Rhianus ( Greek: Ῥιανὸς ὁ Κρής) was a Greek poet and grammarian, a native of

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

, friend and contemporary of

Eratosthenes Eratosthenes of Cyrene (; ; – ) was an Ancient Greek polymath: a Greek mathematics, mathematician, geographer, poet, astronomer, and music theory, music theorist. He was a man of learning, becoming the chief librarian at the Library of A ...

(275–195 BC).

Biography

The ''

Suda The ''Suda'' or ''Souda'' (; ; ) is a large 10th-century Byzantine Empire, Byzantine encyclopedia of the History of the Mediterranean region, ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Soudas () or Souidas (). It is an ...

'' says he was at first a

slave Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

and overseer of a

palaestra A palaestra ( or ; also (chiefly British) palestra; ) was any site of a Greek wrestling school in antiquity. Events requiring little space, such as boxing and wrestling, occurred there. ''Palaistrai'' functioned both independently and as a part ...

, but obtained a good education later in life and devoted himself to grammatical studies, probably in

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

. He prepared a new recension of the ''

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; , ; ) is one of two major Ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odyssey'', the poem is divided into 24 books and ...

'' and ''

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...

'', characterized by sound judgment and poetical taste. His bold atheteses are frequently mentioned in the scholia. He also wrote

epigram An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, sometimes surprising or satirical statement. The word derives from the Greek (, "inscription", from [], "to write on, to inscribe"). This literary device has been practiced for over two millennia ...

s, eleven of which, preserved in the Greek Anthology and Athenaeus, show elegance and vivacity. But he was chiefly known as a writer of epics (mythological and ethnographical), the most celebrated of which was the ''Messeniaca'' in six books, dealing with the Second Messenian War and the exploits of its central figure Aristomenes, and used by Pausanias in his fourth book as a trustworthy authority. Other similar poems were the ''Achaica'', ''Eliaca'', and ''Thessalica''. The '' Heracleia'' was a long mythological epic, probably an imitation of the poem of the same name by Panyasis, containing the same number of books (fourteen).

Legacy

Rhianos also wrote a number of homoerotic epigrams, and was also mentioned in one of Greek poet Constantine P. Cavafy's poems ("Young Men of Sidon (A.D. 400)"). Constantine P. Cavafy, ''Τα Ποιήματα Β' (1919-1933)'', Ikaros, 1991, , pp. 22 and 109.

Notes

References

* Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown Ancient Cretan poets Epigrammatists of the Greek Anthology Ancient Greek epic poets 3rd-century BC Greek poets Ancient Greek grammarians Ancient Greek slaves and freedmen Hellenistic Crete {{greece-linguist-stub