Editing Callimachus (section)

===Ancient===
[[File:Virgil Reading the Aeneid.jpg|thumb|alt=Painting of a group of four people in Roman dress. One of them reads from a scroll.|[[Vergil]]'s ''[[Aeneid]]'' interacts frequently with the work of Callimachus. This late-18th-century painting by [[Jean-Baptiste Wicar]] shows Vergil reciting his poem to the emperor [[Augustus]].]]
Callimachus and his aesthetic philosophy became an important point of reference for Roman poets of the late [[Roman Republic|Republic]] and the early [[Roman Empire|Empire]]. [[Catullus]], [[Horace]], [[Vergil]], [[Propertius]], and [[Ovid]] saw his poetry as one of their "principal model[s]".{{Sfn|Hunter|2012|p=1}} Due to the complexity of his poetic production, Roman authors did not attempt to reproduce Callimachus's poems but creatively reused them in their own work.{{Sfn|Barchiesi|2011|p=512}} Vergil, in his ''[[Aeneid]]'', an epic about the wanderings of [[Aeneas]], repeatedly alludes to Callimachus when contemplating the nature of his own poetry. Having followed Callimachus's example by rejecting traditional epic poetics in his 6th [[Eclogue]], Vergil labels his ''Aeneid'' as a "better work" ({{Langx|la|maius opus}}). Vergil's formulation leaves open whether he sought to write an epic with the refinement called for by Callimachus or whether he had turned his back on Callimacheanism as his career progressed.{{Sfn|Barchiesi|2011|p=522}}

Having referred to himself as a "Roman Callimachus" ({{Langx|la|Romanus Callimachus}}), the [[elegy|elegist]] Propertius follows the example of Callimachus's ''Aetia'' by introducing obscure mythological material and numerous recondite details into his erotic history of Rome. At the same time, he challenges Callimachean learnedness by depicting [[low culture|lowbrow]] details of contemporary [[nightlife]] such as [[strippers]] and [[dwarfism|dwarfs]] kept for entertainment purposes.{{Sfn|Barchiesi|2011|p=514}} Ovid described Callimachus as "lacking in genius but strong in art" ({{Langx|la|Quamvis ingenio non valet, arte valet}}).<ref>Ov. ''Am.'' 1.15.14</ref> His statement, though seemingly a criticism of the poet, pays homage to Callimachus's belief that technical skill and erudition were the most important attributes of a poet.{{Sfn|Gutzwiller|2007|p=61}}