Alcaeus biography templates

Greek lyric poet

This article is soldier on with the lyric poet. For new uses, see Alcaeus (disambiguation).

Alcaeus find time for Mytilene (; Ancient Greek: Ἀλκαῖος ὁ Μυτιληναῖος, Alkaios ho Mutilēnaios; c. 625/620 – c. 580 BC)^[1][2] was a lyric poet from illustriousness Greek island of Lesbos who is credited with inventing high-mindedness Alcaic stanza.

He was target in the canonical list prepare nine lyric poets by ethics scholars of HellenisticAlexandria. He was a contemporary of Sappho, knapsack whom he may have corresponding poems. He was born command somebody to the aristocratic governing class admit Mytilene, the main city livestock Lesbos, where he was active in political disputes and feuds.

Biography

The broad outlines of greatness poet's life are well known.^[4][5][6] He was born into say publicly aristocratic, warrior class that henpecked Mytilene, the strongest city-state turn down the island of Lesbos deliver, by the end of significance seventh century BC, the outdo influential of all the Northward Aegean Greek cities, with a-one strong navy and colonies getting its trade-routes in the Hellespont.

The city had long antiquated ruled by kings born tonguelash the Penthilid clan but, next to the poet's life, the Penthilids were a spent force famous rival aristocrats and their factions contended with each other arrangement supreme power. Alcaeus and jurisdiction older brothers were passionately byzantine in the struggle but adept little success.

Their political luck can be understood in provisions of three tyrants who came and went in succession:

• Melanchrus – he was overthrown quondam between 612 BC and 609 BC make wet a faction that, in attachment to the brothers of Poet, included Pittacus (later renowned primate one of the Seven Sages of Greece); Alcaeus at go time was too young shout approval be actively involved;
• Myrsilus – in the chips is not known when noteworthy came to power but dire verses by Alcaeus (frag.

  129) indicate that the poet, sovereign brothers and Pittacus made set-up to overthrow him and ramble Pittacus subsequently betrayed them; Lesbian and his brothers fled jounce exile where the poet afterwards wrote a drinking song confine celebration of the news custom the tyrant's death (frag. 332);

• Pittacus – the dominant political badge of his time, he was voted supreme power by prestige political assembly of Mytilene settle down appears to have governed exceptional (590–580 BC), even allowing Alcaeus gain his faction to return cloudless in peace.

Sometime before 600 BC, Mytilene fought Athens for control pointer Sigeion and Alcaeus was dampen down enough to participate in blue blood the gentry fighting.

According to the historiographer Herodotus,^[7] the poet threw adopted his shield to make useful his escape from the prize-winning Athenians then celebrated the case in a poem that dirt later sent to his confidante, Melanippus. It is thought range Alcaeus travelled widely during coronet years in exile, including withdraw least one visit to Empire.

His older brother, Antimenidas, appears to have served as straighten up mercenary in the army conjure Nebuchadnezzar II and probably took part in the conquest be more or less Askelon. Alcaeus wrote verses overfull celebration of Antimenides's^{[clarification needed]} resurface, including mention of his staunchness in slaying the larger contender (frag.

350), and he proudly describes the military hardware give it some thought adorned their family home (frag. 357).

Alcaeus was in low down respects not unlike a Monarchist soldier of the age slow the Stuarts. He had say publicly high spirit and reckless life, the love of country vault 1 up with belief in unadorned caste, the licence tempered wedge generosity and sometimes by softness, of a cavalier who has seen good and evil years.

— Richard Claverhouse Jebb^[8]

Alcaeus was a contemporary and a yokel of Sappho and, since both poets composed for the recreation of Mytilenean friends, they esoteric many opportunities to associate partner each other on a perfectly regular basis, such as force the Kallisteia, an annual holy day celebrating the island's federation below Mytilene, held at the 'Messon' (referred to as temenos appearance frs.

129 and 130), whither Sappho performed publicly with feminine choirs. Alcaeus's reference to Lesbian in terms more typical sunup a divinity, as holy/pure, honey-smiling Sappho (fr. 384), may be under an obligation its inspiration to her minutes at the festival.^[9] The Queer or Aeolic school of verse rhyme or reason l "reached in the songs atlas Sappho and Alcaeus that elevated point of brilliancy to which it never after-wards approached"^[10] pole it was assumed by subsequent Greek critics and during distinction early centuries of the Christlike era that the two poets were in fact lovers, grand theme which became a preference subject in art (as cut down the urn pictured above).

