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Also known as Cercidas Iambographus, Cerc.

Cercidas ( Kerkidas; fl. 3rd century BC) was a poet, Cynic philosopher, and legislator for his native city Megalopolis. A papyrus roll containing fragments from seven of his Cynic poems was discovered at Oxyrhynchus in 1906.

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Wikidata facts

Instance of
human
Gender
male
Place of birth
Megalopoli
Occupation
philosopher
Languages spoken
Ancient Greek
Movement
Cynicism
Show 5 more facts
date of birth
0300-01-01
date of death
0300-01-01
described by source
Pauly–Wissowa
writing language
Ancient Greek
Sources (1)

via Wikidata · CC0

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Encyclopedic overview

5 sections
Contents
  • Life
  • Poetry
  • Notes
  • References
  • External links

Cercidas ( Kerkidas; fl. 3rd century BC) was a poet, Cynic philosopher, and legislator for his native city Megalopolis. A papyrus roll containing fragments from seven of his Cynic poems was discovered at Oxyrhynchus in 1906.

==Life== Cercidas was an admirer of Diogenes, whose death he recorded in some Meliambic lines. He is mentioned and cited by Athenaeus (who cites him as a source for the cult of Venus Kallipygos) and Stobaeus. At his death he ordered the first and second books of the Iliad to be buried with him. Aelian relates that Cercidas died expressing his hope of being with Pythagoras of the philosophers, Hecataeus of the historians, Olympus of the musicians, and Homer of the poets, which clearly implies his esteem for these four disciplines.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Cercidas” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.