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Rhapsode
A rhapsode ( el, ῥαψῳδός, "rhapsōidos") or, in modern usage, rhapsodist, refers to a classical Greek professional performer of epic poetry in the fifth and fourth centuries BC (and perhaps earlier). Rhapsodes notably performed the epics of Homer (''Iliad'' and ''Odyssey'') but also the wisdom and catalogue poetry of Hesiod and the satires of Archilochus and others. Plato's dialogue ''Ion'', in which Socrates confronts a star player rhapsode, remains the most coherent source of information on these artists. Often, rhapsodes are depicted in Greek art, wearing their signature cloak and carrying a staff. This equipment is also characteristic of travellers in general, implying that rhapsodes were itinerant performers, moving from town to town. Rhapsodes originated in Ionia, which has been sometimes regarded as Homer's birthplace, and were also known as Homeridai, disciples of Homer, or "singers of stitched lays." Etymology and usage The term ''rhapsode'' is derived from '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhapsode Cazes
A rhapsode ( el, ῥαψῳδός, "rhapsōidos") or, in modern usage, rhapsodist, refers to a classical Greek professional performer of epic poetry in the fifth and fourth centuries BC (and perhaps earlier). Rhapsodes notably performed the epics of Homer (''Iliad'' and ''Odyssey'') but also the wisdom and catalogue poetry of Hesiod and the satires of Archilochus and others. Plato's dialogue ''Ion'', in which Socrates confronts a star player rhapsode, remains the most coherent source of information on these artists. Often, rhapsodes are depicted in Greek art, wearing their signature cloak and carrying a staff. This equipment is also characteristic of travellers in general, implying that rhapsodes were itinerant performers, moving from town to town. Rhapsodes originated in Ionia, which has been sometimes regarded as Homer's birthplace, and were also known as Homeridai, disciples of Homer, or "singers of stitched lays." Etymology and usage The term ''rhapsode'' is derived from ''r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Homeridae
The Homeridae ( grc, Ὁμηρίδαι) were a family, clan or professional lineage on the island of Chios claiming descent from the Greek epic poet Homer. The origin of the name seems obvious: in classical Greek the word should mean "children of Homer". An analogous name, Asclepiadae, identified a clan or guild of medical practitioners as "children of Asclepius". However, since the existence of the Homeridae is authenticated while that of Homer is not, and since Greek ''homeros'' is a common noun meaning "hostage", it was suggested even in ancient times that the Homeridae were in reality "children (or descendants) of hostages". The natural further step is to argue that Homer, the supposed founder, is a mythical figure, a mere back-formation, deriving his name from that of the later guild. Their influence on the dark early history of transmission of the Homeric texts, though incalculable, is sure to have been conservative. Evidence on the Homeridae relates to the late sixth, fift ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iliad
The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odyssey'', the poem is divided into 24 books and contains 15,693 lines in its most widely accepted version, and was written in dactylic hexameter. Set towards the end of the Trojan War, a ten-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Mycenaean Greek states, the poem depicts significant events in the siege's final weeks. In particular, it depicts a fierce quarrel between King Agamemnon and a celebrated warrior, Achilles. It is a central part of the Epic Cycle. The ''Iliad'' is often regarded as the first substantial piece of European literature. The ''Iliad'', and the ''Odyssey'', were likely written down in Homeric Greek, a literary amalgam of Ionic Greek and other dialects, probably around the late 8th or early 7th century BC. Homer's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hesiod
Hesiod (; grc-gre, Ἡσίοδος ''Hēsíodos'') was an ancient Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. He is generally regarded by western authors as 'the first written poet in the Western tradition to regard himself as an individual persona with an active role to play in his subject.' Ancient authors credited Hesiod and Homer with establishing Greek religious customs. Modern scholars refer to him as a major source on Greek mythology, farming techniques, early economic thought, archaic Greek astronomy and ancient time-keeping. Life The dating of Hesiod's life is a contested issue in scholarly circles (''see § Dating below''). Epic narrative allowed poets like Homer no opportunity for personal revelations. However, Hesiod's extant work comprises several didactic poems in which he went out of his way to let his audience in on a few details of his life. There are three explicit references in ''Works and Days'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aoidos
The Greek word ' (; plural: / ) referred to a classical Greek singer. In modern Homeric scholarship ' is used by some as the technical term for a skilled oral epic poet in the tradition to which the ''Iliad'' and ''Odyssey'' are believed to belong (compare rhapsode). Song and poetry in the ''Iliad'' and ''Odyssey'' In classical Greek the word ', "singer", is an agent noun derived from the verb ' () or ' (), "to sing". It occurs several times in varying forms in the ''Iliad'' and ''Odyssey'' in relation to poetry: * ''Iliad'' 18.490–496 (on the Shield of Achilles): a wedding song, ''hymenaios'', with pipes, lyres, and dancing * ''Odyssey'' 23.133–135: a wedding song with dancing, led by the singer Phemius: there is no wedding but Odysseus wants to create the impression of festivity while he is killing the suitors * ''Iliad'' 18.567–572 (on the Shield of Achilles): a child sings and plays the lyre to accompany the vintage. The song is the '' linos'' * ''Iliad'' 18.593– ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scholia
Scholia (singular scholium or scholion, from grc, σχόλιον, "comment, interpretation") are grammatical, critical, or explanatory comments – original or copied from prior commentaries – which are inserted in the margin of the manuscript of ancient authors, as glosses. One who writes scholia is a scholiast. The earliest attested use of the word dates to the 1st century BC. History Ancient scholia are important sources of information about many aspects of the ancient world, especially ancient literary history. The earliest scholia, usually anonymous, date to the 5th or 4th century BC (such as the ''scholia minora'' to the ''Iliad''). The practice of compiling scholia continued to late Byzantine times, outstanding examples being Archbishop Eustathius' massive commentaries to Homer in the 12th century and the ''scholia recentiora'' of Thomas Magister, Demetrius Triclinius and Manuel Moschopoulos in the 14th. Scholia were altered by successive copyists an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Type-scene
