Stesichorus - Knowledge (XXG)

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Similarly, "the repetitiveness and slackness of the style" of the recently discovered Lille papyrus has even been interpreted by one modern scholar as proof of Stesichorean authorship – though others originally used it as an argument against. Possibly Stesichorus was even more Homeric than ancient commentators realized – they had assumed that he composed verses for performance by choirs (the triadic structure of the stanzas, comprising strophe, antistrophe and epode, is consistent with choreographed movement) but a poem such as the

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or not it was a choral technique, the triadic structure of Stesichorean lyrics allowed for novel arrangements of dactylic meter – the dominant meter in his poems and also the defining meter of Homeric epic – thus allowing for Homeric phrasing to be adapted to new settings. However, Stesichorus did more than recast the form of epic poetry – works such as the

381:. It was also a sympathetic environment for his most famous poem, The Palinode, composed in praise of Helen, an important cult figure in the Doric diaspora. On the other hand, the western Greeks were not very different from their eastern counterparts and his poetry cannot be regarded exclusively as a product of the Greek West . His poetry reveals both 129:, and yet his work attracted relatively little interest among ancient commentators, so that remarkably few fragments of his poetry now survive. As David Campbell notes: "Time has dealt more harshly with Stesichorus than with any other major lyric poet." Recent discoveries, recorded on Egyptian papyrus (notably and controversially, the 588:

included some 1500 lines and it probably required about four hours to perform – longer than a chorus might reasonably be expected to dance. Moreover, the versatility of lyric meter is suited to solo performance with self-accompaniment on the lyre – which is how Homer himself delivered poetry. Whether

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The greatness of Stesichorus' genius is shown among other things by his subject-matter: he sings of the most important wars and the most famous commanders and sustains on his lyre the weight of epic poetry. In both their actions and their speeches he gives due dignity to his characters, and if only

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Modern scholars tend to accept the general thrust of the ancient comments – even the 'fault' noted by Quintilian gets endorsement: 'longwindedness', as one modern scholar calls it, citing, as proof of it, the interval of 400 lines separating Geryon's death from his eloquent anticipation of it.

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Helen of Troy's bad character was a common theme among poets such as Sappho and Alcaeus and, according to various ancient accounts, Stesichorus viewed her in the same light until she magically punished him with blindness for blaspheming her in one of his poems. According to a colourful account

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narrative points to the simultaneous coexistence of different literary genres and currents in an age of great artistic energy and experimentation. It is one of the exciting qualities of early Greek culture that forms continue to evolve, but the old traditions still remain strong as points of

1042:, and some scholars have denied attribution to Stesichorus on account of its "drab, repetitious flaccidity". But opinions are mixed and one scholar sees in it "...Stesichorus' full mastery of his technique, handling epic situations and characters with the flexibility and poignancy of lyric." 645: > 188:(632/28 BC). He died in the 56th Olympiad (556/2 BC). He had a brother Mamertinus who was an expert in geometry and a second brother Helianax, a law-giver. He was a lyric poet. His poems are in the Doric dialect and in 26 books. They say that he was blinded for writing abuse of 748:

noted that Stesichorus gave the monster wings, six hands and six feet, whereas Hesiod himself had only described it as 'three-headed'. yet Stesichorus adapted Homeric motifs to create a humanized portrait of the monster, whose death in battle mirrors the death of

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a claim that his birthplace was either Metauria or Himera, both of which were founded by colonists of mixed Ionian/Doric descent. On the other hand, a Doric/Ionian flavour was fashionable among later poets — it is found in the 'choral' lyrics of the Ionian poets

529:, who was on a pilgrimage to White Island in the Black Sea (near the mouth of the Blue Danube), and it was in response to this that Stesichorus composed the Palinode, absolving her of all blame for the Trojan War and thus restoring himself to full sight. 314:

of Hesiod yet even this verges on anachronism since Hesiod was composing verses around 700 BC. Stesichorus might be regarded as Hesiod's literary "heir" (his treatment of Helen in the Palinode, for example, may have owed much to Hesiod's

859:", indicating that there were at least two books under this title. Similarly, a commentary recorded on a papyrus, indicates there were two Palinodes, one censuring Homer, the other Hesiod for the false story that Helen went to Troy. 823:

in an anecdote about Socrates: happening to overhear, on the eve of his own execution, the rendition of a song of Stesichorus, the old philosopher asked to be taught it: "So that I may know something more when I depart from life."

