Least-Known Greek-Roman Authors Masterpost
A post to compiled posts I made to organize authors and their attributed works containing mythology. Want to keep track on ones that are unavailable on Theoi, Topostext, and Perseus Library.
Some of these lost works were covered in commentaries by scholars in books, so it's best to read them to get the full contexts.
Currently incomplete. This will update over time as I post more and subject to changes. Any questions or suggestions are welcome.
Red means no fragments or tiny fraction their content survived except for their titles no matter how hard you find.
Green means it’s available online in search results but not on Topostext, Theoi, etc.
Legendary Figures
(They are listed under this category due to their dubious existence and issues of ascribed authorship)
Olen - prophet & poet
Works: Hymn to Eileithyia, to Hera, to Apollo (unlikely these are the same as the well-known Homeric)
Musaeus - prophet, poet, philosopher, historian, musician
Work: Hymn to Demeter, Titanomachia, Theogonia, Sphaera
Pamphos - Athenian poet
Work: poem on Eros, on Charities, on Zeus, several hymns including to Demeter
Arctinus of Miletus (ca. 8th-7th century BC) - poet
Work: Aethiopis, Sack of Troy, Naupactia
Creophylus of Samos
Work: Sack of Oechalia
Eumelus of Corinth (ca. 8th century BC) - poet
Work: Europia, Bougonia (perhaps the same as Europia), Titanomachia, Korinthiaka, Nostoi
Cinaethon of Sparta (ca. 8th century BC) - poet
Work: Oedipodea, Little Iliad, Telegony
Hegesinous - poet & mythographer
Work: Atthis
Agias (ca. 8th century BC) - poet
Work: Nostoi
Archiac Era
Peisander of Camirus (ca. 7th century BC) - poet
Work: Herakleia
Epimenides of Knossos (ca. 7th-6th century BC) - semi-mythical poet & philosopher
Work: Generation and Theogony of the Curetes and Corybantes, Argonautica, Treatise of Sacrifices in Crete, and the Cretan Constitution, Treatise of Minos and Rhadymanthus
Alcaeus (ca. 7th-6th century BC) - comic poet
Work: Hymn to Apollo, Hymn to Hermes, Endymion, Ganymede, Pasiphae, Callisto
Stesichorus of Himera (ca. 630-555 BC)- poet
Work: Helen, Helen: Palinodes, Iliupersis, Wooden Horse, Cerberus, Nostoi, Geryoneis, Cycnus, Skylla, Eriphyle, Oresteia, Thebaid, Europa, Boar-hunters, Funeral Games of Pelias
Solon (ca. 630–560 BC) - politician, philosopher, poet
Acusilaus of Argos (ca. late 6th century BC) - logographer & mythographer
Work: Genealogía
Hipponax (ca. late 6th century BC) - iambic poet
Phrynichus (ca. late 6th-5th century BC) - tragic poet
Work: Actaeon, Alcestis, Antaeus, Daughters of Danaus, Egyptians, Persians, Pheonician Women, Troilos, Libyans, Sack of Miletus, Tantalus
Classical Era
Pherecydes of Syros (ca. 6th century BC)- mythographer & proto-philosopher
Work: Histories, Theogony, The Mixing of the Gods, Seven Nooks
Ibycus (ca. first half 6th century BC) - poet
Phormis (ca. first half 6th century BC) - comic playwright
Work: Admetus, Alcinous, Alcyone, Atalante, Cepheus, Hippos ("The Horse"), The Sacking of Troy, Perseus
Choerilus (ca. 6th-5th century BC?) - playwright
Work: Alope
Epicharmus of Kos (ca. 550-460 BC) - philosopher, playwright, satirist
Work: The Country-Dweller/Clodhopper, The Marriage of Hebe, Odysseus the Deserter, Alkyon, Amycus, Harpagai, Bakkhai, Busiris, Earth and Sea, Deucalion, The Dionysuses, Diphilus, Hope/Wealth, Heorta kai Nasoi, Epinikios, Heraclitus, Spectators, Hephaestus or The Revelers, The Cyclops, Logos kai Logeina, Woman From Megara, Months, Odysseus Shipwrecked, The Sausage, Periallos, The Persians, The Little Ape or Monkey, Sirens, Skiron, Sphinx, Triakades, Trojan Men, Philoctetes, The Dancers, The Pots
Aristonymus (ca. 5th century BC?) - comic playwright
Work: Theseus, Helios Shivering
Heraclitus (ca. 500 BC-?) - presocratic philosopher
Work: On Nature
Crates (ca. 5th century BC?) - comic playwright
Work: Heroes, Lamia
Telecleides (ca. 5th century BC?) - comic playwright
Work: Apseudeis
Neophron (ca. 5th century BC?) - playwright
Work: Medea
Pratinas (ca. 5th century BC) - playwright
Work: Perseus, Tantalus, Wrestlers, Caryatids
Aristias (ca. 5th century BC) - comedic playwright. Pratinas' son.
