Istros the Callimachean explained

Istros the Callimachean (Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Ἴστρος ὁ Καλλιμάχειος) was a Greek writer, probably from Paphos. He was a pupil of Callimachus, and active in the Library of Alexandria.^[1] Seventy-seven fragments of his writings remain, mostly from his four-volume Attica, which discussed the cult, religion, and institutions of Attica in its mythical past, based largely on Atthides.^[2] According to the Suda, a 10th-century encyclopedia, he wrote both prose and verse.^[3]

Works

Istros' works exist only in fragments (FGrHist 334). Among his attested works are:^[1]

• Attika (Ἀττικά)
• Atakta (Ἄτακτα)
• Attikai lexeis (Ἀττικαὶ λέξεις)
• Argolika (Ἀργολικά)
• Eliaka (Ἠλιακά)
• The colonies of the Egyptians (Αἰγυπτίων ἀποικίαι)
• On the city of Ptolemais (Περὶ Πτολεμαΐδος)
• Collection of Cretan feasts (Συναγωγὴ τῶν Κρητικῶν θυσιῶν)
• On the struggles of Helios (Περὶ τῶν Ἡλίου ἀγώνων)
• The manifestations of Apollo (Ἀπόλλωνος ἐπιφάνειαι)
• The manifestations of Hercules (Ἡρακλέους ἐπιφάνειαι)
• On the lyric poets (Περὶ μελοποιῶν)
• Symmikta (Σύμμικτα), "Miscellany"
• Hypomnemata (Ὑπομνήματα), "Commentary"
• Replies to Timeus (Πρὸς Τίμαιον ἀντιγραφαί)

Further reading

• Monica Berti, Istro il Callimacheo, I, Testimonianze e frammenti su Atene e sull'Attica, Edizioni Tored, Tivoli (Roma) 2009

Other resources

• demo.fragmentarytexts.org - Istros
• The Digital Fragmenta Historicorum Graecorum (DFHG)
• The Digital Athenaeus

Notes and References

1. BNJ, Biographical Essay 334.
2. P. E. Harding, OCD4, "Ister"
3. Suda On Line, ι 706