Creophylus of Samos

Who is Creophylus of Samos?

Creophylus or Kreophylos is the name of a legendary early Greek epic poet, native to Samos or Chios. He was said to have been a contemporary of Homer and author of the lost epic Capture of Oechalia. According to some sources, Homer gave the poem to Creophylus in return for hospitality; one source says that Panyassis of Halicarnassus, in turn, stole it from Creophylus. Panyassis, however, is a much later poet who worked in writing: the story is presumably a way of saying that Panyassis, in his literary epic on the life of Heracles, plagiarised the work of Creophylus.