COLUTHUS, or Colluthus, of Lycopolis in the Egyptian Thebaid, Greek epic poet, flourished during the reign of Anastasius I. (491–518). According to Suidas, he was the author of Calydoniaca (probably an account of the Calydonian boar hunt), Persica (an account of the Persian wars), and Encomia (laudatory poems). These are all lost, but his poem in some 400 hexameters on The Rape of Helen (Άρπαγὴ Έλένης) is still extant, having been discovered by Cardinal Bessarion in Calabria. The poem is dull and tasteless, devoid of imagination, a poor imitation of Homer, and has little to recommend it except its harmonious versification, based upon the technical rules of Nonnus. It related the history of Paris and Helen from the wedding of Peleus and Thetis down to the elopement and arrival at Troy.
The best editions are by Van Lennep (1747), G. F. Schäfer (1825), E. Abel (1880).