strife. There are references to the quarrel in the writings of both.
Callimachus attacks Apollonius in the passage at the end of the _Hymn to
Apollo_, already mentioned, also probably in some epigrams, but most of
all in his _Ibis_, of which we have an imitation, or perhaps nearly a
translation, in Ovid's poem of the same name. On the part of Apollonius
there is a passage in the third book of the _Argonautica_ (11. 927-947)
which is of a polemical nature and stands out from the context, and the
well-known savage epigram upon Callimachus.[1] Various combinations have
been attempted by scholars, notably by Couat, in his _Poésie
Alexandrine_, to give a connected account of the quarrel, but we have
not _data_ sufficient to determine the order of the attacks, and
replies, and counter-attacks. The _Ibis_ has been thought to mark the
termination of the feud on the curious ground that it was impossible for
abuse to go further. It was an age when literary men were more inclined
to comment on writings of the past than to produce original work.
Literature was engaged in taking stock of itself. Homer was, of course,
professedly admired by all, but more admired than imitated. Epic poetry
was out of fashion and we find many epigrams of this period--some by
Callimachus--directed against the "cyclic" poets, by whom were meant at
that time those who were always dragging in conventional and commonplace
epithets and phrases peculiar to epic poetry. Callimachus was in
accordance with the spirit of the age when he proclaimed "a great book"
to be "a great evil," and sought to confine poetical activity within the
narrowest limits both of subject and space. Theocritus agreed with him,
both in principle and practice. The chief characteristics of
Alexandrianism are well summarized by Professor Robinson Ellis as
follows: "Precision in form and metre, refinement in diction, a learning
often degenerating into pedantry and obscurity, a resolute avoidance of
everything commonplace in subject, sentiment or allusion." These traits
are more prominent in Callimachus than in Apollonius, but they are