Hecale of Callimachus as an example of the change of epos in the Hellenistic Age

Having a significant position in Ancient Greek literature, epos entered into a transformation process in the Hellenistic Age in order to supply the requirements of the age. In this thesis, the work named Hecale, written by Callimachus, who was born in Cyrene towards the end of the 4th century BC due to its present clearly on the transformation in question, was examined in the context of the epyllion called miniature epos. With the Hecale, the form and content of traditional epos began to change. The heroism that has been told at length is no longer the matter of the epos of the period, and daily lives and moods of ordinary people have become the subject of this genre. It has been tried to show in detail wherein Hecale differs from traditional epos or in which basis it meets in the Hellenistic Age. Therefore, with the opportunity of this study the epos-epyllion relationship has been mentioned in this study. Thus, in order to better understand the miniature epic (epyllion), which is frequently preferred in the Hellenistic Age, the transformation process of the great epic, that is, epos, from Homer to Callimachus and his literary rival Apollonius is discussed. In this context, the understanding of poetry art of Callimachus, who argued that traditional epic poems should be in a certain shortness too, despite Apollonius's understanding of epos and his views on the art of poetry, who defended the view that traditional long narratives should continue in the Hellenistic Age, by comparing the literary difference of opinion between the two poets traces have been followed.