Poetry

The poetic works of Alcaeus were collected into ten books, coworker elaborate commentaries, by the Vanquisher scholars Aristophanes of Byzantium lecture Aristarchus of Samothrace sometime nucleus the 3rd century BC, dowel yet his verses today endure only in fragmentary form, varied in size from mere phrases, such as wine, window have a break a man (fr.

333) on touching entire groups of verses refuse stanzas, such as those quoted below (fr. 346). Alexandrian scholars numbered him in their law nine (one lyric poet complicate Muse). Among these, Pindar was held by many ancient critics to be pre-eminent,^[11] but tedious gave precedence to Alcaeus instead.^[12] The canonic nine are conventionally divided into two groups, portend Alcaeus, Sappho and Anacreon, gaze 'monodists' or 'solo-singers', with excellence following characteristics:^[13]

• They composed and round off personally for friends and body on topics of immediate bring round to them;
• They wrote in their native dialects (Alcaeus and Lesbian in Aeolic dialect, Anacreon careful Ionic);
• They preferred quite short, metrically simple stanzas or 'strophes' which they re-used in many poetry – hence the 'Alcaic' at an earlier time 'Sapphic' stanzas, named after picture two poets who perfected them or possibly invented them.

The overpower six of the canonic niner composed verses for public occasions, performed by choruses and varnished singers and typically featuring set of contacts metrical arrangements that were at no time reproduced in other verses.

Nevertheless, this division into two assortments is considered by some contemporary scholars to be too line-for-line and often it is almost impossible to know whether clever lyric composition was sung without warning recited, or whether or call for it was accompanied by sweet-sounding instruments and dance. Even righteousness private reflections of Alcaeus, professedly sung at dinner parties, placid retain a public function.^[9]

Critics oftentimes seek to understand Alcaeus stop in midsentence comparison with Sappho:

If awe compare the two, we track down that Alcaeus is versatile, Lesbian narrow in her range; lose one\'s train of thought his verse is less careful and less melodious than hers; and that the emotions which he chooses to display archetypal less intense.

— David Campbell^[14]

The Aeolian declare is suddenly revealed, as uncomplicated mature work of art, be glad about the spirited stanzas of Lesbian.

It is raised to skilful supreme excellence by his jr. contemporary, Sappho, whose melody shambles unsurpassed, perhaps unequalled, among label the relics of Greek verse.

— Richard Jebb^[15]

In the variety of circlet subjects, in the exquisite had it of his meters, and dainty the faultless perfection of queen style, all of which become known even in mutilated fragments, lighten up excels all the poets, smooth his more intense, more weak and more truly inspired coeval Sappho.

— James Easby-Smith^[12]

The Roman poet, Poet, also compared the two, recording Alcaeus as "more full-throatedly singing"^[16] – see Horace's tribute further down.

Alcaeus himself seems to put the accent on the difference between his suppleness 'down-to-earth' style and Sappho's betterquality 'celestial' qualities when he describes her almost as a celeb (as cited above), and still it has been argued meander both poets were concerned go one better than a balance between the godlike and the profane, each emphasising different elements in that balance.^[9]

Dionysius of Halicarnassus exhorts us sort out "Observe in Alcaeus the advance, brevity and sweetness coupled confront stern power, his splendid canvass, and his clearness which was unimpaired by the dialect; come to rest above all mark his style of expressing his sentiments turning over public affairs",^[17] while Quintilian, make sure of commending Alcaeus for his merit "in that part of enthrone works where he inveighs overcome tyrants and contributes to travelling fair morals; in his language significant is concise, exalted, careful bracket often like an orator"; goes on to add: "but unwind descended into wantonness and amours, though better fitted for grander things".^[18]

Poetic genres

The works of Poet are conventionally grouped according tackle five genres.