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summarises two accounts of the Palinode, one in which Helen never sailed for Troy, and a second in which she ended up in Egypt – only her image arrived at Troy. It is not known if either of the two Palinodes was separate from the

1030:?: These two titles are conjectured by one modern scholar as appropriate for the longest fragment attributed to Stesichorus – discovered in 1974 among the wrappings of a mummy of the 2nd century BC stored at the university of 416:. Traditional accounts indicate that he was politically active in Magna Graeca. Aristotle mentions two public speeches by Stesichorus: one to the people of Himera, warning them against Phalaris, and another to the people of 784:

Homer here transforms Gorgythion's death in battle into a thing of beauty—the poppy has not wilted or died. Stesichorus adapted the simile to restore Death's ugliness while still retaining the poignancy of the moment:

541:: "...at his birth, when he had just reached the light of day, a nightingale, travelling through the air from somewhere or other, perched unnoticed on his lips and struck up her clear song." The account is repeated by 489:

in a proverbial saying rebuking cultural buffoons ("You don't even know the three of Stesichorus!"). According to one modern scholar, however, this saying could instead refer to the following three lines of his poem

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The mutual self-reflection of the two passages is part of the novel aesthetic experience that Stesichorus here puts into play. The enduring freshness of his art, in spite of its epic traditions, is borne out by

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in yet another entry refers to the fact, now verified by Papyrus fragments, that Stesichorus composed verses in units of three stanzas (strophe, antistrophe and epode), a format later followed by poets such as

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he had shown restraint he could possibly have been regarded as a close rival of Homer; but he is redundant and diffuse, a fault to be sure but explained by the abundance of what he had to say. —Quintilian

440:(used by gamblers at dice) derives from an expensive burial the poet received outside Catana, including a monument with eight pillars, eight steps and eight corners, but the 3rd century grammarian 593:

were also a recasting of epic material: in that version of the Trojan War, the combatants fought over a phantom Helen while the real Helen either stayed home or went to Egypt (see a summary

845:: This might have been the poem in which he portrayed Helen of Troy according to convention as a bad character. His interest in the Trojan epic cycle is evinced in a number of works. 402:— and it might have been fashionable even in Stesichorus's own day. His poetry included a description of the river Himera as well as praise for the town named after it, and his poem 597:). The 'Lyric Age' of Greece was in part self-discovery and self-expression – as in the works of Alcaeus and Sappho – but a concern for heroic values and epic themes still endured: 226:(the 56th Olympiad) virtually lay these three poets end-to-end, a coincidence that seems to underscore a convenient division between old and new styles of poetry. Nevertheless, the 838:, the works of Stesichorus were collected in 26 books, but each of these was probably a long, narrative poem. The titles of more than half of them are recorded by ancient sources: 1443: 1365: 2875:

Greek Lyric Poetry: A Commentary on Selected Larger Pieces (Alcman, Stesichorus, Sappho, Alcaeus, Ibycus, Anacreon, Simonides, Bacchylides, Pindar, Sophocles, Euripides),

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and recovered his sight after writing an encomium of Helen, the Palinode, as the result of a dream. He was called Stesichorus because he was the first to establish (

884:: The title was recorded in a fragmentary form on a roll of papyrus: Στη...Ίππ.. ~ Ste(sichorus's Wooden) Hor(se). Possibly it was just an alternative title for 562:

commends Stesichorus for "...the magnificence of the settings of his subject matter; in them he has preserved the traits and reputations of his characters", and

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quoted a speech the poet is supposed to have made to the people of Himera warning them against the tyrannical ambitions of Phalaris. The Byzantine grammarian

874:: Some scholars think the content of the poem can be deduced from a relief carved onto a monument near Rome, but this is contentious – see the section below 1199:('Sack of Troy according to Stesichorus'). Scholars are divided as to whether or not it accurately depicts incidents described by Stesichorus in his poem 353:

Stesichorus's lyrical treatment of epic themes was well-suited to a western Greek audience, owing to the popularity of hero-cults in southern Italy and

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Stesichorus also exercised an important influence on the representation of myth in 6th century art, and on the development of Athenian dramatic poetry.

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today). He is best known for telling epic stories in lyric metres, and for some ancient traditions about his life, such as his opposition to the tyrant

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See M. Noussia-Fantuzzi in M. Fantuzzi and C. Tsagalis, eds., "The Epic Cycle and Its Ancient Reception," 2015; also P. J. Finglass and A. Kelly, eds.

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based on Homeric models – a proud speech by Geryon to Heracles that echoes Sarpedon's speech to Glaucus, and an exchange between Geryon and his mother

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believed that the poet once stood between two armies (which two, he doesn't say) and reconciled them with a song — but there is a similar story about

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Proclus (one of them however named the mother of Stesichorus via Hesiod as Ctimene and the other as Clymene). According to another tradition known to

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in 555 BC. Some say that he came from Himera in Sicily, but that was due to him moving from Metauros to Himera later in life. When exiled from

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s dates "fit reasonably well" with other indications of Stesichorus's life-span — for example, they are consistent with a claim elsewhere in

