Life Mimnermus was an elegiac poet from the Ionian city of Colophon in Asia Minor, active in the 7th century BCE, possibly a contemporary of Solon [1]. The Byzantine Suda claims he was a flute-player in love with a woman named Nanno, for whom he named a poetry book, and that he composed an epic, the Smyrneis, on the war between Smyrna and Lydia [1][2].

Works His work survives only in fragments. Two collections are known: Nanno (Ναννώ), a series of elegiac poems named for his beloved, and the Smyrneis (Σμυρνῇς), a historical epic in elegiac couplets concerning the conflict between Smyrna and the Lydians [1][2][3].

Significance Mimnermus is a key figure in early Greek elegy, renowned for his focus on youth, love, and the transience of life. His melancholic perspective on aging and mortality, exemplified by his comparison of human life to falling leaves, distinguished his poetry and influenced later Roman elegists like Propertius and Ovid [1][3].

Sources 1. Encyclopædia Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mimnermus 2. Perseus Digital Library, Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aentry%3Dmimnermus-bio-1 3. World History Encyclopedia: https://www.worldhistory.org/Mimnermus/