Cyrene's Greats: Eratosthenes and Callimachus
During the Hellenistic period, Cyrene , the first Greek colony in Libya , produced outstanding scholars and poets who contributed to the cultural influence of the Greek world at that time. In this article, we will discover the history of two geniuses of North African Greeks from Cyrene, who built their careers in Alexandria: the poet Callimachus and the mathematician Eratosthenes.
Callimachus: Poet of Simplicity
Callimachus was born around 310 BC into an influential family descended from the ruling dynasty of Batus. His grandfather, also called Callimachus, was a general in Cyrene.
In his youth, he studied in Alexandria, the capital of Ptolemaic Egypt and the most influential city in the Greek world at the time . After working as a teacher, he would go on to work under the patronage of King Ptolemy II, who wanted to promote the arts and culture of his kingdom. He also worked at the Library of Alexandria, of which he would later become curator. He died around 240.
Callimachus wrote more than 800 works, both in prose and poetry, most of which have been lost. His most famous work is the Eteia, a poem in four books that explores the origins of various human customs. His poetry favors simple, everyday, and even obscure subjects over larger issues, and short, refined texts over more elaborate works. For this reason he rejected the epic, the most popular literary genre of his time. His approach to poetry marks a fundamental break with the earlier Greek poets.
As custodian of the Library of Alexandria, he wrote the Binax, a bibliographical work containing a short summary of all the manuscripts in the library. The Binax is considered the first literary guide in history.
Eratosthenes: Founder of Geography
Eratosthenes was also born in Cyrene in 276. He continued his studies in Athens, having begun them at a local school, where he became a student of the philosopher Zeno, the founder of Stoicism. He also studied at the Platonic Academy. He then settled in Alexandria, where he discovered poetry under another Cyrenian, Callimachus. He succeeded Callimachus as librarian of Alexandria.
Eratosthenes was more interested in mathematics and natural sciences than in poetry. He is particularly known for his astonishingly accurate calculation of the circumference of the Earth: the result he arrived at was very close to our current knowledge of the circumference of the Earth.
Eratosthenes then drew on his knowledge of the size and shape of the Earth to describe it in greater detail, and even visualize it. His Geography, based largely on travel accounts he found in the Library of Alexandria, contains the oldest known map of the world. He divided the world into five climatic zones: the poles, two temperate zones, and the warm tropical zone, along with the equator. He is considered the founder of modern geography.
During his old age, Eratosthenes became blind, which prevented him from continuing his work. He became so depressed that he starved himself to death. He died in 194.
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