In the current revival of studies on Alexander the Great, literature has until now neglected – also because of the scarcity of testimonies – its ‘poetic’ side. Choerilus of Iasus, the most important among the poets who accompanied Alexander’s endeavours, represents no exception. For this reason, the book delivers a complete study of Choerilus’ works, life and (mis-)fortune. By doing so, it reassesses philologically and historically a blind spot in present-day research and therefore illuminates further the field of Alexandrography as well as its literary reception. The volume entails first of all a new edition of all the testimonies and fragments pertaining to Choerilus of Iasus, updating and expanding the latest collection edited by H. Lloyd-Jones and P. Parsons in the Supplementum Hellenisticum (1983). Following up, the book develops in four chapters an analysis and discussion of the texts collected in the critical edition. The fifth concluding chapter retraces and contextualises the history of modern studies, from the Renaissance on, concerning the elusive figure of Choerilus.
