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Archilochus was a colonist of [[Thasos]] (part of general ‘colonization’ efforts of his era (750-550 BC)). He was a [[mercenary]] soldier by profession — typical of many landless, rootless ‘younger’ or illegitimate sons (with no inheritance) in [[Archaic Greece]], when ‘overpopulation’ seems to have become a major problem. He is remembered as a [[Lyric poetry|Lyric]] poet; the first to break with the poetic style of the Homeric Epic and write instead about their own lives, experiences, feelings, and attitudes. |
Archilochus was a colonist of [[Thasos]] (part of general ‘colonization’ efforts of his era (750-550 BC)). He was a [[mercenary]] soldier by profession — typical of many landless, rootless ‘younger’ or illegitimate sons (with no inheritance) in [[Archaic Greece]], when ‘overpopulation’ seems to have become a major problem. He is remembered as a [[Lyric poetry|Lyric]] poet; the first to break with the poetic style of the Homeric Epic and write instead about their own lives, experiences, feelings, and attitudes. |
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The details of his life |
The details of his life are inferred from his poetry, since "it is often easiest and certainly entertaining to imagine that the words spoken in a poem are those of real persons, or at least a stylized description of an actual encounter in the poet's life" notes John Van Sickle<ref>Van Sickle, "Archilochus: A New Fragment of an Epode" ''The Classical Journal'' '''71'''.1 (October - November 1975:1-15) p. 14.</ref> in his attempt to assess the biographical content in a fragment of an [[epode]] containing an erotic dialogue, discovered in a [[papyrus]] now at Cologne. Archilochus was born on the island of [[Paros]]. His father, Telesicles, who was from a noble family, led a colony to Thasos, in obedience to the command of the [[Delphi|Delphic oracle]]. Archilochus, hard pressed by poverty, also moved to Thasos. According to his poetry another reason for leaving Paros was disappointment and indignation at the treatment he had received from Lycambes, a citizen of Paros, who had promised him his daughter Neobule in marriage but had afterwards withdrawn his consent. Archilochus, taking advantage of the license allowed at the feasts of [[Demeter]], articulated his wounded feelings in a savage [[satire]]. He accused Lycambes of [[perjury]] and recited verses against his daughters that according to legend led Lycambes and his daughters to hang themselves.<ref>Gerber, Douglas E., [http://books.google.com/books?id=Zzlnqb_64SYC&pg=PA50&lpg=PA50&dq=lycambes&source=bl&ots=AhFddrmwt0&sig=qcxb3odRqBTxbshCj13_ocAbhpk&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=5&ct=result ''A Companion to the Greek Lyric Poets''], BRILL, 1997. ISBN 9004099441. Cf. p.50</ref> |
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Archaeological discoveries on Paros have added to our knowledge of Archilochus.<ref>David A. Campbell, "Greek Lyric Poetry,'' p. 137</ref> Two stones inscribed in the 3rd century BCE tell the story of a meeting between Archilochos and the [[Muses]]. According to the stones, "the young Archilochos was sent to town by his father to sell a cow, and met on his way a group of jolly women, who asked if the cow was for sale; when told that it was, they said they would give him a good price, whereupon they and the cow disappeared and Archilochos found a lyre before his feet. Soon after, [[Apollo]] at [[Delphi]] told his father that his son would be immortal and famous."<ref>Campbell at p. 137.</ref> Another inscription, which only survives in fragments, says that Archilochos's introduced a new form of worship of [[Dionysus]] to Paros, for which he was punished by his fellow citizens, but ultimately vindicated by Apollo. The later poet [[Pindar]] described Archilochus as a scold in poverty, fattening his leaness with hate <ref>Pindar, 2nd Pythian Ode, ll. 100-01.</ref> but along with [[Homer]] and [[Hesiod]], he was one of the mainstays of the itinerant [[rhapsode]]s, who made their living declaiming poetry at religious festivals and in private homes. |
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==Poetry== |
==Poetry== |
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:''I also know well the lovely gift of the Muses. |
:''I also know well the lovely gift of the Muses. |
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Although some claim that his hopes of wealth were disappointed, the following fragment suggests that Archilochus cared little for wordly things: |
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:''These golden matters'' |
:''These golden matters'' |
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:''Fascination for my eyes.'' |
:''Fascination for my eyes.'' |
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According to Archilochus, the inhabitants of Thasos frequently quarelled with their |
According to Archilochus, the inhabitants of Thasos frequently quarelled with their neighbours, and in a war against the Saians — a [[Thrace|Thracian]] tribe — he threw away his shield and fled from the field of battle. In a fragment of poetry, clearly directed against the heroic tradition, he remarks: |
