Archimedes the Poet: Generic Innovation and Mathematical Fantasy in the Cattle Problem

Abstract

Archimedes’ Cattle Problem ( Bov .) is a mathematical masterpiece, but it is also an innovative poem that Archimedes himself probably wrote. Three important poetic issues have gone unaddressed until now because of the focus on mathematics: how Bov . is organized, its genre, and how Archimedes reimagines his Homeric source. I demonstrate that Bov . is a generically hybrid poem that explores what it means to be wise. I also contend that the picture of the cattle of the Sun in Bov . is as fantastic as the account in the Odyssey , and Archimedes’ mathematical fantasy would have especially intrigued Eratosthenes, Bov .’s probable recipient.

Problema Bovino De Arquimedes: Tradução Com Notas, Introdução E Comentários Sobre a Resolução

“…Cada dístico elegíaco é composto por um verso hexâmetro dactílico seguido por um verso pentâmetro dactílico. 2 Segundo Benson (2014), esta parte foi posteriormente incorporada ao poema. 3 Polímata grego, célebre pelo seu cálculo da circunferência da Terra, também tendo sido diretor da biblioteca de Alexandria.…”

“…Para uma análise do conteúdo poético do Problema Bovino, verBenson (2014).RBHM, Vol. 23, n o 46, pp.…”

Eratosthenes' Letter to Ptolemy: The Literary Mechanics of Empire

“…17 The generic form of the letter and the mathematics 18 Cf. Benson 2014 andLeventhal 2015. 19 On Eratosthenes' Geographica, see Roller 2010, for his arguments against Homeric geography, see now Kim 2010, 47-67, and for his mathematical geography, see most recently Bianchetti 2015, with further bibliography.…”