Abstract

Archimedes’ Cattle Problem (Bov.) is a mathematical masterpiece, but it is also an innovative poemthat 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.

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