Meleager

Meleager (flourished 1st century bc, b. Gadara [now Umm Qays, Jordan]) was a Greek poet who compiled the first large anthology of epigrams. This was the first of the collections that made up what is known as the Greek Anthology. Meleager’s collection contained poems by 50 writers and many by himself; an introductory poem compared each writer to a flower, and the whole was entitled Stephanos (“Garland”). Meleager’s own poems are neatly constructed, and they treat erotic themes with cleverness; they had a considerable influence on the epigrams written during the time of the Roman Empire. He lived in Tyre and, in old age, on the Aegean island of Cos.