Dioscorus of Aphrodito was a sixth-century Greek poet and notary from Aphrodito in Egypt during the reign of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I. Born into a prominent local family, he received an exceptional Greek education and worked as a legal advocate. He traveled to Constantinople around 551 CE to seek patronage from high officials, including John the Cappadocian and Empress Theodora, before returning to his hometown, where he remained active until at least 585 CE.

His surviving corpus consists of papyri from his personal archive, containing both legal documents and his original poetry. His poems are primarily encomiastic, composed to honor and gain favor from local dignitaries, imperial officials, and clergy.

Dioscorus’s archive provides unparalleled insight into the social, economic, and legal life of a Late Antique Egyptian village. As a poet, he exemplifies provincial Greek literary culture, adapting classical models to contemporary Christian contexts and practical purposes. His work is crucial for understanding the persistence and evolution of Greek literary culture in Egypt during the Byzantine period.