Hedylus ( grc-gre, Ἥδυλος, ''Hḗdylos''; fl. 3rd century BC) was a Greek epigrammatic poet of the

Hellenistic period In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in 3 ...

. Hedylus was the son of Melicertus and

Hedyle Hedyle ( grc-gre, Ἥδυλη, ''Hḗdylē''; fl. 4th century BC) was an ancient Greek poet. She is known only through a mention in Athenaeus' ''Deipnosophistae''. According to Athenaeus, Hedyle was the daughter of an Attic poet, Moschine, who is ...

, and a native of Samos or Athens. His epigrams were included in the ''Garland'' of

Meleager In Greek mythology, Meleager (, grc-gre, Μελέαγρος, Meléagros) was a hero venerated in his ''temenos'' at Calydon in Aetolia. He was already famed as the host of the Calydonian boar hunt in the epic tradition that was reworked by Ho ...

. Eleven of them are in the ''

Greek Anthology The ''Greek Anthology'' ( la, Anthologia Graeca) is a collection of poems, mostly epigrams, that span the Classical and Byzantine periods of Greek literature. Most of the material of the ''Greek Anthology'' comes from two manuscripts, the ''Pa ...

,'' but the genuineness of two of these is very doubtful. Most of his epigrams are in praise of wine, and all of them are sportive. In some he describes the dedicatory offerings in the temple of Arsinoe, among which he mentions the hydraulic organ of

Ctesibius Ctesibius or Ktesibios or Tesibius ( grc-gre, Κτησίβιος; fl. 285–222 BC) was a Greek inventor and mathematician in Alexandria, Ptolemaic Egypt. He wrote the first treatises on the science of compressed air and its uses in pumps (a ...

. Besides this indication of his time, we know that he was the contemporary and rival of

Callimachus Callimachus (; ) was an ancient Greek poet, scholar and librarian who was active in Alexandria during the 3rd century BC. A representative of Ancient Greek literature of the Hellenistic period, he wrote over 800 literary works in a wide variety ...

and friend of

Poseidippus of Pella Posidippus of Pella ( grc, Ποσείδιππος ''Poseidippos''; c. 310 – c. 240 BC) was an Ancient Greek epigrammatic poet. Life Posidippus was born in the city of Pella, capital of the kingdom of Macedon as the son of Admetos. He lived for ...

. He lived therefore in the reign of

Ptolemy II Philadelphus ; egy, Userkanaenre Meryamun Clayton (2006) p. 208 , predecessor = Ptolemy I , successor = Ptolemy III , horus = ''ḥwnw-ḳni'Khunuqeni''The brave youth , nebty = ''wr-pḥtj'Urpekhti''Great of strength , gol ...

, and is to be classed with the Alexandrian school of poets. According to

Athenaeus Athenaeus of Naucratis (; grc, Ἀθήναιος ὁ Nαυκρατίτης or Nαυκράτιος, ''Athēnaios Naukratitēs'' or ''Naukratios''; la, Athenaeus Naucratita) was a Greek rhetorician and grammarian, flourishing about the end of th ...

, he killed himself for love of a certain Glaucus.Smith, p. 366.

Notes

References

"Hedylus"
Smith, William (ed.) ''

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' (1849, originally published 1844 under a slightly different title) is an encyclopedia/biographical dictionary. Edited by William Smith, the dictionary spans three volumes and 3,700 p ...

''. 2. London, 1870 *''The Greek Antholog
IIV
' (Loeb Classical Library) translated by W. R. Paton. London: Heinemann, 1916

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