Quintus Smyrnaeus

Quintus Smyrnaeus (also Quintus of Smyrna; , ''Kointos Smyrnaios'') was a Greek epic poet whose ''Posthomerica'', following "after Homer", continues the narration of the Trojan War. The dates of Quintus Smyrnaeus' life and poetry are disputed: by tradition, he is thought to have lived in the latter part of the 4th century AD, but earlier dates have also been proposed.

His epic in fourteen books, known as the ''Posthomerica'', covers the period between the end of Homer's ''Iliad'' and the end of the Trojan War. Its primary importance is as the earliest surviving work to cover this period, the archaic works in the Epic Cycle, which he knew and drew upon, having been lost. His materials are borrowed from the cyclic poems from which Virgil (with whose works he was probably acquainted) also drew, in particular the ''Aethiopis'' (''Coming of Memnon'') and the ''Iliupersis'' (''Destruction of Troy'') of Arctinus of Miletus, and the ''Ilias Mikra'' (''Little Iliad'') of Lesches. His work is closely modeled on Homer. Provided by Wikipedia