Attalus of Rhodes

Attalus of Rhodes (Greek: Ἄτταλος ὁ Ῥόδιος) was an ancient Greek grammarian, astronomer, and mathematician, who lived in Rhodes in the 2nd century BC, and was a contemporary of Hipparchus.^[1] He wrote a commentary on the Phaenomena of Aratus.^[1][2][3] Although this work is lost,^[2] Hipparchus cites him in his Commentary on the Phaenomena of Eudoxus and Aratus.^[3] Attalus sought to defend both Aratus and Eudoxus against criticisms from contemporary astronomers and mathematicians.^[1][3]

Book IV of Apollonius of Perga's Conics is addressed to someone named Attalus, and it has been suggested that this may have been Attalus of Rhodes. However, this is not a good match chronologically, and Attalus was a common name at the time, so the connection is only speculative.^[4]