CALLIMACHUS

This article appears in Volume V05, Page 57 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: CAL-CAR

CALLIMACHUS , Greek poet and grammarian, a native of Cyrene and a descendant of the illustrious

house

HOUSE
HOUSE (O. Eng. hiss, a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Dut. huis, Ger. Haus; in
Gothic
- GOTHIC
it is only found in gudhiss, a temple; it may be ultimately connected with the root of " hide," conceal)

of the Battiadae, flourished about 250 B.C. He opened a school in the suburbs of Alexandria, and some of the most distinguished grammarians and poets were his pupils. He was subsequently appointed by

Ptolemy

PTOLEMY (
CLAUDIUS
PTOLEMAEUS)

Philadelphus

chief

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

librarian of the Alexandrian library, which office he held till his death (about 240). His Pinakes (tablets), in 120 books, a

critical

CRITICAL (in alphabetical order of authors)

and chronologically arranged catalogue of the library, laid the foundation of a history of Greek literature. According to Suidas, he wrote about Boo works, in verse and

prose

PROSE

; of these only six hymns, sixty-four epigrams and some fragments are extant; a considerable fragment of the Hecale, an idyllic epic, has also been discovered in the Rainer papyri (see

Kenyon

KENYON,
LLOYD
KENYON, 1ST BARON (1732-1802)

in Classical Review, November 1893). His Coma Berenices is only known from the celebrated imitation of Catullus. His Aitia (causes) was a collection of elegiac poems in four books, dealing with the foundation of cities, religious ceremonies and other customs. According to Quintilian (Instit. x. 1. 58) he was the

chief

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

of the elegiac poets; his elegies were highly esteemed by the Romans, and imitated by Ovid, Catullus and especially Propertius. The extant hymns are extremely learned, and written in a laboured and artificial style. The epigrams, some of the best specimens of their kind, have been incorporated in the Greek

Anthology

ANTHOLOGY

. Art and learning are his chief characteristics, unrelieved by any real poetic genius; in the words of Ovid (Amores, i. Is)
" Quamvis ingenio non valet, arte valet."

End of Article: CALLIMACHUS

If you wish, you can link directly to this article.

<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/CAL_CAR/CALLIMACHUS.html">
CALLIMACHUS
</a>

(Previous)
CALLIAS

(Next)
CALLINUS

JCSM was founded in 1997 and exists to help the community and bring people into a life-changing and productive relationship with Jesus Christ. JCSM offers over 200,000 free web pages, including its weekly inspirational emails that were sent continuously for over a decade.

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries
P.O. Box 9297
San Diego, CA 92169
1-888-887-0417 or Email

Sponsored Advertisements

Online First Aid and CPR Certification . DHA Solutions . PB Happy Hour Specials . Improvising Made Easy For Guitar and Bass . The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained . Home Equity Loans . First Aid and CPR Online . San Diego Music Lessons . 10,000 Wise Quotes and Spiritual Sayings . Blow Up Your Site (For Free!) . San Diego DUI Lawyers . Jason Gastrich . Jordan Faith Gastrich . Divorce Secrets Revealed . Post Your Ad Link Free . San Diego Soccer Training . JCSM . Download Sermons . Custom Religious Banners, Build A Sign . Christian Singles Dating . Christian T-Shirts . Healing Christian Prayer . Bumper Authority . Personalized Blogs and Email . San Diego Haircuts . The Do the Math Diet . Stop Twitter Spam . Christian Conservative Work at Home Network . The Website of the Lord