Kyprias, the Kypria, and multiformity

THE SHADOWY EXISTENCE OF THE HALIKARNASSIAN POET KYPRIAS, previously known only through obscure or corrupt testimony, was substantiated by the discovery in 1995 of a lengthy inscription at Bodrum.1 About sixty lines of elegiac verse dating from the Hellenistic period sing the praises of Halikarnassos. A list of literary figures nurtured by the city includes a reference to Kyprias as the composer of"Iliaka":