The Alexandrian Pleiad is the name given to a group of seven

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...

s and

tragedian Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy i ...

s in the 3rd century BC (Alexandria was at that time the literary center of the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

) working in the court of Ptolemy II Philadelphus. The name derives from the seven stars of the

Pleiades The Pleiades (), also known as The Seven Sisters, Messier 45 and other names by different cultures, is an asterism and an open star cluster containing middle-aged, hot B-type stars in the north-west of the constellation Taurus. At a distance ...

star cluster. There are several conflicting lists of the greatest poets of the Alexandrian age (traditionally ascribed to Aristophanes of Byzantium and

Aristarchus of Samothrace Aristarchus of Samothrace ( grc-gre, Ἀρίσταρχος ὁ Σαμόθραξ ''Aristarchos o Samothrax''; c. 220 – c. 143 BC) was an ancient Greek grammarian, noted as the most influential of all scholars of Homeric poetry. He was the h ...

), which include the "Alexandrian Pleiad", some with tragic poets, other which include lyric or epic poets. The following members are usually always included in the "Alexandrian Pleiad": * Homerus the Younger, son of Andromachus, from Byzantium, associated with "Tragic pleiad" *

Philiscus of Corcyra Philiscus of Corcyra ( grc, Φιλίσκος ὁ Κερκυραῖος), or Philicus, was a distinguished tragic poet, and one of the seven who formed the Tragic Pleiad, was also a priest of Dionysus, and in that character he was present at the c ...

* Lycophron *

Alexander Aetolus Alexander Aetolus ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ Αἰτωλός, ''Ἀléxandros ὁ Aἰtōlós'') was a Greek poet and grammarian, the only known representative of Aetolian poetry. Life Alexander was the son of Satyrus (Σάτυρος) and ...

, tragic poet * Sositheus of Alexandria, dramatist * Aeantides, a poet traditionally associated with the "Tragic pleiad" The other members are variously: *

Theocritus Theocritus (; grc-gre, Θεόκριτος, ''Theokritos''; born c. 300 BC, died after 260 BC) was a Greek poet from Sicily and the creator of Ancient Greek pastoral poetry. Life Little is known of Theocritus beyond what can be inferred from h ...

, who wrote the bucolic poems *

Aratus Aratus (; grc-gre, Ἄρατος ὁ Σολεύς; c. 315 BC/310 BC240) was a Greek didactic poet. His major extant work is his hexameter poem ''Phenomena'' ( grc-gre, Φαινόμενα, ''Phainómena'', "Appearances"; la, Phaenomena), the ...

, who wrote the ''Phaenomena'' and other poems * Nicander * Apollonius, who wrote the ''Argonautica'' * Sosiphanes of Syracuse, tragic poet * Dionysiades

Later uses

The name "Pléiade" was adopted in 1323 by a group of fourteen poets (seven men and seven women) in

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Pa ...

and is used as well to refer to the group of poets around

Pierre de Ronsard Pierre de Ronsard (; 11 September 1524 – 27 December 1585) was a French poet or, as his own generation in France called him, a " prince of poets". Early life Pierre de Ronsard was born at the Manoir de la Possonnière, in the village of ...

and

Joachim du Bellay Joachim du Bellay (; – 1 January 1560) was a French poet, critic, and a founder of the Pléiade. He notably wrote the manifesto of the group: '' Défense et illustration de la langue française'', which aimed at promoting French as an a ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

in the 16th century (see "

La Pléiade La Pléiade () was a group of 16th-century French Renaissance poets whose principal members were Pierre de Ronsard, Joachim du Bellay and Jean-Antoine de Baïf. The name was a reference to another literary group, the original Alexandrian Pleiad ...

"). In modern times, "pleiad" is also used as a collective noun for a small group of brilliant or eminent persons.

Sources

*''The Oxford Classical Dictionary.'' London: Oxford University Press, 1949. {{DEFAULTSORT:Pleiad, Alexandrian Ancient Greek poets Tragic poets Ptolemaic court