In the seventh Iambus by Callimachus, Hermes Perferaios, a talking wooden carved figure that was washed ashore at the Thracian city of Ainos, professes to be a πάρεργον, the product of his sculptor’s pastime. Its “failure” in terms of craftsmanship is underlined by the implicit comparison to the Trojan horse, since the sculptor is not mentioned by his name, Epeius, but by his attribute: ἱπποτέκτων (creator of the horse). Assuming that the book of Iambi consisted of thirteen poems that Callimachus himself arranged to be read as a poetic complex, Hermes’ failure is further underscored by the implicit juxtaposition with the legendary sculpture of Olympian Zeus by Pheidias, the elaborate ekphrasis of which we are furnished with in the Iambus that immediately precedes the seventh. Not only is the sculpture of Hermes diminished as an artifact by both the first person narrator and the author himself, but even its creator is attributed with the derogatory characteristic of φυγαίχμα (deserter) and put in the disparaging position of the failed epic hero. The poem eventually failed to be preserved and it is only available to modern readers in a fragmentary state; however, this was likely not just a coincidental failure but rather a result of the wholesale failure of the book of Iambi to compete with more “canonical” genres of high poetry, such as the Hymns.