Pancrates of Arcadia (Παγκράτης Ἀρκάς)

Life Pancrates was a Hellenistic poet of the 3rd century BCE, active in Alexandria during the reigns of Ptolemy II Philadelphus and Ptolemy III Euergetes [1]. According to Athenaeus, he was a friend and hunting companion of Ptolemy II, winning the king's favor by composing a poem about a shared experience involving a giant crayfish and a mullet [2].

Works His work is fragmentarily preserved. Ancient sources attest two major poems: the Halieutica (Ἁλιευτικά), a didactic epic on fishing and sea creatures, and the Persica (Περσικά), an epic on Persian history or mythology in at least two books [1].

Significance Pancrates represents Hellenistic court poetry and the revival of didactic epic. His Halieutica is an early example of specialized didactic poetry, incorporating paradoxography and aetiology, and influenced later works like those of Oppian [1]. His fragments demonstrate characteristic Hellenistic scholarly allusion and the blending of natural science with myth, remaining a source for later authors like Athenaeus and Aelian [1][2].

Sources 1. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Classics: https://oxfordre.com/classics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-4672 2. Perseus Digital Library (Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae 7.283d–f): http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2013.01.0002%3Abook%3D7%3Achapter%3D45