Callinus (
Ancient Greek: Καλλῖνος, Kallinos; fl. mid-7th c. BC)[1] was an
ancient Greekelegiac poet who lived in the city of
Ephesus in
Asia Minor in the mid-7th century BC. His poetry is representative of the genre of martial exhortation elegy in which
Tyrtaeus also specialized and which both
Archilochus and
Mimnermus appear to have composed.[2] Along with these poets, all his near contemporaries, Callinus was considered the inventor of the elegiac couplet by some ancient critics.[3]
He resided in
Ephesus in
Asia Minor.[4] He is supposed to have flourished between the invasion of Asia Minor by the
Cimmerians and their expulsion by
Alyattes (630–560 BC). During his lifetime his own countrymen were also engaged in a life-and-death struggle with the
Magnesians. These two events give the key to his poetry, in which he endeavours to rouse the indolent Ionians to a sense of patriotism.[5]
Only a few fragments of the Callinus' poetry have survived. One of the longest fragments, consisting of 21 lines of verse, is a patriotic exhortation to his fellow Ephesians urging them to fight the invading
Cimmerians, who were menacing the Greek colonies in
Asia Minor:
It is honorable and splendid for a man to fight for his country and children and wedded wife against enemies, but death will come whenever the
Moirai so spin.
Works of martial elegy such as this often allude to the language and the thematic content of Homer's Iliad.[7] It is likely that Callinus performed his poetry at
symposia.[8]
^Barron, Easterling & Knox (1985, p. 129 with n. 1). Cf.
Clement of Alexandria, Stromata 1.21.131, "
Semonides is assigned to the era of Archilochus; Callinus is not much older" (Σιμωνίδης [sic] μὲν οὖν κατὰ Ἀρχίλοχον φέρεται, Καλλῖνος δὲ πρεσβύτερος οὐ μακρῷ, cf.
Orion, Etymologia s.v. ἔλεγος), and
Terentianus 1721–2,"People are unsure who was the first author to fashion the pentameter: some do not hesitate to say it was Callinus" (Pentametrum dubitant quis primus finxerit auctor: quidam non dubitant dicere Callinoum).
^Herodian, De orthographia s.v. Καλλῖνος,
Photius, Bibliotheca cod. 239, p. 319b12.
Irwin, E. (2005), Solon & Early Greek Poetry: The Politics of Exhortation, Cambridge,
ISBN978-0521851787{{
citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link).
West, M.L. (1974), Studies in Greek Elegy and Iambus, Berlin,
ISBN978-3110045857{{
citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link).
West, M.L. (1992), Iambi et Elegi Graeci ante Alexandrum cantati, vol. ii (2nd ed.), Oxford,
ISBN0-19-814096-7{{
citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link). — Critical edition of the Greek.