Theocritus and his native Muse

Theocritus and his native Muse PDF Author: Poulheria Kyriakou
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 3110615274
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 375

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Book Description
Hellenistic poets opted and were very likely expected to deal meaningfully, and perhaps competitively, with the tradition they inherited. They also needed to secure the goodwill of actual or potential patrons. Apollonius, the author of a novel heroic epic, eschews references to literary polemics and patronage. Callimachus often adopts a polemical stance against some colleagues in order to suggest his poetic excellence. Theocritus chooses a third way, which has not been investigated adequately. He avoids antagonism but ironizes the theme of poetic excellence and distances himself from the tradition of competitive success. He does not cast his narrators as superior to predecessors and contemporaries but stresses the advantages and merits of colleagues. This rejection of conceit is connected with a major strand in Theocritean poetry: the power of word, including song, to provide assistance to characters in distress is a major open issue. Language is versatile and potent but not all-powerful. Song gives pleasure but is not a panacea while instruction and advice are never helpful and may even prove harmful. Most genuine pieces are ambiguous and open-ended so that the aspirations of characters are not presented as doomed to failure.

Theocritus and his native Muse

Theocritus and his native Muse PDF Author: Poulheria Kyriakou
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 3110615274
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 375

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Book Description
Hellenistic poets opted and were very likely expected to deal meaningfully, and perhaps competitively, with the tradition they inherited. They also needed to secure the goodwill of actual or potential patrons. Apollonius, the author of a novel heroic epic, eschews references to literary polemics and patronage. Callimachus often adopts a polemical stance against some colleagues in order to suggest his poetic excellence. Theocritus chooses a third way, which has not been investigated adequately. He avoids antagonism but ironizes the theme of poetic excellence and distances himself from the tradition of competitive success. He does not cast his narrators as superior to predecessors and contemporaries but stresses the advantages and merits of colleagues. This rejection of conceit is connected with a major strand in Theocritean poetry: the power of word, including song, to provide assistance to characters in distress is a major open issue. Language is versatile and potent but not all-powerful. Song gives pleasure but is not a panacea while instruction and advice are never helpful and may even prove harmful. Most genuine pieces are ambiguous and open-ended so that the aspirations of characters are not presented as doomed to failure.

On Interpretation

On Interpretation PDF Author: Sonja Hansard-Weiner
Publisher: Univ of Wisconsin Press
ISBN: 9780299178949
Category : Culture and law
Languages : en
Pages : 296

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Book Description
This title looks at past post-structuralist theory to re-examine methods of textual interpretation developed in past millennia to understand sacred, philosophical, cultural, legal, literary and artistic texts.

Brill's Companion to Theocritus

Brill's Companion to Theocritus PDF Author:
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004466711
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 852

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Book Description
Brill's Companion to Theocritus offers an up-to-date guide to a thorough understanding of Theocritus’ literary output. Exploring his corpus from a variety of novel perspectives, it presents a detailed account of the intricacy of Theocritus’ poetic art.

Theocritus

Theocritus PDF Author: Theocritus
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 9781499609523
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 190

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Book Description
Theocritus - Translated into English Verse by C.S. Calverley. Complete New Edition. Theocritus (fl. c. 270 BC), the creator of ancient Greek bucolic poetry, flourished in the 3rd century BC. Little is known of Theocritus beyond what can be inferred from his writings. We must, however, handle these with some caution, since some of the poems (Idylls) commonly attributed to him have little claim to authenticity. It is clear that at a very early date two collections were made: one consisting of poems whose authorship was doubtful yet formed a corpus of bucolic poetry, the other a strict collection of those works considered to have been composed by Theocritus himself. Theocritus was from Sicily, as he refers to Polyphemus, the cyclops in the Odyssey, as his "countryman." He also probably lived in Alexandria for a while, where he wrote about everyday life, notably Pharmakeutria. It is also speculated that Theocritus was born in Syracuse, lived on the island of Kos, and lived in Egypt during the time of Ptolemy II. The record of these recensions is preserved by two epigrams, one of which proceeds from Artemidorus of Tarsus, a grammarian, who lived in the time of Sulla and is said to have been the first editor of these poems. He says, "Bucolic muses, once were ye scattered, but now one byre, one herd is yours." The second epigram is anonymous, and runs as follows: "The Chian is another. I, Theocritus, who wrote these songs, am of Syracuse, a man of the people, the son of Praxagoras and famed Philina. I never sought after a strange muse." The last line may mean that he wrote nothing but bucolic poems, or that he only wrote in Doric. The assertion that he was from Syracuse appears to be upheld by allusions in the Idylls (7.7, 28.16–18). The information concerning his parentage bears the stamp of genuineness, and disposes of a rival theory based upon a misinterpretation of Idyll 7—which made him the son of one Simichus. A larger collection, possibly more extensive than that of Artemidorus, and including poems of doubtful authenticity, was known to the author of the Suda, who says: "Theocritus wrote the so-called bucolic poems in the Doric dialect. Some persons also attribute to him the following: Daughters of Proetus, Hopes, Hymns, Heroines, Dirges, Lyrics, Elegies, Iambics, Epigrams." The first of these may have been known to Virgil, who refers to the Proetides at Eclogue 6.48. The spurious poem 21 may have been one of the Hopes, and poem 26 may have been one of the Heroines; elegiacs are found in 8.33—60, and the spurious epitaph on Bion may have been one of the Dirges. The other classes are all represented in the larger collection which has come down to us.

