Philostephanus ofCyrene (Philostephanus Cyrenaeus[1]) (Ancient Greek:Φιλοστέφανος) was aHellenistic writer fromNorthAfrica, who was a pupil of the poetCallimachus inAlexandria and doubtless worked there during the 3rd century BC.
Hishistory ofCyprus,De Cypro, written during the reign ofPtolemy Philopator (222–206 BC), has been lost, but it was known to at least two Christian writers,Clement of Alexandria[2] andArnobius.[3] It contained a narration of the story of themythicalPygmalion, of Cyprus, who fashioned acult image of the GreekgoddessAphrodite that came to life.Ovid depended on the account by Philostephanus for his dramatised and expanded version inMetamorphoses, through which the Pygmalion myth[4] was transmitted to the medieval and modern world.[5]
The remarks on Cyprus seem to have come from a larger work,On Islands. Scattered brief quotes of Philostephanus on islands refer also toSicily,[6]Calauria off the coast ofTroezen[7] and Stryme, off the Thracian coast.[8]Pliny's Natural History adduces Philostephanus as a source for the assertion thatJason was the first who went out to sea in a long vessel.[9]
Other works of Philostephanus cited in surviving passages from other authors were worksOf the Cities of Asia,OnCyllene,Epirotica ("OnEpirus"),On Marvellous Rivers[10]On Inventions, and various commentaries.
The fragments of Philostephanus, surviving in quotes from other authors, were published inKarl Wilhelm Ludwig Müller et al.,Fragmenta Historicorum Graecorum.
