Crinagoras of Mytilene, also known as Crinogoras, sometimes spelt as Krinagorasis or Krinagoras (name in Greek: Κριναγόρας ὁ Μυτιληναῖος, 70 BC-18) was a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

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 mille ...

matist and ambassador, who lived in Rome as a court poet.

Early life

Crinagoras came from an eminent family from the Greek Island of

Mytilene Mytilene (; el, Μυτιλήνη, Mytilíni ; tr, Midilli) is the capital of the Greek island of Lesbos, and its port. It is also the capital and administrative center of the North Aegean Region, and hosts the headquarters of the University o ...

. Crinagoras was born and raised in the capital, which was the same name as the island. He had at least one known brother called Eucleides.

Rome

He was a contemporary of the Greek Geographer

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...

and Strabo mentions Crinagoras as a man of some distinction. According to inscriptions found in Mytilene, Crinagoras was sent as an ambassador on behalf of the capital to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in 45 BC and 26 BC. In the reign of the first Roman Emperor

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...

, he lived in the court as a poet. During his time in Rome, he wrote several epigrams, which refer to Augustus’ reign. He also wrote poems dedicated to the Roman Gods. Crinagoras, in his work, is perceived to have a true poetic spirit.

Works

Crinagoras was the author of fifty-one epigrams, which are in the '' Greek Anthology''. In these epigrams, Crinagoras blames himself for the hanging of wealthy patrons and several epigrams are small presents to children of his Roman noble friends. He sent an epigram addressed to Augustus’ nephew

Marcus Claudius Marcellus Marcus Claudius Marcellus (; 270 – 208 BC), five times elected as consul of the Roman Republic, was an important Roman military leader during the Gallic War of 225 BC and the Second Punic War. Marcellus gained the most prestigious award a Roma ...

, which with the epigram had a copy of the poems written by Greek poet

Callimachus Callimachus (; ) was an ancient Greek poet, scholar and librarian who was active in Alexandria during the 3rd century BC. A representative of Ancient Greek literature of the Hellenistic period, he wrote over 800 literary works in a wide variety ...

and later Crinagoras had sent Marcellus another epigram on his return from the war with the

Cantabri The Cantabri ( grc-gre, Καντάβροι, ''Kantabroi'') or Ancient Cantabrians, were a pre-Roman people and large tribal federation that lived in the northern coastal region of ancient Iberia in the second half of the first millennium BC. Thes ...

. Other epigrams that Crinagoras has sent to was prince and future emperor

Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus (; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was the second Roman emperor. He reigned from AD 14 until 37, succeeding his stepfather, the first Roman emperor Augustus. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC. His father ...

, congratulating him on his military victories in

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and to Augustus’ niece Antonia Minor. In other epigram, Crinagoras speaks of a sea voyage that he undertook from

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, visiting

Cyclades The Cyclades (; el, Κυκλάδες, ) are an island group in the Aegean Sea, southeast of mainland Greece and a former administrative prefecture of Greece. They are one of the island groups which constitute the Aegean archipelago. The nam ...

and

Corfu Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...

on the way. However, the most well known epigram that Crinagoras wrote was the epigram (below), that is considered to the eulogy of

Ptolemaic Ptolemaic is the adjective formed from the name Ptolemy, and may refer to: Pertaining to the Ptolemaic dynasty * Ptolemaic dynasty, the Macedonian Greek dynasty that ruled Egypt founded in 305 BC by Ptolemy I Soter * Ptolemaic Kingdom Pertaining ...

Princess and Roman Client Queen of Mauretania,

Cleopatra Selene II Cleopatra Selene II ( Greek: Κλεοπάτρα Σελήνη; summer 40 BC – BC; the numeration is modern) was a Ptolemaic princess, Queen of Numidia (briefly in 25 BC) and Mauretania (25 BC – 5 BC) and Queen of Cyrenaica (34 BC – 30 BC). ...

: :''The moon herself grew dark, rising at sunset,'' :''Covering her suffering in the night,'' :''Because she saw her beautiful namesake, Selene,'' :''Breathless, descending to Hades,'' :''With her she had had the beauty of her light in common,'' :''And mingled her own darkness with her death.'' Crinagoras had written the above epigram, assuming that an eclipse had occurred at the time of Selene’s death at sunset. However, there is a possibility, that Crinagoras was using a simple poetic

metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wit ...

for her death playing on a lunar aspect of Selene’s name. It is also possible that the epigram was written during his first visit to Rome in 45 establishing his reputation. If this were the case it would then refer to a different Selene, namely

Cleopatra II Selene Cleopatra II Selene ( grc-gre, Κλεοπάτρα Σελήνη; – 69 BC) was the Queen consort of Egypt from 115 to 102 BC, the Queen consort of Syria from 102–92 BC, and the monarch of Syria from 82 to 69 BC. The daughter of Ptolemy VIII ...

References

Citations

Sources

* *

External links

Crinagoras: translation of all surviving epigrams
at ''attalus.org''; adapted from W.R.Paton (1916–18) {{Authority control 70 BC births 18 deaths Ancient Mytileneans Poets from ancient Lesbos Epigrammatists of the Greek Anthology Ancient Greeks in Rome Ambassadors in Greek Antiquity 1st-century BC Greek people 1st-century Greek people 1st-century BC poets