Callimachus (c. 310–c. 240 BC)

Greek poet, critic, and scholar. Born in Cyrene, he taught in Alexandria, Egypt, where he is reputed to have been head of the great library. As a scholar he numbered among his pupils Aristophanes of Byzantium, Eratosthenes, the geographer and polymath, and Apollonius of Rhodes. His best‐known work in antiquity was the Aetia, containing explanations, written in elegiac couplets, of familiar legends and customs; only fragments of this work survive. He is known for his epigrams and hymns, which reveal him as a poet of great craftsmanship, ingenuity, and elegance.

Callimachus was born in Cyrene. He also wrote plays and several prose works, but these too are lost, including the Pinakes, a catalogue of authors and their works with short critical notes. Another well‐known poem is the ‘Lock of Berenice’.