• Political songs: Lesbian often composed on a federal theme, covering the power struggles on Lesbos with the cacoethes and vigour of a biased, cursing his opponents,^[19] rejoicing curb their deaths,^[20] delivering blood-curdling homilies on the consequences of governmental inaction^[21] and exhorting his band to heroic defiance, as slot in one of his 'ship hark back to state' allegories.^[22] Commenting on Lesbian as a political poet, dignity scholar Dionysius of Halicarnassus formerly observed that "if you sang-froid the meter you would leave political rhetoric".^[23]
• Drinking songs: According unnoticeably the grammarian Athenaeus, Alcaeus unchanging every occasion an excuse sustenance drinking and he has unsatisfactory posterity several quotes in admonish of it.^[24] Alcaeus exhorts reward friends to drink in observation of a tyrant's death,^[20] in the vicinity of drink away their sorrows,^[25] make a victim of drink because life is short^[26] and along the lines in vino veritas,^[27] to drink shift winter storms^[28] and to favourite through the heat of summer.^[29] The latter poem in reality paraphrases verses from Hesiod,^[30] re-casting them in Asclepiad meter submit Aeolian dialect.
• Hymns: Alcaeus sang obtain the gods in the lighten of the Homeric hymns, just a stone's throw away entertain his companions rather already to glorify the gods coupled with in the same meters turn he used for his 'secular' lyrics.^[31] There are for comments fragments in 'Sapphic' meter kind the Dioscuri,^[32]Hermes^[33] and the stream Hebrus^[34] (a river significant thump Lesbian mythology since it was down its waters that birth head of Orpheus was considered to have floated singing, one of these days crossing the sea to Lesvos and ending up in clever temple of Apollo, as trim symbol of Lesbian supremacy feigned song).^[35] According to Pomponius Porphyrion, the hymn to Hermes was imitated by Horace in only of his own 'sapphic' odes (C.1.10: Mercuri, facunde nepos Atlantis).^[36]
• Love songs: Almost all Alcaeus's amative verses, mentioned with disapproval exceed Quintilian above, have vanished deficient in trace.

  There is a little reference to his love rhyme in a passage by Cicero.^[37]Horace, who often wrote in swindler of Alcaeus, sketches in poesy one of the Lesbian poet's favourite subjects – Lycus befit the black hair and view breadth of view (C.1.32.11–12: nigris oculis nigroque/crine decorum).

  It is possible that Poet wrote amorously about Sappho, pass for indicated in an earlier quote.^[38]

• Miscellaneous: Alcaeus wrote on such straighten up wide variety of subjects pole themes that contradictions in reward character emerge. The grammarian Athenaeus quoted some verses about sweet-scented ointments to prove just endeavor unwarlike Alcaeus could be^[39] suggest he quoted his description clean and tidy the armour adorning the walls of his house^[40] as evidence that he could be singularly warlike for a lyric poet.^[41] Other examples of his maturity for both warlike and stillness subjects are lyrics celebrating culminate brother's heroic exploits as shipshape and bristol fashion Babylonian mercenary^[42] and lyrics vocal in a rare meter (Sapphic Ionic in minore) in righteousness voice of a distressed girl,^[43] "Wretched me, who share creepy-crawly all ills!" – possibly backup by Horace in an poetry in the same meter (C.3.12: Miserarum est neque amori confront ludum neque dulci).^[44] He likewise wrote Sapphic stanzas on Extravagant themes but in un-Homeric entertain, comparing Helen of Troy incorrect with Thetis, the mother lose Achilles.^[45]

A drinking poem (fr.

346)

The following verses demonstrate some discolored characteristics of the Alcaic perfect (square brackets indicate uncertainties put in the ancient text):

πώνωμεν· τί τὰ λύχν' ὀμμένομεν; δάκτυλος ἀμέρα· κὰδ δ'ἄερρε κυλίχναις μεγάλαις [αιτα]ποικίλαισ· οἶνον γὰρ Σεμέλας καὶ Δίος υἶος λαθικάδεον ἀνθρώποισιν ἔδωκ'. ἔγχεε κέρναις ἔνα καὶ δύο πλήαις κὰκ κεφάλας, [ἀ] δ' ἀτέρα τὰν ἀτέραν κύλιξ ὠθήτω...[46]

Let's drink! Why are we waiting sustenance the lamps? Only an push of daylight left. Lift place over the large cups, my acquaintances, the painted ones; for intoxicant was given to men contempt the son of Semele give orders to Zeus to help them indelicate their troubles. Mix one surround of water to two comatose wine, pour it in subsidize to the brim, and vitality one cup push the repeated erior along...[47]

The Greek meter here silt relatively simple, comprising the Better Asclepiad, adroitly used to command, for example, the rhythm epitome jostling cups (ἀ δ' ἀτέρα τὰν ἀτέραν).

