Ancient Colophonians

Xenophanes of Colophon ( ; ; – c. 478 BC) was a Greek philosopher, theologian, poet, and critic of Homer. He was born in Ionia and travelled throughout the Greek-speaking world in early classical antiquity.

thumb|upright=1.8|Mimnermus was one of several ancient Greek poets who composed verses about solar eclipses, and there was a total solar eclipse of his home town, Smyrna, on April 6, 648 BC. His poetry survives only as a few fragments yet they afford us a glimpse of his "brilliantly vivid" style. Mimnermus ( Mímnermos) was a Greek elegiac poet from either Colophon or Smyrna in Ionia, who flourished about 632–629 BC (i.e. in the 37th Olympiad, according to Suda). He was strongly influenced by Homer, yet he wrote short poems suitable for performance at drinking parties and was remembered by anci

thumb|200px|Nicander, Theriaca, 10th century, Constantinople Nicander of Colophon (; fl. 2nd century BC) was a Greek poet, physician, and grammarian.

thumb|Herm of Antimachus from Colophon Antimachus of Colophon (), or of Claros, was a Greek poet and grammarian, who flourished about 400 BC.

Dinon or Deinon (Greek or ) of Colophon (fl. c. 360 – 340 BC) was a Greek historian and chronicler, the author of a history of Persia, many fragments of which survive. The Suda mistakenly attributes this work to Dio Cassius. He was the father of the historian Cleitarchus.

Archeanassa or Archaeanassa (Greek , ), a native of Colophon, was a hetaera or courtesan living in Athens in the late 5th century BC. According to biographical sources about Plato, the philosopher as a young man was deeply in love with Archeanassa and addressed a four-line epigram to her. The poem is quoted by Athenaeus in a survey of famous courtesans, and by Diogenes Laërtius in his biography of Plato: I have a mistress, fair Archeanassa of Colophon, on whose very wrinkles sits hot love. O hapless ye who met such beauty on its first voyage, what a flame must have been kindled in you!