Ancient Greek Epigrams: Major Poets in Verse TranslationAfter Sappho but before the great Latin poets, the most important short poems in the ancient world were Greek epigrams. Beginning with simple expressions engraved on stone, these poems eventually encompassed nearly every theme we now associate with lyric poetry in English. Many of the finest are on love and would later exert a profound influence on Latin love poets and, through them, on all the poetry of Europe and the West. This volume offers a representative selection of the best Greek epigrams in original verse translation. It showcases the poetry of nine poets (including one woman), with many epigrams from the recently discovered Milan papyrus. Gordon L. Fain provides an accessible general introduction describing the emergence of the epigram in Hellenistic Greece, together with short essays on the life and work of each poet and brief explanatory notes for the poems, making this collection an ideal anthology for a wide audience of readers. |
Contents
Chapter 1 Introduction to Ancient Greek Epigrams | 1 |
Chapter 2 Anyte | 35 |
Chapter 3 Leonidas of Tarentum | 47 |
Chapter 4 Asclepiades | 74 |
Chapter 5 Posidippus | 91 |
Chapter 6 Callimachus | 119 |
Chapter 7 Theocritus | 147 |
Chapter 8 Meleager | 159 |
Chapter 9 Philodemos | 184 |
Chapter 10 Lucillius | 207 |
Selected Bibliography | 235 |
Abbreviations | 243 |
Illustration Credits | 245 |
| 247 | |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
actual inscriptions Alexandria Anacreon ancient Anyte Asclepius beginning boys called Callimachus Catullus century bce chapter chariot Cupid Cynic death dedication epigrams describes drink elegiac couplets English epitaphs epitaphs and dedications example famous father genre girl give gram grave Greece Greek Anthology Greek epigrams Greek poets Hellenistic Greece Hellenistic poets Hercules heroic couplets Homer included last line later Leonidas of Tarentum love epigrams love poems love poetry lover Lucillius machus means Meleager Meleager’s Garland meter Milan papyrus Nero night paraclausithyron passerby perhaps Philodemos Philodemos’s Piso poem poet’s Posidippus Posidippus’s Priapus probably Ptolemy Roman Samos satirical says scholars seems similar song statue stone survived Text in Greek theme Theocritus Theognis third century tion tomb tombstone translation verse victory wine woman women word write written wrote Xanthippe XVII XVIII XXVI XXVII young Zeus