[sect. 4]
Other works of Apollonius
The literary activity of Apollonius was not exclusively confined to the Argonautica, as we find references to various other writings which are attributed to him with more or less probability.134
(1) The Epigrams of Apollonius are mentioned by Antonius Liberalis: ἱστορεῖ Νίκανδρος καὶ Ἀπολλώνιος ὁ Ῥόδιος ἐν τοῖς ἐπιγράμμασιν.135 The only epigram of his which has been preserved is that on Callimachus already quoted in connexion with the quarrel between the two poets.
(2) His Κτίσεις, which are frequently cited, were poetical works describing the history, antiquities, and characteristics, either of whole regions or of special cities. We hear of works of this kind written by him on Alexandria,136 Canopus,137 Caunus,138 Cnidus,139 Naucratis,140 and Rhodes.141 These were probably all separate works, [p. 50]and not parts of one larger whole, as the metres vary, the fragments from the Κτίσις Κανώπου being scazons, while the fragments of the other Κτίσεις are all hexameters. Suidas tells us that Callimachus also wrote Κτίσεις Νήσων καὶ Πόλεων.
(3) As a Homeric critic Apollonius acquired a considerable reputation, though he does not seem to have published any edition of the Iliad or Odyssey. We read of a work of his, πρὸς Ζηνόδοτον,142 in which he criticized the readings defended by Zenodotus in his edition. The loss of this work is greatly to be deplored, as the knowledge we possess from other sources of the views of Zenodotus on Homeric questions is fragmentary and unreliable. Only in a few instances143 do we find the full title, Ἀπολλώνιος ὁ Ῥόδιος, given in the scholia on the Iliad, but in many other cases144 where simply Ἀπολλώνιος is found, a comparison of the usages in the Argonautica shows that it is our poet whose views are cited. Often, where we have no direct evidence, we can judge indirectly of the attitude of Apollonius [p. 51]to Zenodotus by a consideration of forms adopted or rejected in the Argonautica, which the Scholiasts on Homer tell us were read by Zenodotus in the Homeric text.
Amongst the Zenodotean forms which Apollonius adopts are τεθνειώς, θέλω, ἥδυμος, μόλις, πασσυδίῃ, δυσάσχετος, Γοργόνος, Ῥείην, ἤμελλε, κἀκεῖνος (Aristarchus καὶ κεῖνος), ἐπιμάρτυρες, Μίνω, and χρώς. On the other hand, while Zenodotus wrote in Homer the forms δένδρος, εὐποιητῇσι, ἀγχιάλην, ἔηξεν, ἀναπτάς, δεδάασθαι, στεναχή, Ἀριήδνη, πολυπιδάκου, ἐυστρόφῳ, Apollonius uses δένδρεον, εὐποίητον ἱμάσθλην, ἀγχιάλου ἀκτῆς (Ἀγχιάλη as prop. name), ἆξεν (or ἔαξε), ἀμπετάσας, δεδαῆσθαι, στοναχή, Ἀριάδνη, πολυπίδακος, ἐυστρεφεῖ. Apollonius seems to have agreed with Zenodotus' views on many points, especially in the use of the pronouns (e.g. οὗ, εἷο, ἑοῖο: μιν as acc. pl.: the extended application of ὅς, ἑός, σφωίτερος, etc.), though, on the whole, he conforms rather to the principles of Aristarchus, as Merkel shows in his Prolegomena by a minute examination of the relations between Apollonius, Zenodotus, Aristophanes, and Aristarchus.
(4) Apollonius is also mentioned as a critic of the Hesiodic poems.145 The author of Argument III to the Scutum Herculis tells us that Apollonius maintained the genuineness of this work, the authenticity of which was disputed by Aristophanes of Byzantium amongst others.
(5) Athenaeus refers to a work of our poet περὶ [p. 52]Ἀρχιλόχου,146 but the precise nature of this cannot be determined. It may have formed part of a more general work comprising ὑπομνήματα or commentaries on the ancient poets.147
(6) To a general work of this kind might also be referred the views in the scholia148 on Aristophanes which are ascribed to an Apollonius who is supposed to be our poet. It is a very much disputed point, however, whether this Apollonius is the Rhodian, or one of the hundred other grammarians who bore the name.149
(7) Lastly, there are two works of Apollonius mentioned by Athenaeus, one dealing with the Egyptians150 (though Athenaeus may be referring merely to some of the Κτίσεις such as those of Alexandria or Naucratis), the other entitled Τριηρικός,151 which probably dealt with the technical terms employed in describing a trireme.
