Aethiopis

The Aithiopis /iːˈθaɪəpɪs/ (Greek: Αἰθιοπίς, Aíthiopís, Latinized as Aethiopis), also spelled Aethiopis, is the lost epic of ancient Greek literature. It was one of the Epic Cycle, which told the entire history of the Trojan War in epic verse. The story of the Aethiopis lands chronologically after the Homeric Iliad, and could be followed by that of the Little Iliad. The Aethiopis is often attributed by ancient writers to Arctinus of Miletus (8th century BC) (see Cyclic poets). The poem comprised five books of verse in dactylic hexameter.

It is useful to keep in mind so much about evidence about this lost play is conjecture. As stated by the scholar Malcom Davis, the Aithiopis is a lost epic of which hardly any fragments (as normally defined) survive:

"We know less about this poem than we think we do" would, of course, be a suitable cautionary rubric for most, if not all, of the works contained within the Epic Cycle. But it seems to me to apply with a particular appropriateness to the Aethiopis, a composition from which, contrary to initial impressions, we possess no securely attested direct citation—indeed only one indubitable fragment of any sort, and that from a portion of the poem which falls outside the scope of Proclus’ résumé.[1]