Menelaus
Μενέλαος
(Μενέλαος), a Greek mathematician, a native of Alexandria.
Menelaus is mentioned by Pappus, Proclus, and Ptolemaeus, who, in his Magna Syntaxis (p. 170), says that he made some astronomical observations at Rome in the first year of the emperor Trajan (A. D. 98). He is probably the same with the Menelaus introduced by Plutarch in his dialogue De Facie in Orbe Lunae, p. 930.
Works
μικρὸς ἀστρονόμος, or μικρὸς ἀστρονομούμενος
He is the author of a treatise in three books, on the Sphere, which is comprised in the mathematical collection called μικρὸς ἀστρονόμος, or μικρὸς ἀστρονομούμενος.
Editions
A Latin translation of the treatise on the Sphere was published at Paris in 1644; and it was also published by Marinus Mersennus in his Synopsis Mathematica, Paris, 1644. This edition contained many additions and interpolations. A more correct edition was published at Oxford by Halley, a reprint of which, with a preface by G. Costard, appeared in 1758.
On the Quantity and Distinction of Mixed Bodies.
Besides his work on the Sphere, Menelaus wrote a treatise On the Quantity and Distinction of Mixed Bodies.
Translations
Both works were translated into Syriac and Arabic.
Further Information
Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. iv. pp. 16, 23.
From William Smith (ed.), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Text provided under a CC BY-SA license by Perseus Digital Library, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu, with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Tufts University. Data accessed from https://github.com/PerseusDL/canonical-pdlrefwk/ on 17 October 2026.