Callimachus: Aetia

by Callimachus, Annette Harder (Translator/Editor)

Callimachus' Aetia, written in Alexandria in the third century BC, was an important and influential poem which inspired many later Greek and Latin poets. Papyrus finds show that it was widely read until late antiquity and perhaps well into the Byzantine period. Eventually the work was lost, but thanks to many quotations by ancient authors and substantial papyrus finds a considerable part of it has now been recovered.

The aim of the present volumes is to make the Aetia newly accessible to readers. Volume 1 comprises an introduction dealing with matters such as the work's composition, contents, date, literary aspects, and its function in the cultural and historical context of third-century BC Alexandria, and a text of all the fragments of the Aetia with a translation and critical apparatus; while Volume 2 presents a detailed commentary, including introductions to the separate aetiological stories.

Genres: Poetry

1446 pages, Hardcover

First published May 15, 2012

About the author

Callimachus (310/305–240 BCE) (Greek: Καλλίμαχος, Kallimakhos) was a poet, critic, and scholar at the Library of Alexandria. He was a native of the Greek colony of Cyrene, Libya.

Reviews

[Jay Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fine and learned commentary of the most important Greek poet this side of Homer.