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:''Some barbarian is waving my shield,'' |
:''Some barbarian is waving my shield,'' |
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:''Let the shield go; I can buy another one equally good.'' |
:''Let the shield go; I can buy another one equally good.'' |
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According to legend he visited [[Sparta]], but was banished from that city because of his cowardice and the licentious character of his poetry ([[Valerius Maximus]] vi. 3, externa 1). He visited [[Magna Graecia]], Hellenic southern [[Italy]], of which he speaks favorably. He then |
According to legend he visited [[Sparta]], but was banished from that city because of his cowardice and the licentious character of his poetry ([[Valerius Maximus]] vi. 3, externa 1). He visited [[Magna Graecia]], Hellenic southern [[Italy]], of which he speaks favorably. He then returned to [[Paros]], and was killed in a battle against the [[Naxos Island|Naxians]] by Calondas or Corax, who was cursed in an oracle for having slain a servant of the Muses. |
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The writings of Archilochus |
The writings of Archilochus consists of [[elegy|elegies]], [[hymn]]s— one of which used to be sung by the victors in the [[Olympic games]]— and poems in the [[iambic]] and [[trochaic]] measures. Greek [[rhetor]]s credited him with the invention of iambic poetry and its application to satire. The only earlier measure in extant Greek poetry, is the [[Epic poetry|epic]] [[hexameter]], and its offshoot the elegiac meter; but the slow measured structure of hexameter verse was unsuited to satire. There is good reason to believe however that the lyric meters are just as old as that of epic (dactylic hexameter). Just as Homer did not create his own meter, the lyric poets employed the meter of past poets. Evidence for this can be seen in Homer, particularly in the Iliad (1.472-74; 16.182-83; 18.493).<ref>Jeffrey M. Hurwit. The Art and Culture of Early Greece.</ref> His metre may have been influenced by rituals associated with Demeter and Dionysus. Iambos ἵαμβος was a type of poetry not simply a metric device, and an expected subject matter accompanied the performance of this type of poetry.<ref>See the Loeb edition of Greek Iambic (introduction).</ref> |
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Archilochus made use of both the [[iambus]] and the [[trochee]], and organized them into the two forms of meter known as the [[iambic trimeter]] and the [[trochaic tetrameter]]. He was the first to make use of the arrangement of verses called the [[epode]]. [[Horace]] to a great extent follows Archilochus. All ancient authorities unite in praising the poems of Archilochus. His verses were deemed to possess strength, flexibility, and impetuous vehemence and energy: Horace speaks of the "rage" of Archilochus, and [[Hadrian]] describes his verses as "raging iambics." He was revered |
Archilochus made use of both the [[iambus]] and the [[trochee]], and organized them into the two forms of meter known as the [[iambic trimeter]] and the [[trochaic tetrameter]]. He was the first to make use of the arrangement of verses called the [[epode]]. [[Horace]] to a great extent follows Archilochus. All ancient authorities unite in praising the poems of Archilochus. His verses were deemed to possess strength, flexibility, and impetuous vehemence and energy: Horace speaks of the "rage" of Archilochus, and [[Hadrian]] describes his verses as "raging iambics." He was revered in a [[hero cult]] on [[Paros]] that lasted over 800 years<ref>Encyclopedia of ancient Greece By Nigel Guy Wilson Page 353 ISBN 9780415973342</ref>. His poems were written in the old [[Ionic Greek|Ionic dialect]]. |
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==Recent discoveries== |
==Recent discoveries== |
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==Quotes== |
==Quotes== |
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*"Keep some measure in the joy you take in luck, and the degree you give way to sorrow.". |
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*"For 'tis thy friends that make thee choke with rage". |
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*"I know the art of loving him that loves me, and hating my hater". |
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*"The fox knows many things; the hedgehog one |
*"The fox knows many things; the hedgehog one big thing." |
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*"Wretched I lie, dead with desire, pierced through my bones, with the bitter pains the Gods have given me." |
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*"Thasos is like the spine of a donkey, wreathed in unkempt forest" |
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==References== |
==References== |
Revision as of 16:15, 22 February 2011
- For the hummingbird genus, see Archilochus.
