Colluthus of Lycopolis

Colluthus was a Greek epic poet from Lycopolis (modern Asyut) in Upper Egypt, active in the late fifth or early sixth century AD, during the reign of the emperor Anastasius I (491–518). He is mentioned by the Suda, which credits him with a Calydoniaca (on the Calydonian boar hunt) and other poems, all lost except one.

The surviving poem, The Rape of Helen, is a brief epyllion of 394 hexameters retelling the judgement of Paris and the abduction of Helen. The poem follows the Nonnus school of late antique epic — exuberant, highly decorated, and more interested in visual brilliance than narrative depth. Paris is vain and gorgeous; Helen is dazzled; the goddesses are petulant. The tone hovers between epic grandeur and something lighter, almost playful.

The poem is a minor work, but a charming one, and it gives us a window into the literary culture of late antique Egypt, where Homer was still the supreme model and poets still found new ways to retell the oldest stories.