Pigres ( el, Πίγρης), a native of

Halicarnassus Halicarnassus (; grc, Ἁλικαρνᾱσσός ''Halikarnāssós'' or ''Alikarnāssós''; tr, Halikarnas; Carian: 𐊠𐊣𐊫𐊰 𐊴𐊠𐊥𐊵𐊫𐊰 ''alos k̂arnos'') was an ancient Greek city in Caria, in Anatolia. It was located i ...

, either the brother or the son of the celebrated

Artemisia Artemisia may refer to: People * Artemisia I of Caria (fl. 480 BC), queen of Halicarnassus under the First Persian Empire, naval commander during the second Persian invasion of Greece * Artemisia II of Caria (died 350 BC), queen of Caria under th ...

, satrap of

Caria Caria (; from Greek: Καρία, ''Karia''; tr, Karya) was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid- Ionia (Mycale) south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Ionian and Dorian Greeks colonized the west of it and joined ...

. He is spoken of by the '' Suda'' as the author of the ''

Margites The ''Margites'' ( grc-gre, Μαργίτης) is a comic mock-epic ascribed to Homer that is largely lost. From references to the work that survived, it is known that its central character is an exceedingly stupid man named Margites (from ancient ...

'' and the ''

Batrachomyomachia The ''Batrachomyomachia'' ( grc, Βατραχομυομαχία, from , "frog", , "mouse", and , "battle") or ''Battle of the Frogs and Mice'' is a comic epic, or a parody of the ''Iliad'', commonly attributed to Homer, although other authors ha ...

''. The latter poem is also attributed to him by

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for hi ...

and was probably his work. One of his feats was a very singular one, namely, inserting a

pentameter Pentameter ( grc, πεντάμετρος, 'measuring five ( feet)') is a poetic meter. А poem is said to be written in a particular pentameter when the lines of the poem have the length of five feet, where a 'foot' is a combination of a particul ...

line after each hexameter in the

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 '' Odys ...

, thus: — : : :''Sing, goddess, of the ruinous wrath of Achilles, son of Peleus.'' :''Muse, for you possess the means of all wisdom.'' Bode (''Gesch. der Hellen. Dichtkunst''. i. p. 279) believes that the ''Margites'', though not composed by Pigres, suffered some alterations at his hands, and in that altered shape passed down to posterity. Some suppose that the iambic lines, which alternated with the

hexameter Hexameter is a metrical line of verses consisting of six feet (a "foot" here is the pulse, or major accent, of words in an English line of poetry; in Greek and Latin a "foot" is not an accent, but describes various combinations of syllables). It w ...

s in the ''Margites'', were inserted by Pigres. He was the first poet, apparently, who introduced the iambic

trimeter In poetry, a trimeter (Greek for "three measure") is a metre of three metrical feet per line. Examples: : When here // the spring // we see, : Fresh green // upon // the tree. See also * Anapaest * Dactyl * Tristich A tercet is composed of ...

. (Fabric. ''Bibl. Graec.'' i. p. 519, &c.)

In Literature

Pigres is one of the many historical characters featured in

Gore Vidal Eugene Luther Gore Vidal (; born Eugene Louis Vidal, October 3, 1925 – July 31, 2012) was an American writer and public intellectual known for his epigrammatic wit, erudition, and patrician manner. Vidal was bisexual, and in his novels and e ...

's novel ''

Creation Creation may refer to: Religion *''Creatio ex nihilo'', the concept that matter was created by God out of nothing * Creation myth, a religious story of the origin of the world and how people first came to inhabit it * Creationism, the belief tha ...

''. In Vidal's depiction, Pigres was Artemisia's brother - excluded by her from succession to their father's throne, living in fear of her and taking up comic poetry as a refuge.

Notes

References

Pigres
from Smith's ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' (1867), from which this article was originally derived
Suda On Line: Pigres
{{Authority control Ancient Halicarnassians Ancient Greek epic poets Iambic poets 5th-century BC poets