Theocritus

Theocritus PDF Author: Theocritus
Publisher: Book Jungle
ISBN: 9781438526577
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 148

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Book Description
Theocritus was the creator of ancient Greek bucolic poetry during the 3rd century BC. He was born in Sicily and probably lived in Alexandria for a while, where he wrote about everyday life. It is also possible that Theocritus was born in Syracuse and lived in Egypt during the time of Ptolemy II. C S Calverley has translated these poems into English. This collection contains Idyll poems, a fragment of Bernice, epigrams, and epitaphs.

Structures of Epic Poetry

Structures of Epic Poetry PDF Author: Christiane Reitz
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 3110491672
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 3199

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Book Description
This compendium (4 vols.) studies the continuity, flexibility, and variation of structural elements in epic narratives. It provides an overview of the structural patterns of epic poetry by means of a standardized, stringent terminology. Both diachronic developments and changes within individual epics are scrutinized in order to provide a comprehensive structural approach and a key to intra- and intertextual characteristics of ancient epic poetry.

Strategies of Ambiguity in Ancient Literature

Strategies of Ambiguity in Ancient Literature PDF Author: Martin Vöhler
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 3110715848
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 464

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Book Description
Ambiguity in the sense of two or more possible meanings is considered to be a distinctive feature of modern art and literature. It characterizes the "open artwork" (Eco) and is generated by "disruptive tactics" (Wellershoff) and strategies to engender uncertainty. While ambiguity is seen as a "paradigm of modernity" (Bode), there is skepticism regarding its use in the pre-modern era. Older studies were dominated by the conviction that there was a lack of ambiguity in pre-modernity because, according to the rules of the "old rhetoric", ambiguity was seen as an avoidable error (vitium) and a violation of the dictate of clarity (perspicuitas). The aim of the volume is to re-examine the putative "absence of ambiguity" in the pre-modern era. Is it not possible to find clear examples of deliberately employed (intended) ambiguity in antiquity? Are the oracles and riddles, the Palinode of Stesichoros and Socrates (Phaedrus), the dissoi logoi of rhetoric, the ambiguities of the tragedies all exceptions or do they not indicate a distinct interest in the artistic use of ambiguity? The presentations of the conference, which will include scholars from various philologies, will combine a recourse to theoretical concepts of intended ambiguity with exemplary analyses from the field of pre-modern art and literature.

Fragmentation in Ancient Greek Drama

Fragmentation in Ancient Greek Drama PDF Author: Anna A. Lamari
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 311062169X
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 734

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Book Description
This volume examines whether dramatic fragments should be approached as parts of a greater whole or as self-contained entities. It comprises contributions by a broad spectrum of international scholars: by young researchers working on fragmentary drama as well as by well-known experts in this field. The volume explores another kind of fragmentation that seems already to have been embraced by the ancient dramatists: quotations extracted from their context and immersed in a new whole, in which they work both as cohesive unities and detachable entities. Sections of poetic works circulated in antiquity not only as parts of a whole, but also independently, i.e. as component fractions, rather like quotations on facebook today. Fragmentation can thus be seen operating on the level of dissociation, but also on the level of cohesion. The volume investigates interpretive possibilities, quotation contexts, production and reception stages of fragmentary texts, looking into the ways dramatic fragments can either increase the depth of fragmentation or strengthen the intensity of cohesion.

The Idylls of Theocritus. Ed with Introduction and Notes

The Idylls of Theocritus. Ed with Introduction and Notes PDF Author: Theocritus
Publisher: Sagwan Press
ISBN: 9781376501940
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 430

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Book Description
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Theocritus Translated Into English Verse

Theocritus Translated Into English Verse PDF Author: Theocritus
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 208

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Book Description