Overview

Few among the surviving Hellenistic poets can rival the fame of Callimachus of Cyrene (approximately 320–240 BCE). Active as a poet and scholar in Ptolemaic Alexandria, Callimachus associated his name with a new set of aesthetic principles that proved influential for such poets as Vergil, Horace, and Ovid. Even so, except for six Hymns and several epigrams, most of his work survives in fragments. Offering a selection of longer fragments, this edition provides a rounded view of Callimachus’ literary output. It also sheds light on lesser-studied aspects of Callimachus’ activity at the Ptolemaic court in Alexandria. For the first time in an English volume, a commentary explores and elucidates the occasional and lyric pieces Callimachus composed for the Ptolemies and their officials (such as the Elegy for Sosibius and the Ektheosis of Arsinoe). By focusing on Callimachus’ longer fragments (e.g., Aetia, Iambs, and Hecale), this edition offers an indispensable tool that guides the reader through the intricacies of his poetic art. It also includes an exhaustive introduction to Callimachus’ life, professional activity, and aesthetics.

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9781802078619

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Reviews

‘Kampakoglou’s Aris & Phillips is an ideal choice for courses on Callimachus at either the undergraduate or graduate level (there is more than enough to fill a term), and it is easily supplemented with an edition of one or more of the hymns. It complements existing major resources, while admirably charting its own path by offering insightful, original analyses of controversial, difficult passages. The editor is to be congratulated for a welcome addition to the Callimachean bibliography, and we await his planned second volume for the same series, which will include all of the epigrams.’ Lee Fratantuono, Bryn Mawr Classical Review

Author Information

Alexandros Kampakoglou is Research Lecturer in Classics, Trinity College, Oxford. His previous publications include Studies in the reception of Pindar in Ptolemaic poetry (De Gruyter, 2019) and several papers and book chapters on Greek poetry.

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