CORYPHÆUS (from κορυφή, the top of the head), in the ancient tragedy, was the chief or leader of the company who composed the chorus. (See DRAMA.) Hence coryphæus passed into a general name for the chief or principal of any company, corporation, or sect. Thus Eustatius of Antioch is called the coryphæus of the council of Nice; and Cicero calls Zeno the coryphæus of the Stoics.