Heraclitus of Halicarnassus

Heraclitus of Halicarnassus ( ancient Greek Ἡράκλειτος ὁ Ἁλικαρνασσεύς , Latinized Heraclitus Halicarnassensis , * around 320 BC in.. Halicarnassus ; † around 260 BC..) Was a Hellenistic poet and writer of elegies of Caria in today's Turkey . Little is known about his life, especially since only one of his poems has survived; Heraclitus is also quoted by Diogenes Laertios in his work.

Heraclitus was a contemporary and friend of the famous Callimachus of Cyrene, who wrote an epitaph on him as his deceased friend.

Εἰπέ τις, Ἡράκλειτε, τεὸν μόρον ἐς δέ με δάκρυ
    ἤγαγεν ἐμνήσθην δ᾿ ὁσσάκις ἀμφότεροι
ἠέλδιον λεσύ κατενννννν Ἀλλὰ σὺ μέν που,
    ξεῖν Ἁλικαρνησεῦ, τετράπαλαι σποδιή,
αἱ δὲ τεαὶ ζώουσιν ἀηδόνες, ὁ πάντων ᾗσιν
    ἁρπακτὴς Ἀίδης οὐκ ἐπὶ χεῖρα βαλεῖ.

I was told, Herakleitus, your death; it
    drove me to tears when I remembered how often we both put
the sun to sleep in conversation. But you, it seems to me,
    guest from Halicarnassus, a heap of ashes for a long time.
But they live, your nightingales, to which
    robbers of all things , Hades, do not lay a hand.

A poem by William Cory is based on this epitaph .

literature

Diogenes Laertius : Liber II , paginae 424-425.

Remarks

↑ Anthologia Palatina 7, 465.
↑ Callimachos XXXIV GP ( Anthologia Palatina 7.80).

personal data
SURNAME	Heraclitus of Halicarnassus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Herakleitos of Halicarnassus, Heraclitus Halicarnassensis; Heraclitus of Halicarnassus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Poet, poet of elegance
DATE OF BIRTH	around 320 BC Chr.
PLACE OF BIRTH	Halicarnassus
DATE OF DEATH	around 260 BC Chr.

[1] Anthologia Palatina 7, 465.

[2] Callimachos XXXIV GP ( Anthologia Palatina 7.80).