Extract

He may have been taught by *Stesimbrotus of Thasos; Plutarch, Lys. 18. 8 says he competed at the Lysandreia festival in Samos in *Lysander's presence (therefore before 395 bce); his younger friend and admirer *Plato (1) sent *Heraclides (1) Ponticus (fr. 6 Wehrli) to Colophon to collect his poems.Small fragments survive: the Thebais was an epic, probably in 24 books, narrating the first expedition against Thebes, and exhibiting a wide knowledge of earlier poetry. Lyde was a narrative elegy in at least two books, allegedly composed after the death of his wife or mistress Lyde. It included very diverse mythological episodes, e.g. the Argonautica, *Demeter's wanderings, *Oedipus, and *Bellerophon; unhappy love may have been one of its connecting themes. Other poems, Deltoi, Artemis, and Iachine (the title is probably corrupt), are mere names to us. Antimachus also produced an edition of .