HESYCHIUS, author of the Greek Lexicon which bears his name. Nothing whatever is known of his history. Some suppose him to have been a Pagan, who lived before the close of the fourth century A. D.; while, from certain
glosses in the Lexicon, others suppose him to have been a Christian. It is allowed, however, that these glosses are interpolations. The plan of the Lexicon is explained in an introductory letter to Eulogus, who also is unknown. In this letter Hesychius proposes to make the Lexicon of Diogenianus the groundwork of his own. It is valuable for the quotations from works which have perished, and more especially as being one of the oldest works of the kind in existence. The best edition of the Lexicon is that of Alberti, 1746, completed by Ruhnken, 20 years later.