Lycophron (; grc-gre, Λυκόφρων ὁ Χαλκιδεύς; born about 330–325 BC) was a

Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

Greek tragic poet, grammarian, sophist, and commentator on comedy, to whom the poem ''Alexandra'' is attributed (perhaps falsely).

Life and miscellaneous works

He was born at

Chalcis Chalcis ( ; Ancient Greek & Katharevousa: , ) or Chalkida, also spelled Halkida (Modern Greek: , ), is the chief town of the island of Euboea or Evia in Greece, situated on the Euripus Strait at its narrowest point. The name is preserved fro ...

Euboea Evia (, ; el, Εύβοια ; grc, Εὔβοια ) or Euboia (, ) is the second-largest Greek island in area and population, after Crete. It is separated from Boeotia in mainland Greece by the narrow Euripus Strait (only at its narrowest poi ...

, and flourished at

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

in the time of Ptolemy Philadelphus (285–247 BC). According to the ''

Suda The ''Suda'' or ''Souda'' (; grc-x-medieval, Σοῦδα, Soûda; la, Suidae Lexicon) is a large 10th-century Byzantine encyclopedia of the ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Soudas (Σούδας) or Souida ...

'', the massive tenth century Byzantine Greek historical encyclopaedia, he was the son of Socles, but was adopted by Lycus of Rhegium. He was entrusted by Ptolemy with the task of arranging the comedies in the

Library of Alexandria The Great Library of Alexandria in Alexandria, Egypt, was one of the largest and most significant libraries of the ancient world. The Library was part of a larger research institution called the Mouseion, which was dedicated to the Muses, t ...

; as the result of his labours he composed a treatise ''On Comedy''. Lycophron is also said to have been a skilful writer of anagrams.

Tragedies

The poetic compositions of Lycophron chiefly consisted of

tragedies Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy ...

, which secured him a place in the Pleiad of Alexandrian tragedians. The ''Suda'' gives the titles of twenty tragedies, of which a very few fragments have been preserved: ''Aeolus'', ''Allies'' (''Symmakhoi''), ''Andromeda'', ''Chrysippus'', ''Daughters of Aeolus'', ''Daughters of Pelops'', ''Elephenor'', ''Herakles'', ''Hippolytus'', ''Kassandreis'', ''Laius'', ''Marathonians'', ''Menedemus'', ''Nauplius'', ''Oedipus'' (two versions), ''Orphan'' (''Orphanos''), ''Pentheus'', ''Suppliants'' (''Hiketai''), ''Telegonus'', and the ''Wanderer'' (''Aletes''). Among these, a few well-turned lines show a much better style than the ''Alexandra''. Lycophron's tragedies are said to have been much admired by Menedemus of Eretria, although Lycophron had ridiculed him in a

satyr play The satyr play is a form of Attic theatre performance related to both comedy and tragedy. It preserves theatrical elements of dialogue, actors speaking verse, a chorus that dances and sings, masks and costumes. Its relationship to tragedy is stro ...

The ''Alexandra''

One poem traditionally attributed to him, ''Alexandra'' or ''Cassandra'', has been preserved in its complete form, running to 1474 iambic trimeters. It consists of a prophecy uttered by Cassandra and relates the later fortunes of

Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in present-day Turkey, south-west of Ç ...

and of the Greek and Trojan heroes. References to events of mythical and later times are introduced, and the poem ends with a reference to

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...

, who was to unite Asia and Europe in his world-wide empire. The style obtained for the poem's author, even among the ancients, the title of "obscure"; one modern scholar says the ''Alexandra'' "may be the most illegible piece of classical literature, one which nobody can read without a proper commentary and which even then makes very difficult reading." The poem is evidently intended to display the writer's knowledge of obscure names and uncommon myths; it is full of unusual words of doubtful meaning gathered from the older poets, and long-winded compounds coined by the author. It was probably written as a show-piece for the Alexandrian school, rather than as straight poetry. It was very popular in the Byzantine period, and was read and commented on very frequently; the manuscripts of the ''Alexandra'' are numerous. Two explanatory paraphrases of the poem survive, and the collection of

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 t ...

by Isaac and

John Tzetzes John Tzetzes ( grc-gre, Ἰωάννης Τζέτζης, Iōánnēs Tzétzēs; c. 1110, Constantinople – 1180, Constantinople) was a Byzantine poet and grammarian who is known to have lived at Constantinople in the 12th century. He was able to pr ...

is very valuable (much used by, among others,

Robert Graves Captain Robert von Ranke Graves (24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985) was a British poet, historical novelist and critic. His father was Alfred Perceval Graves, a celebrated Irish poet and figure in the Gaelic revival; they were both Celt ...

in his ''Greek Myths'').

