Meleager of Gadara ( grc-gre, Μελέαγρος ; fl. 1st century BC) was a poet and collector of

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 ...

s. He wrote some

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...

prose, now lost, and some sensual

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

, of which 134 epigrams survive.

Life

Meleager was the son of Eucrates, born in the city of

Gadara Gadara ( el, Γάδαρα ''Gádara''), in some texts Gedaris, was an ancient Hellenistic city, for a long time member of the Decapolis city league, a former bishopric and present Latin Catholic titular see. Its ruins are today located at Umm Qa ...

, now

Umm Qais Umm Qais or Qays ( ar, أم قيس , , Mother of Qais) is a town in northern Jordan principally known for its proximity to the ruins of the ancient Gadara. It is the largest city in the Bani Kinanah Department and Irbid Governorate in the extreme ...

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

, which was then a partially Hellenized community noted for its "remarkable contribution to

Greek culture The culture of Greece has evolved over thousands of years, beginning in Minoan and later in Mycenaean Greece, continuing most notably into Classical Greece, while influencing the Roman Empire and its successor the Byzantine Empire. Other cult ...

". He was educated in Tyre and spent his later life in Cos where he died at an advanced age, perhaps at 70. According to short autobiographical poems he wrote, Meleager was proud of his hometown and identified himself as

cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...

, being both "Attic" (i.e.

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 ...

) and

Syrian Syrians ( ar, سُورِيُّون, ''Sūriyyīn'') are an Eastern Mediterranean ethnic group indigenous to the Levant. They share common Levantine Semitic roots. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend of both indi ...

, and also praised Tyre for having "made ima man" and Cos for taking "care of imin isold age". The

scholiast 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 th ...

to the Palatine manuscript of the ''

Greek Anthology The ''Greek Anthology'' ( la, Anthologia Graeca) is a collection of poems, mostly epigrams, that span the Classical and Byzantine periods of Greek literature. Most of the material of the ''Greek Anthology'' comes from two manuscripts, the ''Pa ...

'' says he flourished in the reign of

Seleucus VI Epiphanes Seleucus VI Epiphanes Nicator ( grc, Σέλευκος Ἐπιφανής Νικάτωρ, translit=Séleukos Epiphanís Nikátor; between 124 and 109 BC – 94 BC) was a Hellenistic Seleucid monarch who ruled Syria between 96 and 94 BC. He was t ...

(95 – 93 BC). The uppermost date of his compilation of the Anthology is 60 BC, as it did not include

Philodemus Philodemus of Gadara ( grc-gre, Φιλόδημος ὁ Γαδαρεύς, ''Philodēmos'', "love of the people"; c. 110 – prob. c. 40 or 35 BC) was an Arabic Epicurean philosopher and poet. He studied under Zeno of Sidon in Athens, before moving ...

of Gadara, though later editors added thirty-four epigrams. Some writers classed him among the Cynics, and according to historian

Benjamin Isaac Benjamin Henri Isaac (Ben Isaac; he, בנימין איזק; born May 10, 1945) is the Fred and Helen Lessing Professor of Ancient History Emeritus at Tel Aviv University. He is a member of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities and of the A ...

Meleager's belief that "all men are equal and compatriots" strengthens this view, as some Cynics already held such a world view possibly as early as the 5th century BC. Like his compatriot

Menippus Menippus of Gadara (; el, Μένιππος ὁ Γαδαρεύς ''Menippos ho Gadareus''; fl. 3rd century BC) was a Cynic satirist. The Menippean satire genre is named after him. His works, all of which are lost, were an important influence o ...

, Meleager wrote what were known as '' spoudogeloia'' (Greek singular: ), satirical prose essays putting philosophy in popular form with humorous illustrations. These are completely lost. Meleager's fame is securely founded on the one hundred and thirty-four epigrams of his own which he included in his Anthology. The manuscripts of the ''Greek Anthology'' are the sole source of these epigrams.

''The Garland'' of Meleager

Meleager is famous for his anthology of poetry entitled ''The Garland'' ( el, Στέφανος).

Polemon of Ilium Polemon of Athens ( grc-gre, Πολέμων ὁ Ἀθηναῖος, fl. 2nd century BC) was an ancient Greek Stoic philosopher and geographer. Of Athenian citizenship, he was most widely known as Polemon of Athens, but he was born either in Ilium, ...

and others had created collections of monumental inscriptions, or of poems on particular subjects earlier, but Meleager first did so comprehensively. He collected epigrams by 46 Greek poets, from every lyric period up to his own. His title referred to the commonplace comparison of small beautiful poems to flowers, and in the introduction to his work, he attached the names of various flowers, shrubs, and herbs—as emblems—to the names of the several poets.Smith
"Planudes"
1867, p. 385. The ''Garland'' itself has survived only as one of the original constituent roots to the

Poetry

Meleager's poetry is concerned with personal experience and emotions, frequently with love and its discontents. He typically describes himself not as an active and engaged lover, but as one struck by the beauty of a woman or boy. The following is an example:

References

Bibliography

Texts and translations

* ''The Greek Anthology I'' (Loeb Classical Library) W. R. Paton (1916) Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press; London: Heinemann) riginal Greek with facing page English translations*''Select Epigrams from the Greek Anthology.'' J. W. Mackail (1890) Longmans, Green & Co. nglish translationsbr>''The Greek Anthology''
Charles Neaves (1874) New York: John B. Alden nglish translations and commentary

Secondary sources

* *Smith, Philip (1867
"Meleager""Planudes"
In William Smith (ed.)

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' (1849, originally published 1844 under a slightly different title) is an encyclopedia/biographical dictionary. Edited by William Smith, the dictionary spans three volumes and 3,700 p ...

. 3. Boston: Little, Brown & Co.

External links

Meleager of Gadara: translation of all surviving epigrams
at ''attalus.org''; adapted from W. R. Paton (1916–18) {{DEFAULTSORT:Meleager of Gadara 1st-century BC poets Ancient Greek anthologists Ancient Greek poets Cynic philosophers Hellenistic-era people Roman-era Greeks Epigrammatists of the Greek Anthology