Aristarchus of Samothrace (c. 217–c. 145 BC)

Greek grammarian and critic. He is chiefly remembered for his critical edition of Homer which first divided the Iliad and Odyssey into 24 books each and was the foundation of all later critical revisions (see Apion; Hesychius of Miletus).

Having settled at Alexandria, he studied under Aristophanes of Byzantium, was tutor to Ptolemy VII, and became keeper of the Alexandrian library. On the accession of Ptolemy VIII 145, Aristarchus fled to Cyprus where he is said to have died by voluntary starvation. As a grammarian he was an Analogist and teacher of Dionysius Thrax.