A pseudepigraphic work?

Some modern studies have concluded that the ''Alexandra'' cannot be the work of the third-century BC author; in one scholar's summary of this view, the poem was:

written in the immediate aftermath of the victory of Flamininus at Battle of Cynoscephalae over
Philip V of Macedon Philip V ( grc-gre, Φίλιππος ; 238–179 BC) was king ( Basileus) of Macedonia from 221 to 179 BC. Philip's reign was principally marked by an unsuccessful struggle with the emerging power of the Roman Republic. He would lead Macedon a ...
in 197/6 BC. The author, whose true name and place of origin are probably concealed beneath the impenetrably enigmatic biographical tradition concerning "Lycophron," probably used the name, and some of the literary substance, of Lycophron, not in emulation, but as an
ironic Irony (), in its broadest sense, is the juxtaposition of what on the surface appears to be the case and what is actually the case or to be expected; it is an important rhetorical device and literary technique. Irony can be categorized into d ...
reminiscence of the earlier writer, who had combined the practice of tragedy and the elucidation of comedy. Only on this assumption of a deliberate pseudepigraphon can the full irony of his work be appreciated.

The question turns on passages in the poem (1226–1280; cf. 1446-1450) that describe Roman dominance in terms that only fit the situation after the Second Macedonian War. Cassandra prophesies that her Trojan ancestors' descendants "shall with their spears win the foremost crown of glory, obtaining the sceptre and monarchy of earth and sea" and elaborates with allusions to the course of historical events. Some scholars, such as Stephanie West, regard these passages as interpolations and defend the attribution of the bulk of the poem to Lycophron the tragic poet. Thomas Nelson and Katherine Molesworth have argued that 'Lycophron' is a pen name to signpost the poem's style, aligning it with the 'frigidity' of Lycophron the sophist.

Editions

Aldus Manutius Aldus Pius Manutius (; it, Aldo Pio Manuzio; 6 February 1515) was an Italian printer and humanist who founded the Aldine Press. Manutius devoted the later part of his life to publishing and disseminating rare texts. His interest in and preser ...

(1513),

Aldine Press The Aldine Press was the printing office started by Aldus Manutius in 1494 in Venice, from which were issued the celebrated Aldine editions of the classics (Latin and Greek masterpieces, plus a few more modern works). The first book that was da ...

editio princeps In classical scholarship, the ''editio princeps'' (plural: ''editiones principes'') of a work is the first printed edition of the work, that previously had existed only in manuscripts, which could be circulated only after being copied by hand. For ...

* John Potter (1697, 1702) * Ludwig Bachmann (1830), with notes and Scaliger's Latin verse translatio
online
* Félix Désiré Dehèque (1853), with French translation, Latin paraphrase, and note
online
*

Gottfried Kinkel Johann Gottfried Kinkel (11 August 1815 – 13 November 1882) was a German poet also noted for his revolutionary activities and his escape from a Prussian prison in Spandau with the help of his friend Carl Schurz. Early life He was born at Ober ...

(1880) * Eduard Scheer (1881–1908), including the paraphrases and Tzetzian scholia * Carl von Holzinger (1895), Teubner edition with German translation and commentar
online
* Emanuele Ciaceri (1901), edition with Italian translation and commentar
online
* George W. Mooney (1921), edition with facing English translation and explanatory notes. {reprinted Arno Press, 1979] * Lorenzo Mascialino (1964), Teubner edition *

Pascal Quignard Pascal Quignard (; born 23 April 1948) is a French writer born in Verneuil-sur-Avre, Eure. In 2002 his novel ''Les Ombres errantes'' won the Prix Goncourt, France's top literary prize. ''Terrasse à Rome'' (Terrasse in Rome), received the Frenc ...

, Lycophron. Alexandra, Paris, Mercure de France (1971) * André Hurst and Antje Kolde (2008), Budé edition * Simon Hornblower (repr. 2017), with translation and commentary

Translations

* Philip Yorke, Viscount Royston (1784 - 1808, posthumously published 1832
online
* A. W. Mair (1921), Loeb Classical Library
online at the Internet Archiveonline on Google Books
* George W. Mooney (1921)

References

External links

* ttp://www.attalus.org/poetry/lives.html#lycophron0 An ancient Life of Lycophron, compiled by Tzetzes {{Authority control Ancient Euboeans Ancient Greek dramatists and playwrights Ancient Greek poets Ancient Greek grammarians 3rd-century BC Greek people 3rd-century BC poets Tragic poets Sophists Ptolemaic court Anagrammatists