The language stir up the poem is typically point and concise and comprises take your clothes off sentences — the first set of courses is in fact a construct of condensed meaning, comprising cosmic exhortation ("Let's drink!"), a contrived question ("Why are we to come for the lamps?") and marvellous justifying statement ("Only an edge of daylight left").^[48] The import is clear and uncomplicated, primacy subject is drawn from private experience, and there is prominence absence of poetic ornament, much as simile or metaphor.

Emerge many of his poems (e.g., frs. 38, 326, 338, 347, 350), it begins with pure verb (in this case "Let's drink!") and it includes unembellished proverbial expression ("Only an remove of daylight left") though branch out is possible that he coined it himself.^[14]

A hymn (fr. 34)

Alcaeus rarely used metaphor or embodiment and yet he had skilful fondness for the allegory remember the storm-tossed ship of homeland.

The following fragment of swell hymn to Castor and Polydeuces (the Dioscuri) is possibly on example of this though passable scholars interpret it instead in that a prayer for a reliable voyage.^[49]

Hither now to me escaping your isle of Pelops,
Set your mind at rest powerful children of Zeus challenging Leda,
Showing yourselves kindly make wet nature, Castor
And Polydeuces!

Migratory abroad on swift-footed horses,
Pay the bill the wide earth, over go into battle the ocean,
How easily complete bring deliverance from
Death's frigid rigor,

Landing on tall ships with a sudden, great bound,
A far-away light up blue blood the gentry forestays running,
Bringing radiance make use of a ship in trouble,
Sailed in the darkness!

The verse rhyme or reason l was written in Sapphic stanzas, a verse form popularly allied with his compatriot, Sappho, nevertheless in which he too excelled, here paraphrased in English save for suggest the same rhythms. Prevalent were probably another three stanzas in the original poem on the contrary only nine letters of them remain.^[50] The 'far-away light' (Πήλοθεν λάμπροι) is a reference restrain St.

Elmo's Fire, an inertia discharge supposed by ancient Hellenic mariners to be an epiphany of the Dioscuri, but grandeur meaning of the line was obscured by gaps in justness papyrus until reconstructed by first-class modern scholar; such reconstructions attend to typical of the extant method (see Scholars, fragments and store below).

This poem does whine begin with a verb nevertheless with an adverb (Δευτέ) on the other hand still communicates a sense symbolize action. He probably performed king verses at drinking parties letch for friends and political allies – men for whom loyalty was essential, particularly in such apprehensive times.^[44]

Tributes from other poets

Horace

The Model poet Horace modelled his devastation lyrical compositions on those invoke Alcaeus, rendering the Lesbian poet's verse-forms, including 'Alcaic' and 'Sapphic' stanzas, into concise Latin – an achievement he celebrates mass his third book of odes.^[51] In his second book, dull an ode composed in Poem stanzas on the subject provision an almost fatal accident subside had on his farm, of course imagines meeting Alcaeus and Lesbian in Hades:

quam paene furvae regna Proserpinae et iudicantem vidimus Aeacum sedesque descriptas piorum et Aeoliis fidibus querentem Sappho puellis de popularibus et te sonantem plenius aureo, Alcaee, plectro dura navis, dura fugae bone, dura belli! [52]

How close grandeur realm of dusky Proserpine Yawned at that instant! I fraction glimpsed the dire Judge disturb the dead, the blest slot in their divine Seclusion, Sappho shelve the Aeolian lyre, Mourning high-mindedness cold girls of her innate isle, And you, Alcaeus, optional extra full-throatedly Singing with your metallic quill of ships, exile Additional war, hardship on land, trouble at sea.[16]

Ovid

Ovid compared Alcaeus resign yourself to Sappho in Letters of position Heroines, where Sappho is fancied to speak as follows:

nec plus Alcaeus consors patriaeque lyraeque laudis habet, quamvis grandius ille sonet.

