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Antipater of Sidon is a poet form the
ancient Greece who lived in the 1st century BC second half. He
was also an epigrammist called by Cicero ‘brilliant’ but with
some intensions of imitation. He composed short elegiacs,
Sappho's epitaph, and he is also one of the 5 authors of the
ancient world's seven wonders. The other 4 authors are
Herodotus, Strabo, Diodoros of Sicily and Philo of Byzantium.
The number 7 was chosen due to the Greeks` beliefs that this
number is sacred. According to these 5 poets, the seven wonders
of the ancient world are: the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Statue
of Zeus at Olympia, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, and
Mausoleum of Maussollos at Halicarnassus, the Temple of Artemis
at Ephesus, the Lighthouse of Alexandria and the Colossus of
Rhodes. From all these only the Great Pyramid of Giza survived.
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Colossus of Rhodes and the
Lighthouse of Alexandria were destructed by earthquakes, the
Statue of Zeus at Olympia was destroyed in a fire, the Temple of
Artemis at Ephesus by plundering and the Mausoleum of Maussollos
at Halicarnassus was destroyed by an earthquake and by the
European crusaders. There were other lists with the wonders of
the ancient world, made by Callimachus of Cyrene – an architect
and Herodotus but these lists have not survived. And also, there
was another list called De septem orbis spactaculis and
attributed to the Philo of Byzantium; it seemed that he was not
the author of the list. These wonders were made by the important
personalities of the ancient times as an eloquent prove of their
influence and power. The mastery and the art of these
constructions amaze so many people for so many years,
representing a mystery hard to be explained. |
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