Editing Library of Alexandria (section)

===Early scholarship===
The Library of Alexandria was not affiliated with any particular philosophical school; consequently, scholars who studied there had considerable academic freedom.{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|page=5}} They were, however, subject to the authority of the king.{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|page=5}} One likely apocryphal story is told of a poet named [[Sotades]] who wrote an obscene epigram making fun of Ptolemy II for marrying his sister [[Arsinoe II]].{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|page=5}} Ptolemy II is said to have jailed him and, after he escaped and was caught again, sealed him in a lead jar and dropped him into the sea.{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|page=5}} As a religious center, the Mouseion was directed by a priest of the Muses known as an ''epistates'', who was appointed by the king in the same manner as the priests who managed the various [[Egyptian temples]].{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|pages=3–4}} The Library itself was directed by a scholar who served as [[:Category:Librarians of Alexandria|head librarian]], as well as tutor to the king's son.{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|page=4}}{{sfn|Staikos|2000|page=66}}{{sfn|Dickey|2007|page=5}}{{sfn|Casson|2001|page=37}}

The first recorded head librarian was [[Zenodotus of Ephesus]] (lived {{circa|325|270 BC}}).{{sfn|Phillips|2010}}{{sfn|Dickey|2007|page=5}}{{sfn|Casson|2001|page=37}} Zenodotus' main work was devoted to the establishment of canonical texts for the Homeric poems and the early Greek lyric poets.{{sfn|Dickey|2007|page=5}}{{sfn|Casson|2001|page=37}} Most of what is known about him comes from later commentaries that mention his preferred readings of particular passages.{{sfn|Dickey|2007|page=5}} Zenodotus is known to have written a glossary of rare and unusual words, which was organized in [[alphabetical order]], making him the first person known to have employed alphabetical order as a method of organization.{{sfn|Casson|2001|page=37}} Since the collection at the Library of Alexandria seems to have been organized in alphabetical order by the first letter of the author's name from very early, Casson concludes that it is highly probable that Zenodotus was the one who organized it in this way.{{sfn|Casson|2001|page=37}} Zenodotus' system of alphabetization, however, only used the first letter of the word{{sfn|Casson|2001|page=37}} and it was not until the second century AD that anyone is known to have applied the same method of alphabetization to the remaining letters of the word.{{sfn|Casson|2001|page=37}}

Meanwhile, the scholar and poet [[Callimachus]] compiled the ''[[Pinakes]]'', a 120-book catalogue of various authors and all their known works.{{sfn|Phillips|2010}}{{sfn|Dickey|2007|page=5}}{{sfn|Staikos|2000|page=66}}{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|page=5}} The ''Pinakes'' has not survived, but enough references to it and fragments of it have survived to allow scholars to reconstruct its basic structure.{{sfn|Casson|2001|pages=39–40}} The ''Pinakes'' was divided into multiple sections, each containing entries for writers of a particular genre of literature.{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|page=5}}{{sfn|Casson|2001|pages=39–40}} The most basic division was between writers of poetry and prose, with each section divided into smaller subsections.{{sfn|Casson|2001|pages=39–40}} Each section listed authors in alphabetical order.{{sfn|Casson|2001|page=40}} Each entry included the author's name, father's name, place of birth, and other brief biographical information, sometimes including nicknames by which that author was known, followed by a complete list of all that author's known works.{{sfn|Casson|2001|page=40}} The entries for prolific authors such as [[Aeschylus]], [[Euripides]], [[Sophocles]], and [[Theophrastus]] must have been extremely long, spanning multiple columns of text.{{sfn|Casson|2001|page=40}} Although Callimachus did his most famous work at the Library of Alexandria, he never held the position of head librarian there.{{sfn|Staikos|2000|page=66}}{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|page=5}} Callimachus' pupil [[Hermippus of Smyrna]] wrote biographies, [[Philostephanus of Cyrene]] studied geography, and [[Istros the Callimachean|Istros]] (who may have also been from Cyrene) studied Attic antiquities.{{sfn|Montana|2015|page=109}} In addition to the Great Library, many other smaller libraries also began to spring up all around the city of Alexandria.{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|page=5}}

[[File:Archimedes-screw one-screw-threads with-ball 3D-view animated small.gif|thumb|According to legend, the Syracusan inventor [[Archimedes]] invented the [[Archimedes' screw]], a pump for transporting water, while studying at the Library of Alexandria.{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|page=6}}]]

After Zenodotus either died or retired, Ptolemy II Philadelphus appointed [[Apollonius of Rhodes]] (lived {{circa|295|215 BC}}), a native of Alexandria and a student of Callimachus, as the second head librarian of the Library of Alexandria.{{sfn|Dickey|2007|page=5}}{{sfn|Montana|2015|page=109}}{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|page=6}} Philadelphus also appointed Apollonius of Rhodes as the tutor to his son, the future [[Ptolemy III Euergetes]].{{sfn|Montana|2015|page=109}} Apollonius of Rhodes is best known as the author of the ''[[Argonautica]]'', an epic poem about the voyages of [[Jason]] and the [[Argonauts]], which has survived to the present in its complete form.{{sfn|Montana|2015|page=110}}{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|page=6}} The ''Argonautica'' displays Apollonius' vast knowledge of history and literature and makes allusions to a vast array of events and texts while simultaneously imitating the style of the Homeric poems.{{sfn|Montana|2015|page=110}} Some fragments of his scholarly writings have also survived, but he is generally more famous today as a poet than as a scholar.{{sfn|Dickey|2007|page=5}}

According to legend, during the librarianship of Apollonius, the mathematician and inventor [[Archimedes]] (lived {{circa}} 287 –{{circa}} 212 BC) came to visit the Library of Alexandria.{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|page=6}} During his time in Egypt, Archimedes is said to have observed the rise and fall of the [[Nile]], leading him to invent the [[Archimedes' screw]], which can be used to transport water from low-lying bodies into irrigation ditches.{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|page=6}} Archimedes later returned to Syracuse, where he continued making new inventions.{{sfn|MacLeod|2000|page=6}}

According to two late and largely unreliable biographies, Apollonius was forced to resign from his position as head librarian and moved to the island of Rhodes (after which he takes his name) on account of the hostile reception he received in Alexandria to the first draft of his ''Argonautica''.{{sfn|Montana|2015|pages=109–110}} It is more likely that Apollonius' resignation was on account of Ptolemy III Euergetes' ascension to the throne in 246 BC.{{sfn|Montana|2015|page=110}}