Euphorion of Chalcis

Antique fresco in Pompeii probably depicting Euphorion

Front cover of Euphorion's biography, written by August Meineke in Latin under the title De Euphorionis Chalcidensis vita et scriptis (The life and works of Euphorion of Chalcis), 1823

Euphorion of Chalcis (Greek: Εὐφορίων ὁ Χαλκιδεύς) was a Greek poet and grammarian, born at Chalcis in Euboea in the 126th olympiad (276–272 BC).^[1]

Euphorion spent much of his life in Athens, where he amassed great wealth. After studying philosophy with Lacydes and Prytanis, he became the student and eromenos of the poet Archeboulus.^[2] About 221 he was invited by Antiochus the Great to the court of Syria. He assisted in the formation of the royal Library of Antioch, of which he held the post of librarian till his death. He wrote mythological epics (the Thrax), amatory elegies, epigrams and a satirical poem (Arae, "curses") after the manner of the Ibis of Callimachus.^[3]

Prose works on antiquities and history are also attributed to him. Like Lycophron, he was fond of using archaic and obsolete expressions, and the erudite character of his allusions rendered his language very obscure. His elegies were highly esteemed by the Romans—they were imitated or translated by Cornelius Gallus and also by the emperor Tiberius.^[3]

Fragments published in Meineke, De Euphorionis Chalcidensis vita et scriptis, in his Analecta Alexandrina (1843) began the modern editions of the surviving fragments of Euphorion.^[4] Further lines have been recovered from papyri of Oxyrhynchus and elsewhere.^[5]

Notes

1. Lightfoot, p. 191.
2. Suda, ε 3801.
3. Chisholm 1911.
4. For a list of editions of Euphorion's fragments, see Lightfoot, p. 199.
5. "On-line bibliography of papyri". Archived from the original on 2007-07-30. Retrieved 2007-01-22.

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Euphorion". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 9 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 894.
• Lightfoot, J. L., Hellenistic Collection: Philitas. Alexander of Aetolia. Hermesianax. Euphorion. Parthenius, Loeb Classical Library No. 508, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 2010. ISBN 978-0-674-99636-6. Online version at Harvard University Press.
• Smith, William, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London (1873). "Euphorion (3)".

Further reading

• Euphorion Who's Who in the Greek World by John Hazel.
• Euphorion bibliography Archived 2007-07-30 at the Wayback Machine
• Magnelli, Enrico 2002. Studi su Euforione (Rome)
• Powell, Johannes U. (1925) 1981.Collectanea Alexandrina: Reliquiae minores poetarum Graecorum aetatis Ptolemaicae 323–146 A.C. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1925; reprinted Chicago 1981). Euphorion, pp. 28–58. Internet Archive.
• Latte, Kurt. 1968. "Der Thrax des Euphorion", Philologus 44 (1935) 129–55, reprinted in Latte, Kleine Schriften Munich 1968, pp 562–84.
• Magnelli, Enrico 2002. Studi su Euforione(Rome)
• Franz Skutsch: Euphorion (4). In: Pauly Realencyclopädie of classical archeology (RE). Volume VI, 1, Stuttgart, 1907, 1174–1190 Sp.