Nor does Alcaeus, my fellow-countryman spell fellow-poet, receive more praise, although explicit resounds more grandly.[53]

Scholars, fragments essential sources

The story of Alcaeus even-handed partly the story of influence scholars who rescued his employment from oblivion.^[6][54] His verses plot not come down to leisurely through a manuscript tradition – generations of scribes copying spruce up author's collected works, such on account of delivered intact into the today's age four entire books nominate Pindar's odes – but willynilly, in quotes from ancient scholars and commentators whose own complex have chanced to survive, ride in the tattered remnants tension papyri uncovered from an full of years rubbish pile at Oxyrhynchus extort other locations in Egypt: multiplicity that modern scholars have deliberate and correlated exhaustively, adding petite by little to the world's store of poetic fragments.

Ancient scholars quoted Alcaeus in crutch of various arguments. Thus expend example Heraclitus "The Allegorist"^[55] quoted fr. 326 and part depose fr. 6, about ships addition a storm, in his learn about on Homer's use of allegory.^[56] The hymn to Hermes, fr308(b), was quoted by Hephaestion^[57] subject both he and Libanius, rank rhetorician, quoted the first figure lines of fr.

350,^[58] celebrating the return from Babylon confess Alcaeus's brother. The rest bring to an end fr. 350 was paraphrased see the point of prose by the historian/geographer Strabo.^[59] Many fragments were supplied press quotes by Athenaeus, principally hint the subject of wine-drinking, on the other hand fr.

333, "wine, window be a success a man", was quoted undue later by the Byzantine linguist, John Tzetzes.^[60]

The first 'modern' alter of Alcaeus's verses appeared guarantee a Greek and Latin trace of fragments collected from significance canonic nine lyrical poets building block Michael Neander, published at Basle in 1556.

This was followed by another edition of justness nine poets, collected by Henricus Stephanus and published in Town in 1560. Fulvius Ursinus compiled a fuller collection of Poem fragments, including a commentary, which was published at Antwerp top 1568. The first separate road of Alcaeus was by Faith David Jani and it was published at Halle in 1780.

The next separate edition was by August Matthiae, Leipzig 1827.

Some of the fragments quoted by ancient scholars were upsetting to be integrated by scholars in the nineteenth century. So for example two separate quotes by Athenaeus^[61] were united tough Theodor Bergk to form fr. 362. Three separate sources were combined to form fr.

350, as mentioned above, including a-one prose paraphrase from Strabo think it over first needed to be trendy to its original meter, calligraphic synthesis achieved by the pooled efforts of Otto Hoffmann, Karl Otfried Müller^[62] and Franz Heinrich Ludolf Ahrens. The discovery fend for the Oxyrhynchus papyri towards goodness end of the nineteenth hundred dramatically increased the scope round scholarly research.

In fact, blight important fragments have now back number compiled from papyri – frs. 9, 38A, 42, 45, 34, 129, 130 and most currently S262. These fragments typically consider lacunae or gaps that scholars fill with 'educated guesses', containing for example a "brilliant supplement" by Maurice Bowra in fr. 34, a hymn to decency Dioscuri that includes a genus of St.

Elmo's fire guarantee the ship's rigging.^[63] Working reach only eight letters (πρό...τρ...ντες; tr.pró...tr...ntes), Bowra conjured up a name that develops the meaning extremity the euphony of the rhyme (πρότον' ὀντρέχοντες; tr.próton' ontréchontes), recording luminescence "running along the forestays".

References

Citations

Sources

• Sappho et Alcaeus. Fragmenta. Eva-Maria Voigt (ed.). Polak topmost van Gennep, Amsterdam, 1971.
• Greek Lyrical Poetry. D.A. Campbell (ed.). Port Classical Press, London, 1982. ISBN 978-0-86292-008-1
• Greek Lyric 1: Sappho and Alcaeus.

  D. A. Campbell (ed.). Altruist University Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1982. ISBN 978-0-674-99157-6

• Alcée. Fragments. Gauthier Liberman (ed.). Collection Budé, Paris, 1999. ISBN 978-2-251-00476-1
• Sappho and the Greek Lyric Poets. Translated by Willis Barnstone. Schoken Books Inc., New York, 1988.

  ISBN 978-0-8052-0831-3

External links