Work: Antaeus, Atalante, Orpheus, Fates, Cyclops
Xenocles (ca. 5th century BC)- playwright & poet. Son of Carcinus the Elder and father of Carcinus the Younger
Work: Oedipus, Lycaon, Bacchae, Athamas
Euphorion (ca. 5th century BC) - playwright, Aeschylus' son
Work: Prometheus Bound(?)
Philocles The Elder (ca. 5th century BC) - playwright, Aeschylus' nephew and Astydamas' father.
Work: Tereus (possibly part of Pandionis tetralogy), Erigone, Nauplius, Oineus, Priam, Penelope, the story of Hermione, Neoptolemus and Orestes
Astydamas the Elder (c. 5th century BC) - playwright. Philocles' son, father of Astydamas the Younger, and Aeschylus' great grandnephew
Gorgias (ca. 483-375 BC) - rhetorician and philosopher
Work: Encomium of Helen, Defense of Palemedes
Panyassis of Halikarnassos (ca. 5th century BC) - poet
Work: Herakleia, Ionica
Aristarchus of Tegea (ca. 5th century BC) - playwright
Work: Achilleus, Asklepios, Tantalos
Aristias of Phlius (ca. 5th century BC) - playwright
Work: Antaios, Atalante, Keres, Kyklops, Orpheus, Perseus, Tantalos
Hermippus (ca. 5th century BC) - comic writer
Work: Birth of Athena, Fates, Europa, Cercopes
Plato (ca. 5th century BC?) - comic poet
Work: Adonis, The Alliance, Ambassadors, Amphiareos, Ants, Cleophon, Daidalus, Europa, Festivals, Griffins, Hyperbolus, Io, Laius, Long Night, Laconians, Peisander, Perialges, Phaon, The Women from the Temples, Xantriai or Kerkopes, Zeus Being Wronged, Zeus in Trouble
Diogenes of Athens (ca. late 5th-early 4th century BC) - tragedian
Work: Thyestes, Achilleus, Helene, Herakles, Medeia, Oedipus, Chrysippos, Semele
Philyllius (ca. late 5th-early 4th century BC) - comic poet
Work: Aigeus, Auge, Anteia, The Twelfth Woman, Herakles, Pluntria or Nausikaa, The City, The Well-Digger, Atalante, Helene
Nicophon (ca. late 5th-early 4th century BC) - comic poet
Work: Adonis, Sirens, Origin of Aphrodite, Coming Up from Hades, Living By Their Hands
Hellanikos of Lesbo (ca. 480-395 BC) - historian & logographer
Work: Atthis, Troica, Deucalionea, Phoronis, Asopidis, Atlantis, Chronology of Priestesses of Hera at Argo
Part I
Ion of Chios (ca. 490/480 – c. 420 BC) - poet, playwright, philosopher
Work: Agamemnon, Alkmene, Argeioi, Phrousoi, Phoinix/Kaineus/Oineus, Kaineus, Phoinix deuteros, Teukros, Omphale, Eurytidae, Laertes
Achaeus of Eretria (ca. 484 - c. 405 BC) - playwright
Work: Adrastos, Azanes, Athla or Athloi, Aithon, Alkmeon, Alphesiboia, Eumenides, Hephaistos, Iris, Kyknos, Linos, Moirai, Momos, Oedipus, Omphale, Peirithoos, Philoktetes, Theseus
Empedocles (ca. 5th century BC) - presocratic philosopher
Work: On Nature, On Purifications
Critias of Athens (ca. 460 - 403 BC) - playwright, philosopher, & politician
Work: Atalanta, Peirithous, Rhadamanthys, Sisyphos, Tennes
Agathon (ca. 448 - 400 BC) - playwright
Work: Anthos or Antheus, Mysoi, Telephos, Thyestes
Iophon of Athens (ca. late 5th century ) - playwright. Sophocles' son.
