civic dignity, solemn performance, or an ambition for godlike status. The entry keeps material, object, and location separate instead of assembling every item into a single lavish portrait that no one source gives. The variation is especially relevant to the edition’s claims that the costume is uniformly and independently attested.
Places to read
- A 1 §§ 73–74 (biography)2Diogenes Laertius VIII 72–73. Gives the golden band within the civic costume account.
- A 2 (biography)The Suda. Places a golden wreath on the head and Delphic garlands in the hands.
- A 18 (biography)Philostratus, Life of Apollonius. Describes a purple hair-band rather than a golden girdle.
Translation in this edition
The Life’s strophion is translated as a girdle, whereas related notices use bands or wreaths with different materials and locations. Object identification remains uncertain without importing iconographic evidence not printed in the volume.