The Cyzicene epigrams are a collection of nineteen numbered Greek epigrams,[1] each accompanied by a short prose preamble, which, together with a one-sentence introduction, constitute the third and shortest book of the Palatine Anthology.[2] The epigrams are supposed to have been inscribed somewhere on the columns of the Temple of ApollonisatCyzicus, a monument which no longer exists.[3] Apollonis was the wife and queen of Attalus I, first king of Pergamon. When she died in the mid-second century BC, two of her sons, Eumenes and Attalus, built a temple in Apollonis' home town of Cyzicus, and dedicated it to her.[4]
According to the one-sentence introduction, each epigram was, apparently, a kind of subtitle for a relief decorating each column of the temple, illustrating a scene from Greek mythology. The prose preamble, taking the place of the carved image, provides a description of it.[5] As befitting a temple built by sons to honor their mother, the preambles describe scenes of love between mothers and sons.[6]
The author and date of the collection is unknown.[7]