Work: Achilleus, Aktaion, Auloidoi, Bakchai, Dexamenos, Iliupersis, Pentheus, Telephos
Archippus (ca. late 5th century BC) - comic poet
Work: Dionysus Shipwrecked, Amphitryon, The Donkey's Shadow, Fishes, Hercules Getting Married, Pinon, Ploutos
Sannyrion (ca. late 5th century BC) - comic playwright
Work: Io, Danae
Apollophanes (ca. 5th-4th century BC) - comic poet
Work: Dalis, Mighty Old Man, Centaurs, Cretans, Danae
Nicomachus (ca. 425 BC-?) - poet & playwright
Work: Alexander, Eriphyle, Geryones, Aletides, Neoptolemus, Mysi, Oedipus, Polyxena, Tyndareus, Alcmaeon, Teucer
Antimachus of Colophon - poet & grammarian
Work: Thebaid, Epigoni
Euripides the Younger (ca. late 5th century BC) - playwright. Euripides' son.
Work: Polyxene(?), Orestes(?), Medea(?)
Cleidemus (ca. 5th-4th century BC) - historian(?)
Work: Atthis
Cephisodorus (ca. late 5th-4th century BC) - playwright
Work: Antilais, Amazons, Trophonius
Hellenistic Era
Theopompus (ca. 410-370 BC) - comic poet
Work: Admetus, Althea, Aphrodite, Batyle, Eirene, Callistratus Hedychares, Theseus, The Mede, Nemea, Odysseus, Children (Paides), Pamphile, Pantaleon, Penelope, Sirens, Female Soldiers (Stratiotides), Teisamenus, Phineus
Antiphanes (c. 408-334 BCE) - comic playwright
Work: Alkestis, Antaios, Aphrodite's Birth, Bakchai, Asklepios, Ganymedes, Phaon, Philoktetes, Minos, Orpheus, Omphale, Medeia, Meleagros
Zoilus (c. 400–320 BC) - grammarian and critic
Work: Against the Poetry of Homer, 3 books involving the history of the gods from their birth to the death of Philip of Macedon, On Amphipolis, Against the Rhetor Isocrates, Against Plato
Ephippus of Athens (ca. 4th century BC?) - comic playwright
Work: Artemis, Bousiris, The Geryons, Merchandise, Adolescents, Circe, Kudôn, Shipwrecked, Obeliaphoroi ê Homoioi, Peltastês, Sapphô, Philura
Andron (ca. 4th century BC?) - mythographer
Work: Origins of the Custom of Cremation
Carcinus the Younger (c. 4th century BC) - Xenocles' son.
Work: Aerope, Ajax, Alope, Amphiaraus, Medea, Oedipus, Orestes, Semele, Thyestes, Tyro(?)
Astydamas the Younger (ca. 4th century BC) - poet & tragedian, the late Astydamas' son
Work: Achilleus, Aias Mainomenos, Alkmene, Alkmeon, Antigone, Athamas, Bellerophon, Epigonoi, Hektor, Herakles, Hermes, Lykaon, Nauplios, Palamedes, Parthenopaios, Phoinix, Tyro
Theodectes of Phaselis (ca. 4th century BC) - tragic poet
Work: Ajax, Alcmeon, Helen, Lynceus, Mausolus, Oedipus, Orestes, Tydeus, Philoctetes
Euhemerus (ca. late 4th century BC) - historian, poet, philosopher, mythographer
Work: Sacred History
Nicochares (ca. 4th century BC) - comic poet
Work: Amymone, Pelops, Galatea, Hercules Getting Married, Hercules the Play-Producer, Cretans, The Laconians, Lemnian Women, Centaurs, Those Living Hand-to-Mouth
Dionysius I of Syracuse (ca. 4th century BC) - tyrant, politician, playwright
Work: Adonis, Alcmene, Leda, Ransom of Hector, Medea (?)
