A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology

3. Of Chalcis in Euboea, an eminent grammarian and poet, was the son of Polymnetus, and was born, according to Suidas (s. r.), in the 126th Olympiad, when Pyrrhus was defeated by the Romans, B. C. 274. He became, but at what period of his life is not known, a citizen of Athens. (Hellad. apud Phot. Cod 279, p. 532, Bekker.) He was instructed in philosophy by Lacydes, who flourished about B. C. 241, and Prytanis (comp. Athen. 10.447e), and in poetry by Archebulus of Thera. Though he was sallow, fat, and bandylegged, he was beloved by Nicia (or Nicaea), the wife of Alexander, king of Euboea. His amours are referred to in more than one passage in the Greek Anthology. (Brunck, Anal. vol. ii. pp. 3, 43.) Having amassed great wealth, he went into Syria, to Antiochus the Great (B. C. 221), who made him his librarian. He died in Syria, and was buried at Apameia, or, according to others, at Antioch. (Suid. s. v.) The epigram (Brunck, Anal. vol. ii. p. 43), which places his tomb at the Peiraeeus, must be understood as referring to a cenotaph.