Bronze of Philitas, The Philosopher (c. 250–200 BC)[1]
Native name
Φιλίτας ὁ Κῷος
Born
c. 340 BC[2]
Died
c. 285 BC (age 55)[3]
Occupation
Scholar and poet
Nationality
Ptolemaic Kingdom
Genre
Elegiac, epigram, epyllion
Subject
Glossary, Homer
Literary movement
Alexandrian school of poetry
Notable works
Demeter Disorderly Words
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Philitas of Cos (/fɪˈlaɪtəs/; Greek: Φιλίτας ὁ Κῷος, Philītas ho Kōos; c. 340 – c. 285 BC), sometimes spelled Philetas (/faɪˈliːtəs/; Φιλήτας, Philētas; see Bibliography below), was a Greek scholar, poet and grammarian during the early Hellenistic period of ancient Greece.[4][5] He is regarded as the founder of the Hellenistic school of poetry, which flourished in Alexandria after about 323 BC.[5] Philitas is also reputed to have been the tutor of Ptolemy II Philadelphus and the poet Theocritus.[5] He was thin and frail; Athenaeus later caricatured him as an academic so consumed by his studies that he wasted away and died.[6][7]
Philitas was the first major Greek writer who was both a scholar and a poet.[4] His reputation continued for centuries, based on both his pioneering study of words and his verse in elegiac meter. His vocabulary Disorderly Words described the meanings of rare literary words, including those used by Homer. His poetry, notably his elegiac poem Demeter, was highly respected by later ancient poets. However, almost all his work has since been lost.[7]
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^ abc"Philitas of Cos | Greek poet". Encyclopedia Britannica.
^Chisholm 1911.
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medicine. Epicharmus of Kos (6th–5th century BC), comic playwright Hippocrates (5th century BC), "father of medicine". PhilitasofCos (4th century BC),...
the first librarian of the Library of Alexandria. A native of Ephesus and a pupil ofPhilitasofCos, he lived during the reigns of the first two Ptolemies...
considers it a calligraphic compendium of Chinese characters from Zhou dynasty bronzes.[citation needed] PhilitasofCos (fl. 4th century BCE) wrote a pioneering...
mother Pan - god of shepherds and the wild Philetas – old countryman who advises the heroes about love; likely named after PhilitasofCos Rhode – Chloe's...
of the most distinguished intellectuals of the age, including PhilitasofCos and Strato of Lampsacus. Ptolemy II had numerous half-siblings. Two of his...
made it the singular medium for short epigrams. The founder of this school was PhilitasofCos. He was eclipsed only by the school's most admired exponent...
one of the first groups of foreigners that ever lived there. Diodorus Siculus claimed that Rhodian Actis, one of the Heliadae, built the city of Heliopolis...
"lightness" of his verse style, just as the poet PhilitasofCos was said to have weighted his shoes with lead lest he blow away in the wind. Likenesses of Terence...
from the second quarter of the first century BC. It was discovered by sponge divers off Point Glyphadia on the Greek island of Antikythera in 1900. The...
Hecataeus of Abdera Hesiod Homer Lycophron Lysias Longus Marcus Annaeus Lucanus, frequently called Lucan Menander Pausanias PhilitasofCos Pindar Plutarch...
a native of Soli in Cilicia, (although one authority says Tarsus). He is known to have studied with Menecrates in Ephesus and Philitas in Cos. As a disciple...
some time before 330 BC PhilitasofCos (c. 340 – c. 285 BC), Alexandrian poet and critic, founder of the Alexandrian school of poetry Philocles, Athenian...
Macedon – King of Macedon Philip V of Macedon – King of Macedon Philippus of Chollidae – neighbour of Plato Philistus – historian PhilitasofCos – poet and...
language slang PhilitasofCos (Greece, c. 340–285 BC) Ancient Greek glossary Philo of Byblos (Greece, c. 64–141 AD) Ancient Greek dictionary of synonyms Sreekanteswaram...
flourished about the time of Alexander the Great. His extant fragments show resemblances in style and language to PhilitasofCos, Callimachus and Hermesianax...
proceeding down to the poet's contemporaries, including his teacher PhilitasofCos. Many of the entries engage playfully with their subjects' work: Homer,...
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