Anaxilas Comicus (ca. 4th century BC) - comic poet
Work: Botrylion, Glaucus, Thrasyleon, Calypso, Circe, Cyclops, Nereus, Bird-Keepers, Hyacinthus or Hyacinthus the Pimp, Graces
Douris of Samos (ca. 350–after 281 BC) - historian and tyrant
Work: Histories (also named as Macedonica or Hellenica), On Agathocles (also named Libyca), Annals of Samos, On Laws On Games, On Tragedy (and perhaps On Euripides and Sophocles) On Painters, On Sculpture
Philochorus (ca. 340 - 261 BC) - historian
Work: Atthis
Philitas of Cos (ca. 340 – c. 285 BC) - poet and grammarian
Work: Hermes, Demeter, Telephus(?)
Euphorion of Chalcis (ca. 3rd century BC) - poet and grammarian
Eratosthenes of Cyrene (ca. 276-195/194 BC)- mathematician, geographer, poet, astronomer, and music theorist.
Work: Erigone, Hermes, Catasterismi
Plautus (ca. 254 – 184 BC) - Latin playwright
Nicander of Colophon (ca. 2th century BC) - Greek poet, physician, grammarian
Work: Theriaca, Thebaica, Alexipharmaca, Heteroeumena, Europia, Hyacinthus, Hymnus ad Attalum, Georgica, Melissourgica, unknown epigrams
Bion (ca. late 2nd century BC?) - poet
Work: Lament For Adonis
Early Latin and Roman Imperial Period
Livius Andronicus (c. 284 – c. 204 BC) - dramatist, poet, translator
Works: Odusia, Achilles, Aegisthus, Aiax Mastigophorus (Ajax with the Whip), Andromeda, Antiopa, Danae, Equus Troianus, Hermiona, Tereus.
Gnaeus Naevius (ca. 270 – c. 201 BC) - post and playwright.
Works: Aegisthus, Danae. Lycurgus, Hector, Romulus, The Trojan Horse
Plautus (c. 254 – 184 BC) - playwright
Works: Amphitryon/Amphitruo
Marcus Pacuvius (220 – c. 130 BC)- poet and playwright
Works: Antiope, Armorum Judicium, Atalanta, Chryses, Dulorestes, Hermione, Iliona, Medus, Niptra, Pentheus, Periboea, Teucer
Lucius Accius (170 – c. 86 BC) - tragic poet
Worki: Atreus
Boios (ca. 1st century AD?) - Greek grammarian and mythographer
Work: Ornithogonia
Propertius (ca. 50–45-after 15 BC) - elegiac poet
Work: Four elegies
Cornutus (ca. 1st century AD?) - stotic philosopher
Work: Compendium of Greek Theology, commentary on Virgil
Dionysius(?) (ca. 1st-2nd century AD) - poet
Work: Bassarica (a volume in a series of 18 books about Dionysus' campaign in India), Gigantias (a volume in a series of 3 books about the Gigantomachia)
Apuleius (ca. 124–after 170 AD) - philosopher, rhetorician, novelist
Work: The Golden Ass
Artemidorus (ca. 2nd century AD) - philosopher
Work: Oneirocritica
Oppian (ca. 2nd century AD) - poet
Work: Halieutica
Nemesianus (ca. 2nd century AD) - poet
Work: Cynegetica, Four Eclogues, Praise of Hercules
Claudius Aelianus (ca. 175– 235 AD) - poet, mythographer, geographer
Work: Varia Historia, On Providence and Divine Manifestations
Ausonius (ca. 310–395 AD) - poet
Work: Cupid Crucified
Sallustius (ca. 4th century AD) - philosopher
Work: On the Gods and the Cosmos
Byzantine Period
Blossius Aemilius Dracontius (c. 455 – c. 505 AD) - Christian poet
Works: The Rape of Helen, Medea, Orestis Tragoedia
Musaeus Grammaticus (ca. 6th-7th century AD) - poet
Work: Hero and Leander
Unknown Author(s)
Aegimius - epic poem traditionally attributed to Hesiod
Melampodia - epic poem attributed to Hesiod
Anacreontea - series a poem dates 1st c. BC-6th c. AD
Astronomia - hexameter poem attributed to Hesiod
Appendix Vergiliana - series of Latin poems attributed to Virgil
Epigoni - Antimachus(?)
