Quintus Smyrnaeus, Greek epic poet, 2nd/3rd century CE

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvio Bär
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Context ◽  
Large Degree ◽  
Second Sophistic ◽  
Narrative Technique ◽  
Epic Poem ◽  
Greek Epic

Quintus Smyrnaeus was a poet of the late 2nd or 3rd century ce, the author of the epic poem the Posthomerica (14 books, 8,786 lines), which covers the narrative lacuna between Homer’s Iliad and the Odyssey and thus treats stories that were originally covered by the Epic Cycle. The narrative technique is more episodic and linear than that of the Homeric epics, but it does not lack plot coherence and an overarching design. The language and style is strongly Homericising: vocabulary, syntax, and the use of formulaic phrases resemble that of the Homeric epics to a large degree. At the same time, Quintus’s language is also characterised by Alexandrian traits. In a wider cultural context, Quintus belongs to the same period as the Second Sophistic, and the Posthomerica can be understood as a response to revisionist tendencies against Homer. Scholars debate the question as to whether Quintus still had access to the Epic Cycle and whether he was influenced by Roman authors, especially by Vergil’s Aeneid.

Vergilija „Eneīdas” mēģinājumi latviešu heksametros

2021 ◽  
pp. 231-245
Author(s):  
Līva Bodniece
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Context ◽  
Comparative Method ◽  
Translation Strategies ◽  
Proper Nouns ◽  
Epic Poem ◽  
Poetry Translation ◽  
The Press ◽  
Latin Epic ◽  
Century Poetry ◽  
Epic Poems

This paper presents the compilation and analysis of the Latvian translations of the Aeneid, the Latin epic poem written by Virgil (Publius Vergilius Maro), from the first attempts in the late 19th century until the most recent publication in 1970. The materials analysed also include republications of translation excerpts. The source texts are arranged and revised chronologically, and the text analysis is achieved through the comparative method. Particular attention is paid to the translation issues of the dactylic hexameter, the ancient meter also known as “the meter of the epic”. There is no tradition in the Latvian cultural context to render epic poems into prose or any other meter than the dactylic hexameter. Augusts Ģiezens is the most prolific translator of epic poems in Latvian and has translated all Ancient Greek epic poems and the Roman Aeneid. Consequently, his version of the dactylic hexameter has established itself as an example for many generations of readers. The reason for this is the lack or unavailability of other translations. The comparison of translations also offers a look into the rendering of ancient proper nouns. Particular care is devoted to critiques of the translations as published by contemporaries in the press. The variations of translation strategies in early 20th-century poetry renderings in terms of both meter and proper noun rendering lead to the conclusion that attempts in creating a Latvian hexameter have not yet been exhausted and are likely to find new manifestations, particularly in Latvian ancient poetry translation.

Satire and Historiography

Mnemosyne ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 68 (6) ◽  
pp. 917-936
Author(s):  
Melina Tamiolaki
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Context ◽  
Second Sophistic ◽  
History Writing ◽  
The Ideal

This paper examines the reception of classical historiography in Lucian’s De historia conscribenda by suggesting that classical historians constitute a vehicle through which the author constructs his own persona; while presenting the rules of historiography, Lucian often equates himself to the classical historians. After offering a brief outline of the relevant vocabulary, expressions and allusions, I argue that Lucian’s exploitation of classical historiography does not aim merely at aesthetic imitation or parody, but serves a deeper function: Lucian wishes to establish a connection between the act (traits, process) and the theory of history writing and uses the former in order to legitimize the latter. Furthermore, his adaptation of classical historians (especially Thucydides) has a self-referential aspect, since the ideal historian should possess the qualities of the competent orator that Lucian himself represents. I interpret these traits of Lucian’s treatise by taking into account the cultural context of the second sophistic, as well as Lucian’s thematic interests and priorities.

scholarly journals Can a virtual on-line nation-wide mentorship-matching process meet the need?

2020 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. E39-E40
Author(s):  
Morley D. Hollenberg
Keyword(s):  
Extended Period ◽  
Matching Process ◽  
Epic Poem ◽  
Greek Epic ◽  
On Line ◽  
Advisor Role ◽  
Experienced Individual ◽  
Better Than

In Homer’s 8th century BC Greek epic poem “Odyssey”, Odysseus, upon leaving town to do battle for an extended period, could not have done better than to leave his son, Telemachus, in the care of a trusted friend, Mentor. Thus, “mentorship” can be seen as a key process, whereby a more experienced individual takes on an advisor role for a less-experienced colleague.

