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’.