Archytas of Amphissa (Ἀρχύτας ὁ Ἀμφισσεύς)

Life Archytas of Amphissa was an epic poet from the Hellenistic period, active in the 3rd century BCE. He was a native of Amphissa, a city in Ozolian Locris in central Greece. No further biographical details concerning his life or education survive.

Works His sole attested work is a lost epic poem titled Thebaid (Θηβαΐς). The poem is known only from its listing in the Byzantine encyclopedia, the Suda, which distinguishes this Archytas from the more famous philosopher Archytas of Tarentum [1][2]. No fragments of the text are extant.

Significance Archytas represents the numerous local poets of the Hellenistic era whose works are now lost. His composition of a Thebaid, treating the traditional myths of Thebes, illustrates the continued production of Homeric-style epic poetry across the Greek world during this period. He is recorded in modern catalogs of lost Greek epic poets [1][2].

Sources 1. Suda On Line (The Stoa Consortium): https://www.cs.uky.edu/~raphael/sol/sol-entries/alpha/4029 2. ToposText: https://topostext.org/people/archytas-2