Life Heliodorus the Alchemist and Poet (Ἡλιόδωρος ὁ Ἀλχημιστής καὶ Ποιητής) was a late antique author, likely active between the 4th and 6th centuries CE. No biographical details survive, and he is known solely as the author of an alchemical poem. He is distinguished from the novelist of the same name and is traditionally grouped among other Greco-Egyptian alchemical writers like Zosimus of Panopolis [1].

Works His sole surviving work is the Carmen alchemicum (Alchemical Poem), a didactic composition in dactylic hexameter. The poem is part of the corpus of Greek alchemical writings and blends practical instruction with philosophical speculation [1].

Significance Heliodorus contributed to the literary tradition of Greco-Egyptian alchemy, which conveyed technical knowledge in verse. His work, copied and studied through the Byzantine period and into the Renaissance, helped transmit alchemical concepts to the Latin West and the Islamic world, representing a continuation of the didactic poetic tradition within a specialized domain [1].

Sources 1. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University): https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/alchemy/#GreEgyAlc