Dionysius Chalcus

Dionysius Chalcus (Greek: Διονύσιος ὁ Χαλκοῦς) was an ancient Athenian poet and orator. According to Athenaeus, he was called Chalcus ("brazen") because he advised the Athenians to adopt a brass coinage (xv. p. 669). His speeches have not survived, but his poems are referred to and quoted by such authors as Plutarch (Nicias, 5), Aristotle (Rhetoric, iii. 2), and Athenaeus (xv, p. 668, 702; x, p. 443; xiii, p. 602). The extant fragments are chiefly elegies on symposiac subjects and are characterized by extravagant metaphors.

Plutarch credits Dionysius Chalcus with leading the band of Athenian colonists who founded Thurii in 443 BC.