Archilochus, or, Archilochos (Greek: Ἀρχίλοχος) (c. 680 BC – c. 645 BC)[1] was an Archaic period mercenary and poet, who is taken to be first person in the Western tradition to write lyric poetry in the first person[2]. Although his work now only survives in fragments, he was revered by the ancient Greeks as one of their great lyric poets.
Life
Archilochus was a colonist of Thasos (part of general ‘colonization’ efforts of his era (750-550 BC)). He was a mercenary soldier by profession — typical of many landless, rootless ‘younger’ or illegitimate sons (with no inheritance) in Archaic Greece, when ‘overpopulation’ seems to have become a major problem. He is remembered as a Lyric poet; the first to break with the poetic style of the Homeric Epic and write instead about their own lives, experiences, feelings, and attitudes.
The details of his life are inferred from his poetry, since "it is often easiest and certainly entertaining to imagine that the words spoken in a poem are those of real persons, or at least a stylized description of an actual encounter in the poet's life" notes John Van Sickle[3] in his attempt to assess the biographical content in a fragment of an epode containing an erotic dialogue, discovered in a papyrus now at Cologne. Archilochus was born on the island of Paros. His father, Telesicles, who was from a noble family, led a colony to Thasos, in obedience to the command of the Delphic oracle. Archilochus, hard pressed by poverty, also moved to Thasos. According to his poetry another reason for leaving Paros was disappointment and indignation at the treatment he had received from Lycambes, a citizen of Paros, who had promised him his daughter Neobule in marriage but had afterwards withdrawn his consent. Archilochus, taking advantage of the license allowed at the feasts of Demeter, articulated his wounded feelings in a savage satire. He accused Lycambes of perjury and recited verses against his daughters that according to legend led Lycambes and his daughters to hang themselves.[4]
Archaeological discoveries on Paros have added to our knowledge of Archilochus.[5] Two stones inscribed in the 3rd century BCE tell the story of a meeting between Archilochos and the Muses. According to the stones, "the young Archilochos was sent to town by his father to sell a cow, and met on his way a group of jolly women, who asked if the cow was for sale; when told that it was, they said they would give him a good price, whereupon they and the cow disappeared and Archilochos found a lyre before his feet. Soon after, Apollo at Delphi told his father that his son would be immortal and famous."[6] Another inscription, which only survives in fragments, says that Archilochos's introduced a new form of worship of Dionysus to Paros, for which he was punished by his fellow citizens, but ultimately vindicated by Apollo. The later poet Pindar described Archilochus as a scold in poverty, fattening his leaness with hate [7] but along with Homer and Hesiod, he was one of the mainstays of the itinerant rhapsodes, who made their living declaiming poetry at religious festivals and in private homes.
Poetry
Archilochus' poetry survives only in fragments, most of which come from Egyptian papyri.[8] Archilochus describes himself as a soldier and a poet:
- Εἰμὶ δ' ἐγὼ θεράπων μὲν Ἐνυαλίοιο ἄνακτος,
- καὶ Μουσέων ἐρατὸν δῶρον ἐπιστάμενος.
- Although I am a servant of Lord Enyalios [Ares, god of war],
- I also know well the lovely gift of the Muses.
Although some claim that his hopes of wealth were disappointed, the following fragment suggests that Archilochus cared little for wordly things:
- These golden matters
- Of Gyges and his treasuries
- Are no concern of mine.
- Jealousy has no power over me,
- Nor do I envy a god his work,
- And I do not burn to rule.
- Such things have no
- Fascination for my eyes.
According to Archilochus, the inhabitants of Thasos frequently quarelled with their neighbours, and in a war against the Saians — a Thracian tribe — he threw away his shield and fled from the field of battle. In a fragment of poetry, clearly directed against the heroic tradition, he remarks:
- Some barbarian is waving my shield,
- since I was obliged to
- leave that perfectly good piece of equipment behind
- under a bush.
- But I got away, so what does it matter?
- Life seemed somehow more precious.
- Let the shield go; I can buy another one equally good.
According to legend he visited Sparta, but was banished from that city because of his cowardice and the licentious character of his poetry (Valerius Maximus vi. 3, externa 1). He visited Magna Graecia, Hellenic southern Italy, of which he speaks favorably. He then returned to Paros, and was killed in a battle against the Naxians by Calondas or Corax, who was cursed in an oracle for having slain a servant of the Muses.
