Apollodorus
Apollodorus was a common name in ancient Greece. This article deals with the historian and mythographer. For other men of the same name see Apollodorus (disambiguation). Apollodorus (born c.
180 BC) was a
Greek writer most famous for a verse chronicle of Greek history from the fall of
Troy in the
12th century BC to
144 BC. A pupil of the scholar
Aristarchus of Samothrace, he left Alexandria around
146 BC for Pergamum and eventually settled in Athens. Apollodorus' chronicle gave dates by referring to the
archons of Athens. Most archons only held office for one year, allowing scholars to pin down the years to which Apollodorus was referring.
Apollodorus' other works include his essays
On the Gods and on the Homeric
Catalogue of Ships, used as a source by
Strabo in his
Geography. He also produced numerous critical and grammatical writings. The
encyclopedia of
Greek mythology, called
Bibliotheke or
Library, was traditionally attributed to him, but his authorship has been refuted by modern scholars.
