Epaphroditus, M. Mettius

of Chaeroneia, a Greek grammarian. He was a disciple of Archias of Alexandria, and became the slave and afterwards the freedman of Modestus, the prefect of Egypt, whose son Pitelinus had been educated by Epaphroditus. After having obtained his liberty, he went to Rome, where he resided in the reign of Nero and down to the time of Nerva, and enjoyed a very high reputation for his learning. He was extremely fond of books, and is said to have collected a library of 30,000 valuable books. He died of dropsy at the age of seventy-five. Suidas (s. v. Ἐπαφρόδιτος), from whom this account is derived, does not specify any work of our grammarian, but concludes his article by merely saying that he left behind him many good works. We know, however, from other sources, the titles of some grammatical works and commentaries: for example, on Homer's Iliad and Odyssey (Steph. Byz. s. v. Δωδώνη; Etym. M. s. vv. ἄωροι, Κεφαληνία), an ἐξήγησις εἰς ῞ομηρον καὶ πίνδαρον (Eudoc. p. 128), a commentary on Hesiod's " Shield of Heracles," and on the Αἴτια of Callimachus, which is frequently referred to by Stephanus of Byzantium and the Scholiast on Aeschylus. He is also mentioned several times in the Venetian Scholia on the Iliad. (Comp. Visconti, Iconograph. Grecq. i. p. 266.)

[L.S]