onius in the passage at the end of the "Hymn to
Apollo", already mentioned, also probably in some epigrams, but most of
all in his "Ibis", of which we have an imitation, or perhaps nearly a
translation, in Ovid's poem of the same name. On the part of Apollonius
there is a passage in the third book of the "Argonautica" (11. 927-947)
which is of a polemical nature and stands out from the context, and the
well-known savage epigram upon Callimachus. [1002] Various combinations
have been attempted by scholars, notably by Couat, in his "Poesie
Alexandrine", to give a connected account of the quarrel, but we have
not data sufficient to determine the order of the attacks, and replies,
and counter-attacks. The "Ibis" has been thought to mark the termination
of the feud on the curious ground that it was impossible for abuse to go
further. It was an age when literary men were more inclined to comment
on writings of the past than to produce original work. Literature was
engaged in taking stock of itself. Homer was, of course, professedly
admired by all, but more admired than imitated. Epic poetry was out
of fashion and we find many epigrams of this period--some by
Callimachus--directed against the "cyclic" poets, by whom were meant at
that time those who were always dragging in conventional and commonplace
epithets and phrases peculiar to epic poetry. Callimachus was in
accordance with the spirit of the age when he proclaimed "a great book"
to be "a great evil", and sought to confine poetical activity within the
narrowest limits both of subject and space. Theocritus agreed with
him, both in principle and practice. The chief characteristics of
Alexandrianism are well summarized by Professor Robinson Ellis as
follows: "Precision in form and metre, refinement in diction, a learning
often degenerating into pedantry and obscurity, a resolute avoidance of
everything commonplace in subject, sentiment or allusion." These traits
are more prominent in Callimachus than in Apollonius, but they are
certainly to be seen in the latter. He seems to have written the
"Argonautica" out of bravado, to show that he could write an epic poem.
But the influence of the age was too strong. Instead of the unity of an
Epic we have merely a series of episodes, and it is the great beauty
and power of one of these episodes that gives the poem its permanent
value--the episode of the love of Jason and Medea. This occupies the
greater part of the third book. The firs