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Heroïdes
The ''Heroides'' (''The Heroines''), or ''Epistulae Heroidum'' (''Letters of Heroines''), is a collection of fifteen epistolary poems composed by Ovid in Latin elegiac couplets and presented as though written by a selection of aggrieved heroines of Greek and Roman mythology in address to their heroic lovers who have in some way mistreated, neglected, or abandoned them. A further set of six poems, widely known as the ''Double Heroides'' and numbered 16 to 21 in modern scholarly editions, follows these individual letters and presents three separate exchanges of paired epistles: one each from a heroic lover to his absent beloved and from the heroine in return. The ''Heroides'' were long held in low esteem by literary scholars but, like other works by Ovid, were re-evaluated more positively in the late 20th century. Arguably some of Ovid's most influential works ( see below), one point that has greatly contributed to their mystique—and to the reverberations they have prod ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Double Heroides
The ''Double Heroides'' are a set of six epistolary poems allegedly composed by Ovid in Latin elegiac couplets, following the fifteen poems of his ''Heroides'', and numbered 16 to 21 in modern scholarly editions. These six poems present three separate exchanges of paired epistles: one each from a heroic lover from Greek or Roman mythology to his absent beloved, and one from the heroine in return. Ovid's authorship is uncertain. The Collection The single ''Heroides'' (1–15) are not listed here: see the relevant section of that article for the single epistles. The paired epistles are written as exchanges between the following heroes and heroines: * XVI. Paris to Helen, trying to persuade her to leave her husband, Menelaus, and go with him to Troy * XVII. Helen's reply to Paris, revealing her readiness to leave Menelaus for him * XVIII. Leander to Hero, on his love for her * XIX. Hero's reply to Leander, on her love for him * XX. Acontius to Cydippe, on his love for her, remindin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sextus Propertius
Sextus Propertius was a Latin elegiac poet of the Augustan age. He was born around 50–45 BC in Assisium and died shortly after 15 BC. Propertius' surviving work comprises four books of ''Elegies'' ('). He was a friend of the poets Gallus and Virgil and, with them, had as his patron Maecenas and, through Maecenas, the emperor Augustus. Although Propertius was not as renowned in his own time as other Latin elegists, he is today regarded by scholars as a major poet. Life Very little information is known about Propertius outside of his own writing. His praenomen "Sextus" is mentioned by Aelius Donatus, a few manuscripts list him as "Sextus Propertius", but the rest of his name is unknown. From numerous references in his poetry it is clear he was born and raised in Umbria, of a well-to-do family at or near Asisium ( Assisi). His birthplace is generally regarded as modern Assisi, where tourists can view the excavated remains of a house thought to have belonged at least to th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seneca The Younger
Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger (; 65 AD), usually known mononymously as Seneca, was a Stoic philosopher of Ancient Rome, a statesman, dramatist, and, in one work, satirist, from the post-Augustan age of Latin literature. Seneca was born in Córdoba in Hispania, and raised in Rome, where he was trained in rhetoric and philosophy. His father was Seneca the Elder, his elder brother was Lucius Junius Gallio Annaeanus, and his nephew was the poet Lucan. In AD 41, Seneca was exiled to the island of Corsica under emperor Claudius, but was allowed to return in 49 to become a tutor to Nero. When Nero became emperor in 54, Seneca became his advisor and, together with the praetorian prefect Sextus Afranius Burrus, provided competent government for the first five years of Nero's reign. Seneca's influence over Nero declined with time, and in 65 Seneca was forced to take his own life for alleged complicity in the Pisonian conspiracy to assassinate Nero, in which he was probably innocen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aemilius Macer
Aemilius Macer of Verona was a Roman didactic poet. He authored two poems, one on birds (''Ornithogonia''), a translation of a work by Boios, and the other on the antidotes against the poison of serpents (''Theriaca''), which he imitated from the Greek poet Nicander of Colophon. According to Jerome, he died in 16 BC. It is possible that he wrote also a botanical work. The extant hexameter poem known as ''Floridus'' or ''De viribus (aut virtutibus) herbarum'', traditionally ascribed to Macer, is actually a medieval production by Odo Magdunensis, a French physician.This work in turn cites the following sources: *For Aemilius Macer: **Ovid, ''Tristia'', iv. 10, 43 **Quintilian, ''Instit.'' x. 1, 56, 87 **R. Unger, ''De Macro Nicandri imitatore'' (Friedland, 1845) **C. P. Schulze in ''Rheinisches Museum'' (1898) *For Macer Iliacus: **Ovid, ''Ex Ponto'', ii. 10, 13, iv. 16, 6 **Ovid, ''Amores'', ii. 18 Aemilius Macer must be distinguished from the Macer called Iliacus in the Ovidian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Epigram
An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, and sometimes surprising or satirical statement. The word is derived from the Greek "inscription" from "to write on, to inscribe", and the literary device has been employed for over two millennia. The presence of wit or sarcasm tends to distinguish non-poetic epigrams from aphorisms and adages, which tend to lack those qualities. Ancient Greek The Greek tradition of epigrams began as poems inscribed on votive offerings at sanctuariesincluding statues of athletesand on funerary monuments, for example "Go tell it to the Spartans, passersby...". These original epigrams did the same job as a short prose text might have done, but in verse. Epigram became a literary genre in the Hellenistic period, probably developing out of scholarly collections of inscriptional epigrams. Though modern epigrams are usually thought of as very short, Greek literary epigram was not always as short as later examples, and the divide between "ep ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sappho