The writings of Archilochus consists of elegies, hymns— one of which used to be sung by the victors in the Olympic games— and poems in the iambic and trochaic measures. Greek rhetors credited him with the invention of iambic poetry and its application to satire. The only earlier measure in extant Greek poetry, is the epic hexameter, and its offshoot the elegiac meter; but the slow measured structure of hexameter verse was unsuited to satire. There is good reason to believe however that the lyric meters are just as old as that of epic (dactylic hexameter). Just as Homer did not create his own meter, the lyric poets employed the meter of past poets. Evidence for this can be seen in Homer, particularly in the Iliad (1.472-74; 16.182-83; 18.493).[9] His metre may have been influenced by rituals associated with Demeter and Dionysus. Iambos ἵαμβος was a type of poetry not simply a metric device, and an expected subject matter accompanied the performance of this type of poetry.[10]
Archilochus made use of both the iambus and the trochee, and organized them into the two forms of meter known as the iambic trimeter and the trochaic tetrameter. He was the first to make use of the arrangement of verses called the epode. Horace to a great extent follows Archilochus. All ancient authorities unite in praising the poems of Archilochus. His verses were deemed to possess strength, flexibility, and impetuous vehemence and energy: Horace speaks of the "rage" of Archilochus, and Hadrian describes his verses as "raging iambics." He was revered in a hero cult on Paros that lasted over 800 years[11]. His poems were written in the old Ionic dialect.
Recent discoveries
Thirty previously unknown lines by Archilochus, in the elegiac meter, describing events leading up to the Trojan War, in which Achaeans battled Telephus king of Mysia, have recently been identified among the Oxyrhynchus papyri and published in The Oxyrhynchus Papyri, Volume LXIX (Graeco-Roman Memoirs 89).[12]
Quotes
- "Keep some measure in the joy you take in luck, and the degree you give way to sorrow.".
- "I know the art of loving him that loves me, and hating my hater".
- "The fox knows many things; the hedgehog one big thing."
- "Thasos is like the spine of a donkey, wreathed in unkempt forest"
References
- ^ While these have been the generally accepted dates since Felix Jacoby, "The Date of Archilochus," Classical Quarterly 35 (1941) 97-109, some scholars disagree; Robin Lane Fox, for instance, in Travelling Heroes: Greeks and Their Myths in the Epic Age of Homer (London: Allen Lane, 2008, ISBN 978-0713999808), p. 388, dates him c. 740-680.
- ^ Rayor, Diane J, Sappho's Lyre: Archaic Lyric and Women Poets of Ancient Greece (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991, ISBN 978-0-520-07336-4)
- ^ Van Sickle, "Archilochus: A New Fragment of an Epode" The Classical Journal 71.1 (October - November 1975:1-15) p. 14.
- ^ Gerber, Douglas E., A Companion to the Greek Lyric Poets, BRILL, 1997. ISBN 9004099441. Cf. p.50
- ^ David A. Campbell, "Greek Lyric Poetry, p. 137
- ^ Campbell at p. 137.
- ^ Pindar, 2nd Pythian Ode, ll. 100-01.
- ^ Davenport, Guy., Archilochus, Alcman, Sappho: Three Lyric Poets of the Seventh Century B.C. University of California Press, 1980. ISBN 0520052234, p.2.
- ^ Jeffrey M. Hurwit. The Art and Culture of Early Greece.
- ^ See the Loeb edition of Greek Iambic (introduction).
- ^ Encyclopedia of ancient Greece By Nigel Guy Wilson Page 353 ISBN 9780415973342
- ^ Text and translation of the new Archilochus fragment at Oxyrhynchus Online
- Translation by Guy Davenport Archilochos Sappho Alkman: Three Lyric Poets of the Late Greek Bronze Age
- Politics, Aristotle, Book VII, vi 3; 1328a 5; Loeb p. 567.
- P.E. Easterling (Series Editor), Bernard M.W. Knox (Editor), Cambridge History of Classical Literature, v.I, Greek Literature, 1985. ISBN 0-521-21042-9, cf. Chapter 5, pp. 117–128 on Archilochus.
- public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
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(help) This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
External links
- Introduction to Archilochos and translation of A's longest fragment by Guy Davenport
- Web Resources on Archilochos
- The Poetry of Archilochos
- Archilochos fragments in Greek
- Archilochus Bilingual Anthology (in Greek and English, side by side)
- Zweisprachige Textauswahl zu den griechischen Lyrikern mit zusätzlichen Hilfen
- SORGLL: Archilochos 67; read by Stephen Daitz