Hedylus (,
Hḗdylos), son of Melicertus and
Hedyle, a native of Samos or Athens, was an epigrammatic poet. His epigrams were included in the Garland of
Meleager (Prooem. 45.) Eleven of them are in the
Greek Anthology, but the genuineness of two of these (ix. and x.) is very doubtful. Most of his epigrams are in praise of wine, and all of them are jocular. In some he describes the dedicatory offerings in the temple of
Arsinoe, among which he mentions the
hydraulic organ of
Ctesibius. Besides this indication of his time, we know that he was the contemporary and rival of
Callimachus and friend of
Poseidippus of Pella. He lived therefore in the reign of
Ptolemy II Philadelphus, and is to be classed with the
Alexandrian school of poets. According to Athenaeus, he killed himself for love of a certain Glaucus.