Christodorus ( el, Χριστόδωρος), a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

epic poet An epic poem, or simply an epic, is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants. ...

from Coptos in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...

, flourished during the reign of Anastasius I (491–518). His father was named Paniskos (Πανίσκος).Suda, chi, 525
/ref> According to Suidas, he was the author of ''Patria'' (Gr. Πάτρια), accounts of the foundation, history and antiquities of various cities; ''Lydiaka'' (Gr. Λυδιακά), the mythical history of Lydia; ''Isaurica'' (Gr. Ἰσαυρικά), celebrating Anastasius' victory in the Isaurian War (492–497); three books of

epigram An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, and sometimes surprising or satirical statement. The word is derived from the Greek "inscription" from "to write on, to inscribe", and the literary device has been employed for over two mille ...

s; and many other works. In addition to two epigrams (''Anthol. Pal.'' vii. 697, 698) we possess a description of eighty statues of gods, heroes and famous men and women in the gymnasium of Zeuxippus at

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth ( Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

(Ἔκφρασις τῶν ἀγαλμάτων τῶν εἰς τὸ δημόσιον γυμνάσιον τὸ ἐπικαλουμένον τοῦ Ζευξίππου). This text, consisting of 416 hexameters, forms the second book of the '' Palatine Anthology''. The writer's chief models are

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the '' Iliad'' and the '' Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of ...

and Nonnus, whom he follows closely in the structure of his hexameters. Opinions are divided as to the merits of the work. Some critics regard it as of great importance for the history of art and a model of description; others consider it valueless, alike from the historical, mythological and archaeological points of view. See Friedrich Baumgarten, ''De Christodoro Poeta Thebano'', Bonn (1881), and his article in Pauly-Wissowa's Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft, III (1897) 2450–2452; Wilhelm von Christ, ''Geschichte der griechischen Litteratur'' (1898); Francesco Tissoni, ''Cristodoro. Un’introduzione e un commento'', Alessandria (2000).

Notes

References

*
William Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, Vol. 1, page 698
{{Authority control 5th-century births 6th-century deaths Byzantine poets Roman-era poets 5th-century Byzantine writers 6th-century Byzantine writers 6th-century Byzantine people 5th-century Egyptian people Epigrammatists of the Greek Anthology 6th-century Egyptian people 6th-century Greek poets