Choerilus

▪ Athenian tragic poet

flourished c. 510 BC, Athens [Greece]

      one of the earliest recorded Athenian tragic poets, of whose work only one title (Alope) and one disputed fragment remain. Choerilus is said to have produced his first play about 523 BC and to have competed against the tragedian Aeschylus about 498. Some sources credit him with 13 victories in the festival contests and with certain innovations in tragic masks and costumes.

▪ Greek epic poet

flourished 5th century BC, Samos, Ionia [Greece]

      Greek epic poet of the Aegean island of Samos, author of a lost verse chronicle, the Persica, which probably related the story of the Persian wars as narrated in prose by the historian Herodotus. Because Choerilus's work treated recent historical events, it represented a notable innovation in epic poetry; earlier epics derived their subject matter from Greek mythology. According to the biographer Plutarch, Choerilus was later employed by the Spartan general Lysander to celebrate his exploits. He died at the court of Archelaus, king of Macedonia. Scanty extant fragments of his work include a lament for the decline of the epic tradition, of which he saw himself as a last representative.

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