A type scene is a literary convention employed by a narrator across a set of scenes, or related to scenes (place, action) already familiar to the audience. The similarities with, and differences from, the established type are used to illuminate developments in plot and character. Robert Louis Fowler wrote, "The technique of the type-scene offers the poet a basic scaffolding, but it also allows the poet to adapt each scene for specific purposes." Much of the foundational work for such analysis was by Walter Arend in his 1933 book, ''Die typischen Szenen bei Homer'', on the ''Iliad'' of Homer. Later work by Robert Alter employed similar examination to parts of the Hebrew Bible, in particular to the betrothal type-scene at the well in Genesis. Another type scene that Alter identifies is the annunciation of the birth of the hero to a barren woman, such as the birth of Samson to Manoah's wife, or the birth of Samuel to Hannah. Other scholars have suggested other type scenes in the Hebre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rediscovering Homer
''Rediscovering Homer'' is a 2006 book by Andrew Dalby. It sets out the problems of origin, dating and authorship of the two ancient Greek epics, ''Iliad'' and ''Odyssey'', usually attributed to Homer. ''Rediscovering Homer'' originated as a development and expansion of two academic papers published in the 1990s in which Dalby argued that the ''Iliad'' and ''Odyssey'' must be seen as belonging to the same world as that of the early Greek lyric poets but to a less aristocratic genre. This contradicted a widespread assumption that the epics come from an older stage of civilization and literature than the personal poetry of Archilochus, Sappho and others. Returning to these themes, Dalby summarizes the contents and significance of the two epics and hypothesizes the transmission they probably followed, from oral invention and circulation to written versions. He then spotlights the unknown poet who, long after the time of the traditional Homer, at last saw the ''Iliad'' and ''Odyssey' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thamyris
In Greek mythology, Thamyris (Ancient Greek: Θάμυρις, ''Thámuris'') was a Thracian singer. He is notable in Greek mythology for reportedly being a lover of Hyacinth and thus to have been the first male to have loved another male, but when his songs failed to win his love from the god Apollo, he challenged the Nine Muses to a competition and lost. Family Thamyris was the son of Philammon and the nymph Argiope from Mount Parnassus. One account makes him the father of Menippe who became the mother of Orpheus by Oeagrus. Mythology Early years When Philammon refused to take Argiope into his house as his wife, the girl left Peloponnese and went to the country of the Odrysians in Thrace where she gave birth to a son, Thamyris. When the boy reached puberty, he became so accomplished in singing to the cithara that the Scythians made him their king even though he was an interloper.Conon, ''Narrations'' 7 Contest with Muses Thamyris boasted at the ford of the river Alph ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Homeric Hymns
The ''Homeric Hymns'' () are a collection of thirty-three anonymous ancient Greek hymns celebrating individual gods. The hymns are "Homeric" in the sense that they employ the same epic meter—dactylic hexameter—as the ''Iliad'' and ''Odyssey'', use many similar formulas and are couched in the same dialect. While the modern scholarly consensus is that they were not written during the lifetime of Homer himself, they were uncritically attributed to him in antiquity—from the earliest written reference to them, Thucydides (iii.104)—and the label has stuck. "The whole collection, as a collection, is ''Homeric'' in the only useful sense that can be put upon the word," A. W. Verrall noted in 1894, "that is to say, it has come down labeled as 'Homer' from the earliest times of Greek book-literature." History The oldest of the hymns were probably written in the seventh century BC, somewhat later than Hesiod and the usually accepted date for the writing down of the Homeric epi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)
The ''Bibliotheca'' (Ancient Greek: grc, Βιβλιοθήκη, lit=Library, translit=Bibliothēkē, label=none), also known as the ''Bibliotheca'' of Pseudo-Apollodorus, is a compendium of Greek myths and heroic legends, arranged in three books, generally dated to the first or second century AD. The author was traditionally thought to be Apollodorus of Athens, but that attribution is now regarded as false, and so "Pseudo-" was added to Apollodorus. The ''Bibliotheca'' has been called "the most valuable mythographical work that has come down from ancient times." An epigram recorded by the important intellectual Patriarch Photius I of Constantinople expressed its purpose:Victim of its own suggestions, the epigraph, ironically, does not survive in the manuscripts. For the classic examples of epitomes and encyclopedias substituting in Christian hands for the literature of Classical Antiquity itself, see Isidore of Seville's ''Etymologiae'' and Martianus Capella. It has the follo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Works And Days
''Works and Days'' ( grc, Ἔργα καὶ Ἡμέραι, Érga kaì Hēmérai)The ''Works and Days'' is sometimes called by the Latin translation of the title, ''Opera et Dies''. Common abbreviations are ''WD'' and ''Op''. for ''Opera''. is a didactic poem written by the ancient Greek poet Hesiod around 700 BC. It is in dactylic hexameter and contains 828 lines. At its center, the ''Works and Days'' is a Almanac, farmer's almanac in which Hesiod instructs his brother Perses (brother of Hesiod), Perses in the agricultural arts. Scholars have seen this work against a background of agrarian crisis in mainland Greece, which inspired a wave of Greek colonies, colonial expeditions in search of new land. In the poem, Hesiod also offers his brother extensive moralizing advice on how he should live his life. ''Works and Days'' is perhaps best known for its two mythological aetiology, aetiologies for the toil and pain that define the human condition: the story of Prometheus and Pandora, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