Danais - by a cyclic poet
Minyas - ca. 6th century epic poem
Megalai Ehoiai - epic poem
Pervigilium Veneris ("The Vigil of Venus") - poem attributed to Tiberianus
Wedding of Ceyx - poem attributed to Hesiod
References and Further Reading
Andolfi, I. (2019). Acusilaus of Argos’ Rhapsody in Prose: Introduction, Text, and Commentary. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter.
Beck, B. (Ed.). (2025). The Ancient Scholia to Homer’s Iliad: A Translation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Benaissa, A. (Ed.). (2018). Dionysius: The Epic Fragments. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Currie, B., & Rutherford, I. (Eds.). (2019). The Reception of Greek Lyric Poetry in the Ancient World: Transmission, Canonization and Paratext. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill.
Curtis, P. (2011). Stesichoros's Geryoneis. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill.
Faulkner, A., & Hodkinson, O. (Eds.). (2015). Hymnic Narrative and the Narratology of Greek Hymns. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill.
Fontaine, M., & Scafuro, A. C. (2014). The Oxford Handbook of Greek and Roman Comedy. Oxford University Press.
Fowler, R. L. (ed.). (2013). Early Greek Mythography. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Harding, P. (2007). The Story of Athens: The Fragments of the Local Chronicles of Attika (1st ed.). Routledge.
Hawes, G. (2014). Rationalizing Myth In Antiquity. Oxford University Press.
Johnson, S. F. (2008). Greek Literature in Late Antiquity. Dynamism, Didacticism, Classicism. Routledge.
Katsaros, A., & Jennings, V. (Eds.). (2007). The World of Ion of Chios. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill.
Kivilo, M. (2010). Early Greek Poets' Lives: The Shaping of the Tradition. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill.
Matthews, V.J. (2018). Antimachus of Colophon. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill.
Matthews. (2018). Panyassis of Halikarnassos. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill.
Noussia-Fantuzzi, M. (2010). Solon the Athenian, the Poetic Fragments. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill.
C. Tsagalis, C. (Eds.). (2017). Early Greek Epic Fragments I: Antiquarian and Genealogical Epic. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter.
C. Tsagalis, C. (2022). Early Greek Epic Fragments II: Epics on Herakles: Kreophylos and Peisandros. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter.
C. Tsagalis, C. (2024). Early Greek Epic Fragments III: Epics on Herakles and Theseus: Panyassis’ ›Herakleia‹ and the ›Theseis‹. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter.
C. Tsagalis, C. (Eds.). (2024). Heracles in Early Greek Epic. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill.
Smith S. R., Stephen Brunet S., Trzaskoma S. M. (eds.), (2016). Anthology of Classical Myth: (Second Edition) Primary Sources in Translation. Indianapolis: Hackett Pub.
Smith, S.R. & Trzaskoma S. M. (eds.), (2022). The Oxford Handbook of Greek and Roman Mythography. Oxford, UK: Oxford Academic.
Spanoudakis, K. (18 Sep. 2017). Philitas of Cos. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill.
West, M. L. (2002). Eumelos: A Corinthian Epic Cycle? The Journal of Hellenic Studies, 122, 109–133.
Wright, M. (2016). The Lost Plays of Greek Tragedy (Volume 1): Neglected Authors. London: Bloomsbury Publishing.
