Apollinaris the Elder or Apollinarius ( grc, Ἀπολινάριος),Suda, alpha, 3398
/ref> was a Christian grammarian of the 4th century, first in Berytus (now Beirut) in Phoenicia, then in Laodicea in Syria. He was the father of Apollinaris of Laodicea. He became a priest, and was among the staunchest upholders of the Council of Nicæa (325) and of

St. Athanasius Athanasius I of Alexandria, ; cop, ⲡⲓⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ ⲁⲑⲁⲛⲁⲥⲓⲟⲩ ⲡⲓⲁⲡⲟⲥⲧⲟⲗⲓⲕⲟⲥ or Ⲡⲁⲡⲁ ⲁⲑⲁⲛⲁⲥⲓⲟⲩ ⲁ̅; (c. 296–298 – 2 May 373), also called Athanasius the Great, ...

. When the Emperor

Julian the Apostate Julian ( la, Flavius Claudius Julianus; grc-gre, Ἰουλιανός ; 331 – 26 June 363) was Roman emperor from 361 to 363, as well as a notable philosopher and author in Greek. His rejection of Christianity, and his promotion of Neoplato ...

forbade Christian professors to lecture or comment on the poets or philosophers of Greece (362), Apollinaris and his son both strove to replace the literary masterpieces of antiquity by new works which should offset the threatened loss to Christians of the advantages of polite instruction and help to win respect for the Christian religion among non-Christians. According to Socrates of Constantinople (''Hist. Eccl.'', II, xlvi; III, xvi), the elder Apollinaris translated the Pentateuch into Greek hexameters, converted the first two

books of Kings The Book of Kings (, '' Sēfer Məlāḵīm'') is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Kings) in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. It concludes the Deuteronomistic history, a history of Israel also including the books ...

into an epic poem of twenty-four cantos, wrote tragedies modelled on Euripides, comedies after the manner of

Menander Menander (; grc-gre, Μένανδρος ''Menandros''; c. 342/41 – c. 290 BC) was a Greek dramatist and the best-known representative of Athenian New Comedy. He wrote 108 comedies and took the prize at the Lenaia festival eight times. His rec ...

, and odes imitated from Pindar. Sozomen (''Hist. Eccl.'', V, xviii; VI, xxv) says nothing of the poetical works of the elder Apollinaris, but lays stress on those of his son. This improvised Greek literature, however, did not survive. As soon as Jovian (363-364) had revoked the edict of Julian the schools returned to the great classic writers, and only the memory of the efforts of Apollinaris survived.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Apollinaris 4th-century writers 4th-century Romans 4th-century Christians Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown