One of the most important poets and scholars of the Alexandrian period. Born probably in Cyrene (Libya) around 310 BC, Callimachus was brought up and educated in Athens but lived for most of his life in Alexandria. He was employed in the famous Library of Alexandria, where he was responsible for cataloguing; the result was a detailed and systematic bibliography of all existing Greek literature, recorded in a set of about 120 books, known as the Pinakes. According to the Suda, Callimachus wrote more than 800 works of prose and poetry, including epigrams (about 60), hymns, satirical verse (iambs), and one narrative poem, the Hecale, an epic account of the humble hospitality Theseus once received from a poor old woman. His most important work is the Aetia, a poem in four books written in elegiac couplets in which the poet attempts to explain the origin of various customs, religious rites and historical events, demonstrating the breadth of his knowledge. His aesthetic preference for (among other things) short poetically sophisticated pieces had a lasting impact on Latin poetry.