Philetas of Cos

Works A 2nd century AD papyrus fragment, written in Greek, copies part of Apollodorus' 2nd century BC mythography On the Gods, which quotes Philitas' Demeter (outlined in red) while discussing the etymology of the word ἌΟΡ (aor; "sword" or "spear").

Philitas wrote a vocabulary explaining the meanings of rare literary words, words from local dialects, and technical terms; it probably took the form of a lexicon. this was evidently contrasted to the same word meaning "milk pail" in Homer's Iliad. Hermeneia, another scholarly work, probably contained Philitas' versions and critical interpretations of Homer and other authors. Its few surviving fragments suggest that it narrated the grain goddess Demeter's hunt for her daughter Persephone. The fragments describe Demeter's arrival on Cos and warm welcome by its royal family of Meropids, or humans twice normal size, thus presenting the founding myth of a local cult of Demeter on Cos. a near-contemporary) does not specify which work they came from; indirect evidence suggests Demeter. These two verses show the confluence of Philitas' interests in poetry and obscure words:

Original Transliterated γηρύσαιτο δὲ νεβρὸς ἀπὸ ζωὴν ὀλέσασαὀξείης κάκτου τύμμα φυλαξαμένη

The fawn can sing when it has lost its life,having avoided the prick of the sharp cactus.

Influence

Philitas was the first writer whose works represent the combination of qualities now regarded as Hellenistic: variety, scholarship, and use of Homeric sources in non-epic works. He directly influenced the major Hellenistic poets Callimachus and Apollonius of Rhodes. and his poetic reputation endured for at least three centuries, as Augustan poets identified his name with great elegiac writing. Shade of Callimachus and shrine of Coan Philitas, allow me, I beg you, to walk into your grove.

Ovid also linked the two poets, urging women who wished to capture a man to read Callimachus and Philitas, and conversely advising people wishing to fall out of love to avoid these two. The 1st-century AD rhetorician Quintilian ranked Philitas second only to Callimachus among the elegiac poets. Philitas' influence has been found or suspected in a wide range of ancient writing; Almost all that he wrote seems to have disappeared within two centuries, though, so it is unlikely that any writer later than the 2nd century BC read any but a few of his lines.

Philitas' fragments were edited by Spanoudakis with commentary in English:

Reviewed by Hopkinson

and also by Dettori (for vocabulary) and by Sbardella (for poetry) with commentary in Italian:

Earlier editions of the fragments include Kayser, Bach, Nowacki, and Kuchenmüller; see also Maass.

Évelyne Prioux, «Le Portrait Perdu et Retrouvé Du Poète Philitas de Cos: Posidippe 63 A.-B. et IG XIV, 2486», Zeitschrift für Papyrologie Und Epigraphik, vol. 166, 2008, p. 66–72. Évelyne Prioux, «Le portrait perdu et retrouvé du poète Philitas de Cos», Bulletin de la Société française d’études épigraphiques sur Rome et le monde romain. Année 2009, dans Cahiers du Centre Gustave Glotz, 2009, tome 20, (lire en ligne).