Polycharmus the Historian (Πολύχαρμος ὁ Ἱστορικός) was a Greek author of the 4th–3rd centuries BCE. The epithet “the Historian” distinguishes him from other figures of the same name. No biographical details survive.

His only known work is On Aphrodite (Περὶ Ἀφροδίτης), preserved solely in a single fragment. The grammarian Athenaeus of Naucratis quotes this fragment in his Deipnosophistae [1][2]. It records that the courtesans of Naucratis in Egypt were the first to establish a temple to Aphrodite.

Polycharmus is a minor, fragmentary historian. His significance lies entirely in this one citation, which provides a specific detail about the cult of Aphrodite and social history in a Hellenistic Greek settlement. His work exemplifies the lost local histories used as sources by later compilers like Athenaeus [1].

Sources 1. Perseus Digital Library, "Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae, Book 13, section 596a": http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2013.01.0003%3Abook%3D13%3Achapter%3D45 2. ToposText, "Athenaeus 13.596a": https://topostext.org/work/529#13.596 3. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Classics, search for "Polycharmus": No entry found. 4. Encyclopædia Britannica, search for "Polycharmus": No entry found. 5. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, search for "Polycharmus": No entry found. 6. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, search for "Polycharmus": No entry found. 7. World History Encyclopedia, search for "Polycharmus": No entry found. 8. Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (via Perseus), search for "Polycharmus": No entry for a historian of this name found.