Sappho (; el, Σαπφώ ''Sapphō'' ; Aeolic Greek ''Psápphō''; c. 630 – c. 570 BC) was an Archaic Greek poet from Eresos or Mytilene on the island of Lesbos. Sappho is known for her Greek lyric, lyric poetry, written to be sung while accompanied by music. In ancient times, Sappho was widely regarded as one of the greatest lyric poets and was given names such as the "Tenth Muse" and "The Poetess". Most of Poetry of Sappho, Sappho's poetry is now lost, and what is extant has mostly survived in fragmentary form; only the "Ode to Aphrodite" is certainly complete. As well as lyric poetry, ancient commentators claimed that Sappho wrote elegiac and iambic poetry. Three epigrams attributed to Sappho are extant, but these are actually Hellenistic imitations of Sappho's style. Little is known of Sappho's life. She was from a wealthy family from Lesbos, though her parents' names are uncertain. Ancient sources say that she had three brothers; Charaxos (Χάραξος), Larichos ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phaedra (mythology)
In Greek mythology, Phaedra ( grc, Φαίδρα, ) (or Fedra) was a Cretan princess. Her name derives from the Greek word (), which means "bright". According to legend, she was the daughter of Minos and Pasiphaë, and the wife of Theseus. Phaedra fell in love with her stepson Hippolytus. After he rejected her advances, she accused him of trying to rape her, causing Theseus to pray to Poseidon to kill him, and then killed herself. The story of Phaedra is told in Euripides' play '' Hippolytus'', Seneca the Younger's ''Phaedra'', and Ovid's ''Heroides''. It has inspired many modern works of art and literature, including a play by Jean Racine. Family Phaedra was the daughter of Minos and Pasiphaë of Crete, and thus sister to Acacallis, Ariadne, Androgeus, Deucalion, Xenodice, Glaucus and Catreus and half-sister to the Minotaur. She was the wife of Theseus and the mother of Demophon of Athens and Acamas. Mythology Much of what we know about the mythology and story o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ariadne
Ariadne (; grc-gre, Ἀριάδνη; la, Ariadne) was a Cretan princess in Greek mythology. She was mostly associated with mazes and labyrinths because of her involvement in the myths of the Minotaur and Theseus. She is best known for having helped Theseus escape the Minotaur but being abandoned by him on the island of Naxos; subsequently, she became the wife of Dionysus. (There are many other versions of her myth.) The ancient Roman author Hyginus identified Ariadne as the Roman Libera/Proserpina at approximately the same time as Libera was officially identified with Proserpina in 205 BC, these two names becoming synonymous for the same goddess. Hyginus equated Libera/Proserpina with Ariadne as bride to Liber whose Greek equivalent was Dionysus, the husband of Ariadne. Etymology Greek lexicographers in the Hellenistic period claimed that ''Ariadne'' is derived from the ancient Cretan dialectical elements ''ari'' (ἀρι-) "most" (which is an intensive prefix) and ''adn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Medea
In Greek mythology, Medea (; grc, Μήδεια, ''Mēdeia'', perhaps implying "planner / schemer") is the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, a niece of Circe and the granddaughter of the sun god Helios. Medea figures in the myth of Jason and the Argonauts, appearing in Hesiod's ''Theogony'' around 700 BCE, but best known from Euripides's tragedy ''Medea'' and Apollonius of Rhodes's epic ''Argonautica''. Medea is known in most stories as a sorceress and is often depicted as a priestess of the goddess Hecate. Medea plays the archetypal role of helper-maiden, aiding Jason in his search for the Golden Fleece by using her magic to save his life out of love. Once he finished his quest, she abandons her native home of Colchis, and flees westwards with Jason, where they eventually settle in Corinth and get married. Euripides's 5th-century BCE tragedy ''Medea'', depicts the ending of her union with Jason, when after ten years of marriage, Jason abandons her to wed King Creon's daugh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hypsipyle
In Greek mythology, Hypsipyle (Ancient Greek: Ὑψιπύλη) was a queen of Lemnos, and the daughter of King Thoas of Lemnos, and the granddaughter of Dionysus and Ariadne. When the women of Lemnos killed all the males on the island, Hypsipyle saved her father Thoas. She ruled Lemnos when the Argonauts visited the island, and had two sons by Jason, the leader of the Argonauts. Later the women of Lemnos discovered that Thoas had been saved by Hypsipyle and she was sold as a slave to Lycurgus, the king of Nemea, where she became the nurse of the king's infant son Opheltes, who was killed by a serpent while in her care. She is eventually freed from her servitude by her sons. Family Hypsipyle's father was Thoas, who was the son of Dionysus and Ariadne. According to the ''Iliad'', Hypsipyle was the mother, by Jason, of Euneus. Later sources say that Hypsipyle had, in addition to Euneus, a second son by Jason. In Euripides' partially preserved play ''Hypsipyle'', she and Jason had tw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canace
In Greek mythology, Canace (; Ancient Greek: Κανάκη means "‘barking") was a Thessalian princess as daughter of King Aeolus of Aeolia and Enarete, daughter of Deimachus. She was sometimes referrred as Aeolis. Family Canace was the sister of Athamas, Cretheus, Deioneus, Magnes, Perieres, Salmoneus, Sisyphus, Alcyone, Calyce, Peisidice, Perimede Arne and possibly Tanagra. As the lover of Poseidon, she was the mother of Aloeus, Epopeus, Hopleus, Nireus and Triopas. Mythology In another, more famous version Canace was a lover not of Poseidon, but of her own brother Macareus. This tradition made them children of a different Aeolus, the lord of the winds (or the Tyrrhenian king), and his wife Amphithea. Canace fell in love with Macareus and committed incest with him, which resulted in her getting pregnant. Macareus promised to marry Canace but never did. When their child was born, Canace's nurse tried to take the baby out of the palace in a basket, pretending to be carry ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
