Cercops () was one of the oldest Orphic poets. He was called a Pythagorean by

Clement of Alexandria Titus Flavius Clemens, also known as Clement of Alexandria (; – ), was a Christian theology, Christian theologian and philosopher who taught at the Catechetical School of Alexandria. Among his pupils were Origen and Alexander of Jerusalem. A ...

.Clement of Alexandria, ''

Stromata The ''Stromata'' (), a mistake for ''Stromateis'' (Στρωματεῖς, "Patchwork," i.e., ''Miscellanies''), attributed to Clement of Alexandria (c. 150 – c. 215), is the third of a trilogy of works regarding the Christian life. The oldest ...

'', i.

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...

, was said by Epigenes of Alexandria to have been the author of an Orphic epic poem entitled the "Descent to Hades", which seems to have been extant in the Alexandrian period. Others attribute this work to Prodicus of Samos, or Herodicus of Perinthus, or Orpheus of Camarina.Suda, ''Orpheus''. Epigenes also assigns to Cercops the Orphic which was ascribed by some to Theognetus of Thessaly, and was a poem in twenty-four books. The book ''The works of Aristotle'' (1908, p. 80 Fragments) mentioned. :

Aristotle Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...

says the poet ''Orpheus'' never existed; the Pythagoreans ascribe this Orphic poem to a certain ''Cercon'' (which likely means ''Cercops'').

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References

* {{AncientGreece-philosopher-stub 6th-century BC Greek poets Pythagoreans Underworld in classical literature