John of Gaza the Grammarian and Poet (Ἰωάννης ὁ Γαζαῖος) was a grammarian and poet active in Gaza during the late 5th and early 6th centuries CE. His epithet indicates his profession as a teacher of language and literature within the city’s vibrant late antique cultural milieu, where classical paideia was adapted within a Christian framework [1]. He is distinct from other contemporary figures from Gaza as the author of the Description of the Cosmic Table [2].

His two known works are the Description of the Cosmic Table (Ἔκφρασις τοῦ κοσμικοῦ πίνακος), an extant ekphrastic hexameter poem describing a cosmological painting in a bathhouse, and a collection of Anacreontic Poems (Ἀνακρεόντεια), of which only six short verses survive [1].

John is significant as an example of a late antique grammarian-poet who employed classical literary forms for contemporary purposes. His Description of the Cosmic Table is a key source for the study of ekphrasis, late antique aesthetics, and the reception of classical cosmology, illustrating the persistence of Hellenic literary culture in a Christian setting [1].

Sources 1. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Classics (Oxford University Press): https://oxfordre.com/classics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-8370 2. Perseus Digital Library (Tufts University): http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0104:entry=ioannes-gazaeus-bio-1