Greek Anthology

Greek Anthology

Greek  Anthologia Hellēnikē,  also called  Palatine Anthology,  

      collection of Greek epigrams, songs, epitaphs, and rhetorical exercises that includes about 3,700 short poems, mostly written in elegiac couplets. Some of the poems were written as early as the 7th century BC, others as late as AD 1000. The nucleus of the Anthology is a collection made early in the 1st century BC by Meleager, who called it Stephanos (Greek: “Crown,” or “Collection of Flowers”); he introduced it with a poem comparing each writer in the collection to a flower. In the late 9th century AD, Constantinus Cephalas joined Meleager's collection to those of Philippus of Thessalonica (1st century AD), Diogenianus (2nd century), Agathias (6th century), and others. In the 10th century the Cephalas collection was revised and augmented. This revision forms the first 15 books of the Anthology, preserved in the Palatine manuscript, discovered at Heidelberg, Ger. The 16th book is made up of poems culled from another, shorter manuscript version of Cephalas' collection (the Planudean manuscript) and compiled by Maximus Planudes (Planudes, Maximus) in 1301.

      The literary value of the Anthology lies in the distinction and charm of perhaps one-sixth of the whole. For the rest, it preserves a good deal that is of historical interest; it illustrates the continuity of Greek literature for almost 2,000 years, because the latest inclusions in it are, in language, style, and feeling, not too different from the earliest inclusions. The Anthology also had a persistent and considerable influence on later literature.

Additional Reading
Kenneth Rexroth (trans.), Poems from the Greek Anthology, expanded ed. (1999); Alan Cameron, The Greek Anthology: From Meleager to Planudes (1993).

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Greek Anthology — The Greek Anthology (also called Anthologia Graeca or, sometimes, the Palatine Anthology ) is a collection of poems, mostly epigrams, that span the classical and Byzantine periods of Greek literature.While papyri containing fragments of… …   Wikipedia

  • Greek Anthology —    Modern title of two 10th century collections of ancient and Byzantine epigrams: the Anthologia Palatina, and the Anthologia Planudea (compiled by Maximos Planoudes [q.v.]). Included are poems of Paul the Silentarios, Julian the Egyptian,… …   Historical dictionary of Byzantium

  • Greek literature — refers to those writings autochthonic to the areas of Greek influence, typically though not necessarily in one of the Greek dialects, throughout the whole period in which the Greek speaking peoples have existed.Ancient Greek literature (Before AD …   Wikipedia

  • Anthology — For other uses, see Anthology (disambiguation). An anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler. It may be a collection of poems, short stories, plays, songs, or excerpts. In genre fiction anthology is used to… …   Wikipedia

  • Greek fire — was a burning liquid weapon used by the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantines typically used it in naval battles to great effect as it could continue burning even on water. It was largely responsible for many Byzantine military victories, and partly… …   Wikipedia

  • Anthology — An*thol o*gy, n. [Gr. ?, fr. anqolo gos flower gathering; a nqos flower + le gein to gather.] 1. A discourse on flowers. [R.] [1913 Webster] 2. A collection of flowers; a garland. [R.] [1913 Webster] 3. A collection of flowers of literature, that …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • anthology — (n.) 1630s, collection of poetry, from L. anthologia, from Gk. anthologia collection of small poems and epigrams by several authors, lit. flower gathering, from anthos a flower (see ANTHER (Cf. anther)) + logia collection, collecting, from legein …   Etymology dictionary

  • anthology — ► NOUN (pl. anthologies) ▪ a collection of poems or other pieces of writing or music. DERIVATIVES anthologist noun anthologize (also anthologise) verb. ORIGIN from Greek anthos flower + logia collection …   English terms dictionary

  • Greek mythology — Bust of Zeus, Otricoli (Sala Rotonda, Museo Pio Clementino, Vatican) Topics in Greek mythology Gods …   Wikipedia

  • Greek literature — Introduction       body of writings in the Greek language, with a continuous history extending from the 1st millennium BC to the present day. From the beginning its writers were Greeks living not only in Greece proper but also in Asia Minor, the… …   Universalium

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”