Callimachus

Callimachus of Cyrene (c. 310–c. 240 BCE) was a Hellenistic Greek poet, critic, and scholar active in Alexandria. Closely associated with the Library of Alexandria, he helped shape learned literary culture through both creative and scholarly work. His surviving poetry includes the *Hymns*, the *Epigrams*, and the elegiac *Aetia*, which explores the origins of customs and place-names through erudite narrative. In the *Iambi* he adapted earlier satiric traditions to a refined Alexandrian style. Ancient sources also credit him with compiling the *Pinakes*, an influential bibliographic catalogue of authors and works. His aesthetics favored brevity, polish, and allusive learning.