Apollonius of Perga

Mathematician

Born: c. 262 b. c.e.; Perga, Pamphylia, Asia Minor (now Murtana, Turkey) Died: c. 190 b. c.e.; Alexandria, Egypt Also known as: The Great Geometer Category: Mathematics

Life Little is known about the life of Apollonius of Perga (ap-uh-LOH-nee-uhs of PUR-guh), apart from what is found in the preface to his best-known work, the Konica (n. d.; Treatise on Conic Sections, 1896; best known as Conics). In the preface, he says that he started planning the work in Alexandria at the request of Naucrates, a geometer about whom nothing else is known. Apollonius hastily put together the eight books of the Conics so that they would be ready in time for Naucrates’ departure. Apollonius later revised the work. Of the eight books, the first four, which offer a basic introduction to the subject, survive in the Greek original. Books 5 through 7,

Apollonius of Perga. (Library of Congress)

Which contain extensions of these basic principles, are found only in Arabic translation. The last book has been lost. The only other work of Apollonius to survive is Logon apotome (n. d.; On Cutting Off a Ratio, 1987), which exists in Arabic translation.

Influence In Conics, Apollonius described the fundamentals of conic sections in such a systematic manner that it became the standard work on the subject in the ancient and medieval worlds. The work was also known in the Arabic world.

Further Reading

Apollonius of Perga. Conics: Books I to III. Translated by R. Catesby Taliaferro. Santa Fe, N. Mex.: Green Lion Press, 1998.

_. Conics: Books V to VII. Edited and translated by G. J. Toomer.

Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 1990.

Fried, Michael N., and Sabetai Unguru. Apollonius of Perga’s Conica: Text, Context, Subtext. Boston: Brill, 2001.

Albert T. Watanabe

See also: Science.

Born: Between 295 and 260 b. c.e.; Alexandria or Naucratis, Egypt Died: Late third century b. c.e.; Alexandria, Egypt Also known as: Apollonius of Rhodes; Apollonii Rhodii Category: Poetry; literature; scholarship

Life The Greek poet Apollonius Rhodius (ap-uh-LOH-nee-uhs ROH-dee-uhs) has traditionally been identified with the island of Rhodes— where he may have withdrawn because of a quarrel with his teacher Callimachus or because his poetry had been poorly received. In any case, Apollonius served as director of the famous library at Alexandria from about 260 to 246 b. c.e.

Apollonius’s major work is the Argonautica (third century b. c.e.; English translation, 1780), a long poem in four sections describing the adventures of a band of Greek heroes aboard the ship Argo. The heroes have been given the quest of seizing the Golden Fleece from King Aeetes of Colchis on the far shores of the Black Sea. The most famous section of the work describes the passion of King Aeetes’ daughter Medea for the expedition’s leader Jason.

Influence Apollonius’s Argonautica is the most important classical retelling of the myths involving the Golden Fleece. It has sometimes been compared unfavorably to such epic works as the Odyssey (c. 725 b. c.e.; English translation, 1614) of Homer, but it embodies a more psychologically sophisticated treatment of human character.

Further Reading

Apollonius Rhodius. The Argonautika. Translated with an introduction, commentary, and glossary by Peter Green. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997.

Beye, Charles Rowan. Epic and Romance in the Argonautica of Apollonius. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1982.

Byre, Calvin S. A Reading of Apollonius Rhodius’ “Argonautica”: The Poetics of Uncertainty. Lewiston, NY. : Edwin Mellen Press, 2002.

Clare, R. J. The Path of the Argo: Language, Imagery, and Narrative in the “Argonautica” of Apollonius Rhodius. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002.

Hunter, R. L. The Argonautica of Apollonius: Literary Studies. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993.

Schmidt, Michael. The First Poets: Lives of the Ancient Greek Poets. New York: Knopf; distributed by Random House, 2005.

Grove Koger

See also: Alexandrian Library; Homer; Literature; Mythology.