Coluthus, of Lycopolis in the Egyptian Thebaid, Greek epic poet, flourished during the reign of Anastasius I (491_518).
According to Suidas, he was the author of Calydoniaca (probably an account of the Calydonian boar hunt), Persica (an account of the Persian wars), and Encoinia (laudatory poems).
These are all lost, but his poem in some 400 hexameters on The Rape of Helen (Ap~rwy1 EXfv~r) is still extant, having been discovered by Cardinal Bessarion in Calabria. The poem is dull and tasteless, devoid of imagination, a poor imitation of Homer, and has little to recommend it except its harmonious versification, based upon the technical rules of Nonnus. It related the history of Paris and Helen from the wedding of Peleus and Thetis down to the elopement and arrival at Troy.
The best editions are by Van Lennep (1747), GF Schafer (1825), E Abel (1880).
COLLUTHUS of Lycopolis was a Theban poet who flourished in the late C5th - early C6th AD.
His only surviving work is a poem entitled the Rape of Helen, written in Greek, which recounts the tale of the judgement of Paris and the subsequent theft (rape) of Helen from Sparta.
According to the Byzantine Suda, Colluthus was also the author of three now lost poems entitled the Calydoniaca, Persica and Encoinia.
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