Philitas of Cos, Philitas also spelled Philetas, (born c. 340 bc, Cos [Aegean Islands, now in Greece]—died c. 270 bc), Greek poet and grammarian, regarded as the founder of the Hellenistic school of poetry, which flourished in Alexandria after about 323 bc. He is reputed to have been the tutor of Ptolemy II and the poet Theocritus. The Roman poets Propertius and Ovid mention him as their model, but only fragments of his work have survived. His most important poem appears to have been the Demeter, an elegy narrating the wanderings of the goddess of agriculture. He also seems to have written love poetry, and he compiled a dictionary of rare words from Homer, the Greek dialects, and other sources.