scholarly journals HOMER’S CONCEPTION OF HONOUR AND GLORY IN THE ILIAD

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (8) ◽  
pp. 104-110
Author(s):  
Muhammad Ishtiaq
Keyword(s):  
Measurement Tool ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Trojan War ◽  
Epic Poem ◽  
Greek Epic ◽  
Greek Civilization

The Iliad is an ancient Greek epic poem which portrays the duration of Trojan War along with battle and events between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles. In this paper, the honour and glory of ancient Greek civilization has been discussed in context of The Iliad. The definitions of honour and glory has been discussed along with what motivated the ancient warriors to fight for honour and glory. This study has been carried out to find out the importance standards of honour and glory along with the importance of honour and glory in lives of Greek warriors. One of the central ideas of the Iliad is the honour that soldiers earn in combat. For an ancient Greek man, the ability to perform in battle is the single greatest source of worthiness. The glory earned by soldiers on the battlefield enabled them to live on in legend, becoming heroes who would be remembered long after death. This essence of honour and glory has been discussed in this paper. This paper has also emphasized on the heroic honour of the Greek warriors as performance of war was the simplest measurement tool to measure the heroic honour of the warriors.

Nonnus

Classics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gianfranco Agosti
Keyword(s):  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Near East ◽  
Epic Poetry ◽  
Greek Poetry ◽  
Epic Poem ◽  
Greek Epic ◽  
John's Gospel

Nonnus of Panopolis (approximately 400–460/470 ce) is the undisputed protagonist of the flourishing of Greek poetry in Late Antiquity. He composed the Dionysiaca, the longest extant Greek epic poem on the life of Dionysus, his war and triumph over the Indians, his progress from the Near East to Thebes, and his eventual apotheosis (more than twenty-one thousand verses, in forty-eight books, the sum of the Iliad and the Odyssey). The poem begins with the abduction of Europa and a long section about Cadmus, and then describes the birth and youth of Dionysus (Books 1–12). Books 13–24 are devoted to the first part of the war against Indians, with the catalogues of the troops and the first battles. After a second prologue, the conclusion of the war against Indians is narrated, with the final battle and the death of the Indian king Deriades (Books 25–40). This section “rewrites” the Iliad in a very innovative way. In Books 40–48 the poet deals with Dionysus’ return to Phrygia, his visits to Tyre and Beirut, and also Thebes, Naxos, and Phrygia again, and his apotheosis. Nonnus is also the author of a long metrical Paraphrase of St John’s Gospel, where he displays a deep theological knowledge (around 3,700 hexameters). Recent research demonstrated that the coexistence of a mythological and a Christian poem was perfectly acceptable. Nonnus was a Christian, addressing the cultivated mixed elites of Alexandria. He introduced into the tradition of epic poetry a new style, based on manneristic exuberance and imaginative language, as well as a reform of the hexameter based on regularity and stress accents. Nonnus was very popular in Late Antiquity. His style was followed by several poets of the 5th and 6th century ce, who recognized in him a new classic to imitate. Among these followers, there are Pamprepius of Panopolis, Musaeus, Colluthus of Lycopolis, Christodorus of Coptos, John of Gaza, Agathias, Paul the Silentiary and the “minor” epigrammatists of Agathias’s Cycle, as well as several metrical inscriptions and fragmentary poems transmitted by papyri. In the subsequent centuries, some Byzantine literates found it appealing and profited from its exuberant vocabulary. From the Renaissance onward Nonnus had his admirers (especially during the Baroque age). After a period of classicizing prejudice, in scholarship there is now a growing interest for his works.

Lucius Flavius Philostratus

Classics ◽  
2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Owen Hodkinson
Keyword(s):  
Second Sophistic ◽  
Narrative Technique ◽  
Trojan War ◽  
Platonic Dialogue ◽  
Herodes Atticus ◽  
Vexed Question ◽  
Imperial Family ◽  
Literary Output ◽  
Holy Man ◽  
Cultural Movement