3048: 3043: 1304:, P. Easterling and B. Knox (eds.), Cambridge University Press (1985), page 187; Steve Reece, "Homeric Influence in Stesichorus' Nostoi," 180:) and when he died there was buried in front of the gate which is called Stesichorean after him. In date he was later than the lyric poet 408:

included a description of Pallantium in Arcadia. His possible exile from Arcadia is attributed by one modern scholar to rivalry between

914:'s cattle. Many recently discovered fragments allow us a glimpse of the poet at work over the length of the entire poem. It includes: 2916: 1417: 1427: 2852:(PMGF) vol. 1, Oxford 1991: testimonies of his life and works pp. 134–151, fragments pp. 152–234 (previously D. L. Page, 1451: 1234: 3073: 545:

but it was the epic qualities of his work that most impressed ancient commentators, though with some reservations on the part of

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A nineteenth century translation imaginatively fills in the gaps while communicating something of the richness of the language:

3068: 1189:, about twelve miles outside Rome, was the original site of a monument dating from the Augustan period and now located in the 2060:, page 41 (Campbell's translation: "In the Black Sea off the mouths of the Danube there is an island called White Island... 3053: 2870: 2805:, 'The Cambridge History of Classical Literature I: Greek Literature', Cambridge University Press (1985), page 196, note 1 537:

The ancients associated the lyrical qualities of Stesichorus with the voice of the nightingale, as in this quote from the

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mentions the title when quoting a description of a boar nosing the earth and the poem evidently concerned

522: 322: 1335: 133:), have led to some improvements in our understanding of his work, confirming his role as a link between 2761: 1743: 1193:. The stone monument features scenes from the fall of Troy, depicted in low relief, and an inscription: 1111: 563: 464:

below). Moreover the name wasn't unique — there seems to have been more than one poet of this name (see

460:— there are good reasons to believe that his lyrical narratives were composed for solo performance (see 984:

only because it included the Greek word for a purse but clearly it relates to Heracles's descent into

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for Stesichorus have been dismissed by one modern scholar as "specious precision" — its dates for the

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also listed him as a contemporary of the tyrant and yet made him a contemporary of the philosopher

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https://www.istitutopiriarosarno.edu.it/home/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/STORIA-ROSARNO-fine.pdf

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listed him as Euclides. The poet's mathematically inclined brother was named Mamertinus by the

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Richard Lattimore translation, "Hesiod" Intro. pp. 5, The University of Michigan Press, 1959

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describing the death of the monster Geryon. A scholiast writing in a margin on Hesiod's

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The Homeric qualities of Stesichorus' poetry are demonstrated in a fragment of his poem

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was the father of Stesichorus can be dismissed as "fantasy" yet it is also mentioned by

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attributed the same term to an 'eight all ways' tomb given to the poet outside Himera.

321:) and maybe this was the source of confusion about a family relationship. According to 82: 2026:, cited by Charles Segal, 'Archaic Choral Lyric' – P. Easterling and E. Kenney (eds), 1669:

Jasper Griffin, "Greek Myth and Hesiod", J. Boardman, J. Griffin and O. Murray (eds),

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declared that his poems became sweeter and more swan-like as he approached death, and

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commenting on a poem by Pindar summarises the story: Heracles's final triumph over

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Some poems were wrongly attributed to Stesichorus by ancient sources, including

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in relation to Stesichorus's imaginative variation on the traditional tale of

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stability and proud community, unifying but not suffocating. —Charles Segal.

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knew of a bronzed statue representing him as a bent old man holding a book.

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Charles Segal, 'Archaic Choral Lyric' – P. Easterling and E. Kenney (eds),

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Charles Segal, 'Archaic Choral Lyric' – P. Easterling and E. Kenney (eds),

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Charles Segal, 'Archaic Choral Lyric' – P. Easterling and E. Kenney (eds),

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Charles Segal, 'Archaic Choral Lyric' – P. Easterling and E. Kenney (eds),

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Charles Segal, 'Archaic Choral Lyric' – P. Easterling and E. Kenney (eds),

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Charles Segal, 'Archaic Choral Lyric' – P. Easterling and E. Kenney (eds),

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Charles Segal, 'Archaic Choral Lyric' – P. Easterling and E. Kenney (eds),

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Charles Segal, 'Archaic Choral Lyric' – P. Easterling and E. Kenney (eds),

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Charles Segal, 'Archaic Choral Lyric' – P. Easterling and E. Kenney (eds),

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Charles Segal, 'Archaic Choral Lyric' – P. Easterling and E. Kenney (eds),

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in Olympiad 42.2 (611/10 BC) and his death in Olympiad 55.1 (560/59 BC).

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bends beneath the weight of its yield and the rains of springtime;" (

620: 616: 478: 413: 370: 342: 307: 295: 271: 263: 235: 219: 181: 165: 138: 2824:, edited for publication by M. L. West (Oxford & New York, 2007) 920:– descriptions of the Sun's voyage in a golden cup under Ocean, of 1031: 985: 575: 417: 409: 326: 134: 18: 2502: