S3_Remaining Poets & Scientists

• Hippocrates - the father of medicine, he was born on Cos, Greek c. 460 and lived to a very old age; many treatises and books on medicine are attributed to him, but most were probably by his disciples. The oath modern doctors take is named after him.
• Eratosthenes - succeeded Zenodotus as head of the Alexandrian library in the late 200s; he was proficient at many areas from mathematics to poetry to philosophy. He is most famous for calculating the circumference of the earth. He also wrote Chronographiae, which is the first scientific attempt to fix the dates of Greek history
• Callisthenes - a nephew and pupil of Aristotle, he was the historian accompanying Alexander, until he was executed in 327 for knowledge of an assassination plot against Alexander
• Callimachus - a head of the Alexandrian library in the early to middle 200s, he wrote Lock of Berenice, a very famous poem translated by Catullus in his poem 66. Callimachus feuded with Apollonius of Rhodes. He originated the famous saying, “Big book, big evil.” He also wrote Hecale and Aetia (the latter is about customs)
• Aristides of Miletus - wrote Milesian Tales, a series of short stories, similar to the Satyricon of the Latin author Petronius
• Archimedes: scientist who lived from 287-212 in Syracuse, was killed by the Romans under Marcellus when they took Syracuse. He helped the defenders to hold out for two years with his inventions such as huge mirrors which set Roman ships on fire. He also invented a new type of pulley, and is famous for saying that if he had a place to stand, he could move the earth. He also said ‘Eureka’, after discovering, by observing the displacement of water in his tub by his body, a way to test the purity of metals
• Apollonius of Rhodes: said to have succeeded Eratosthenes as head of the Alexandrian library, he wrote the Argonautica, an epic four books long describing the story of Jason
• Apollodorus: wrote On the Gods, and Chronicle; lived in Athens c 140
• What was Eratosthenes position in the late 200s?


  Head of Library of Alexandria
• Why was Callisthenes executed?

  knowledge of assassination plot against Alexander
• What saying did Callimachus invent?

  Big book, big evil
• What was one of Archimedes' inventions that helped defend against Romans?

  Huge mirrors that set fires to ships
• What was one of his inventions?

  new type of pulley
• What was he famous for saying?

  If he had a place to stand, he could move the earth
• What was Argonautica?

  A four book long epic describing the journey of Jason and the Argonaunts