L. Flavius Philostratus (b. c. 170 ce–d. c. 240s), Philostratus II or “the younger,” is one of several related Philostrati; the division of works in the corpus among them is a vexed question (see the Question of the Philostrati). Philostratus was a sophist or rhetor, who may have received patronage from the imperial family, including Julia Domna. Probably beginning his education in Athens, where he held local offices (including hoplite general and prytanis), he was later active as a sophist, performing display oratory and teaching, in Athens, Rome, and Ionia; he has some connection with Lemnos (Life of Apollonius of Tyana [Vita Apollonii] 6.27.4), and was perhaps born there. He coined the phrase Second Sophistic to define a literary and cultural movement, in his Lives of the Sophists, a collection of short biographies of those he considered as representative of the “Second” style of Greek oratory. Its subjects are largely contemporary with his own era but begin with Aeschines in the 4th century bce; its style is contrasted with that of the “First Sophistic,” including Gorgias. He was especially influenced by Herodes Atticus, whose biography is the most important in Lives of the Sophists (VS), and whose oratory he witnessed personally. But his literary output is large and varied in both theme and genre. It encompasses more biography in the Life of Apollonius of Tyana (VA), the perhaps heavily fictionalized life of a “holy man” and “wonder worker” of the Neronian age; Platonic dialogue mixed with revision of the Homeric version of the Trojan war and cult worship of Greek heroes in the Heroikos; a collection of miniature descriptions of paintings (ekphrases) in the Imagines; a collection of literary Letters including epigram- and elegy-influenced Erotic Epistles as well as letters addressed to historical persons and other authors; and a treatise on Greek athletic history and practice, the Gymnastikos. He wrote at least one extant epigram (Planudean Anthology 110), and may also have been the author of the Pseudo-Lucianic dialogue Nero, and one of the short treatises or Dialexeis transmitted in the Philostratean corpus (these minor and doubtful works are not treated in this article). In addition, he wrote many lost works, including sophistic declamations, discussions and introductions (meletai, dialexeis, prolaliae) to be performed in public. Philostratus wrote in an Atticizing Greek that is, however, stylistically florid and quite idiosyncratic; in style, literary and narrative technique, and choice of subjects, he is one of the most original Greek literary artists of the imperial or perhaps any era, reworking the themes of the classical era in a manner far more creative than simply imitative.

The Oxford Handbook to the Second Sophistic

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Cultural History ◽  
Cultural Production ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Literary Culture ◽  
The Body ◽  
Second Sophistic ◽  
Dio Chrysostom ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
History Of ◽  
Classical Traditions

The study of the Second Sophistic is a relative newcomer to the Anglophone field of classics, and much of what characterizes it temporally and culturally remains a matter of legitimate contestation. This Handbook offers a diversity of scholarly voices that attempt to define the state of this developing field. Included are chapters that offer practical guidance on the wide range of valuable textual materials that survive, many of which are useful or even core to inquiries of particularly current interest (e.g., gender studies, cultural history of the body, sociology of literary culture, history of education and intellectualism, history of religion, political theory, history of medicine, cultural linguistics, intersection of the classical traditions and early Christianity). The Handbook contains chapters devoted to the work of the most significant intellectuals of the period, such as Plutarch, Dio Chrysostom, Lucian, Apuleius, the novelists, the Philostrati, and Aelius Aristides. In addition to its content and bibliographical guidance, this volume helps to situate the textual remains within the period and its society, to describe and circumscribe the literary matter and the literary culture and societal context. Throughout it tries to keep the contextual demands in mind. In its scope and its pluralism of voices, this Handbook thus represents a new approach to the Second Sophistic, one that attempts to integrate Greek literature of the Roman period into the wider world of early imperial Greek, Latin, Jewish, and Christian cultural production, and one that keeps a sharp focus on situating these texts within their socio-cultural context.

Frigid enthusiasts: Lucian on Writing History

2001 ◽  
Vol 47 ◽  
pp. 117-140
Author(s):  
Peter von Möllendorff
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Context ◽  
General Knowledge ◽  
Second Sophistic ◽  
Literary Works ◽  
Literary Heritage ◽  
Academic Qualifications

Lucian's singular role within the socio-cultural context of the period known as the Second Sophistic has found increasing appreciation amongst scholars, particularly over the last fifteen years. Although not a sophist in the true sense, Lucian can be regarded as an outstanding pepaideumenos, meaning this: during an era in which being Greek was less a matter of political than of cultural definition, and in which membership in the upper administrative echelons was dependent on academic qualifications, on the mastery, that is, of a code which consisted of broad general knowledge and rhetorical activity partnered by thorough conversancy with the literary heritage and language of Attic Greece – during this age, then, Lucian proved himself not only a worthy representative of such paideia, but also contributed with his literary works to its development and adaptation.

scholarly journals THE CASUALTIES OF THE LATIN ILIAD

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Fabian Horn
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Epic Poem ◽  
Latin West ◽  
Greek Epic ◽  
The Middle Ages

The so-called Latin Iliad, the main source for the knowledge of the Greek epic poem in the Latin West during the Middle Ages, is a hexametric poetic summary (epitome) of Homer's Iliad likely dating from the Age of Nero, which reduces the 15,693 lines of the original to a mere 1,070 lines (6.8%).

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