eul_aid: hwq
Φιλοστέφανος ὁ Κυρηναῖος
Philostephanus of Cyrene
2 works

Philostephanus of Cyrene was a Hellenistic author of the 3rd century BCE. He studied under the poet Callimachus at the Library of Alexandria, placing him within the Ptolemaic court's scholarly milieu. No further biographical details survive.

His geographical and paradoxographical works exist only in fragments cited by later authors. These include On the Cities of Asia, On Inventions, On Islands, On Cyrene, On Wonderful Rivers, and treatises On the Peplus, On Fish, and On Birds, alongside a Hymn to Apollo.

Philostephanus is significant as a representative of Hellenistic scholarship, compiling marvels, local legends, and ethnographic details. His works were used as sources by later authors like Athenaeus and Clement of Alexandria. His work On Inventions notably contributed to the genre tracing the origins of cultural practices and technologies.

Available Works

Ἀποσπάσματα περὶ Σικελίας
Geographical Fragments on Sicily
2 passages
Ἀποσπάσματα
On the Cities in Asia
42 passages