INTRODUCTION


Much has been written about the chronology of Alexandrian literature and
the famous Library, founded by Ptolemy Soter, but the dates of the chief
writers are still matters of conjecture. The birth of Apollonius Rhodius
is placed by scholars at various times between 296 and 260 B.C., while
the year of his death is equally uncertain. In fact, we have very little
information on the subject. There are two "lives" of Apollonius in the
Scholia, both derived from an earlier one which is lost. From these we
learn that he was of Alexandria by birth,[1] that he lived in the time
of the Ptolemies, and was a pupil of Callimachus; that while still a
youth he composed and recited in public his _Argonautica_, and that the
poem was condemned, in consequence of which he retired to Rhodes; that
there he revised his poem, recited it with great applause, and hence
called himself a Rhodian. The second "life" adds: "Some say that he
returned to Alexandria and again recited his poem with the utmost
success, so that he was honoured with the libraries of the Museum[2] and
was buried with Callimachus." The last sentence may be interpreted by
the notice of Suidas, who informs us that Apollonius was a contemporary
of Eratosthenes, Euphorion and Timarchus, in the time of Ptolemy
Euergetes, and that he succeeded Eratosthenes in the headship of the
Alexandrian Library. Suidas also informs us elsewhere that Aristophanes
at the age of sixty-two succeeded Apollonius in this office. Many modern
scholars deny the "bibliothecariate" of Apollonius for chronological
reasons, and there is considerable difficulty about it. The date of