Editing Callisthenes (section)

==Writings==
Callisthenes' most well-known work was an account of Alexander's expedition up to the time of Callisthenes’ own execution. ''Deeds of Alexander'' or ''Praxeis Alexandrou'' (330 BCE) was biographical-style series of works detailing the campaign of Alexander the Great. Although copies of the work do not survive today, some knowledge of it can be inferred from references by other authors. The book was intended as propaganda and glorified Alexander the Great’s military achievements and claims to divinity as the son of [[Zeus]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hornblower |first=Simon |url=https://ia902909.us.archive.org/2/items/hornblower-simon-spawforth-antony-the-oxford-classical-dictionary-1999/HORNBLOWER%2C%20Simon%3B%20SPAWFORTH%2C%20Antony%20-%20The%20Oxford%20Classical%20Dictionary%20%5B1999%5D.pdf |title=The Oxford Classical Dictionary |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1999 |edition=3rd |location=New York |pages=278}}</ref> According to Polybius, much of Callisthenes' military accounts were over-glorified to the point of impossibility. [[Polybius]] claims that Callisthenes’ descriptions of Alexander’s military are impossible and would not fit in the locations, such as the country outside of [[Cilicia]], that Callisthenes describes.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Polybius. Histories. Book 12 |url=http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/e/roman/texts/polybius/12*.html |access-date=2023-06-05 |website=penelope.uchicago.edu}}</ref> It contained many references to [[Iliad|Homer’s ''Iliad'']] and also described locations in the ''Iliad'' that Alexander had visited. It applauded Alexander as a standard for Greek masculinity; and condemned the Persians as weak and effeminate.<ref name=":0" /> It is said to have been used as justification for the Panhellenic crusade and as a means of recruiting potential supporters for Alexander’s crusade.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Prentice |first=William Kelly |date=1923 |title=Callisthenes, the Original Historian of Alexander |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/282843 |journal=Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association |volume=54 |pages=75 |doi=10.2307/282843 |jstor=282843 |issn=0065-9711}}</ref>

In addition to his work on Alexander the Great, he also authored another major work, a 10 book long historical anthology of Greece. ''Hellenica'' covered the periods from the [[Peace of Antalcidas]] (387 BCE) to the start of the [[Third Sacred War|Phocian war]] (357 BCE). His other works include; the list of winners from the Pythian games that he co-authored with Aristotle, writings on astronomy including a description of the [[Great Comet of 371 BC]], a work covering the [[First Sacred War|first Sacred war]] of 600 BCE titled ''On the Sacred War'', a tribute ''Hermias'' to Atarneaus and Assos who were killed by Persians, a book on witty sayings, a ''Diakosmos Battle Order'' which covers ships in Homers ''Iliad,'' and a [[Periplus]] covering the [[Black Sea]].<ref name=":4" />

=== Pseudo-Callisthenes ===
Additionally, many works have been ascribed to Callisthenes mistakenly, resulting in their authorship commonly known as Pseudo-Callisthenes. One of the more well-known examples is the [[Alexander Romance]], the basis of all the Alexander legends of the [[Middle Ages]]. It originated during the time of the [[Ptolemaic dynasty|Ptolemies]], but in its present form belongs to the 3rd century CE. The Latin translation for the text is usually attributed to [[Julius Valerius Alexander Polemius]] (early 4th century). The work has also been said to be authored by several other people beyond Callisthenes, including; [[Aesopus (historian)|Aesopus]], [[Aristotle]], [[Antisthenes of Rhodes|Antisthenes]], [[Onesicritus]], and [[Arrian]]. There are also Syrian, Armenian, and Slavonic versions, in addition to four [[Greek language|Greek]] versions (two in prose and two in verse) in the Middle Ages (see [[Karl Krumbacher|Krumbacher]], ''Geschichte der byzantinischen Literatur'', 1897, p.&nbsp;849).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Von Christ |first=Whilhelm |title=Geschichte der griechischen Litteratur |year=1898 |pages=849}}</ref> [[Julius Valerius Alexander Polemius|Valerius]]'s translation was completely superseded by that of [[Leo of Naples|Leo, archpriest of Naples]] in the 10th century, the so-called ''Historia de Preliis''.<ref name=":1" />

In addition to the ''Alexander Romance'', Pseudo-Callisthenes is also credited with several other works. Including; a work titled ''Metamorphoses'', a work on Macedonian history, a ''History of Thrace'', and treatise on the subject of hunting.<ref name=":4" /> There has also been a collection of letters, written in Greek originally attributed to Callisthenes, yet later disputed as the dates of the letters range far beyond the time period that Callisthenes was alive. Many of these were originally attributed to Callisthenes due to their assumed time period aligning with Callisthenes’s active years as an author, as well as their subject matter being on topics Callisthenes was known to have written about. As of now, there are no intact copies of Callisthenes’s works known to have survived.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Foundation |first=Encyclopaedia Iranica |title=Encyclopaedia Iranica. Callisthenes |url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/callisthenes-the-name-of-a-greek-historian-of-the-period-of-alexander-the-great-q |access-date=2023-06-05 |website=iranicaonline.org |language=en-US}}</ref>