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7. Kathryn Gutzwiller, A New Hellenistic Poetry Book: P.Mil.Vogl. VIII 309

7. A New Hellenistic Poetry Book: P.Mil.Vogl. VIII 309 [1] Kathryn Gutzwiller, University of Cincinnati The earliest Greek poetry books come from the third century BCE, and surviving examples include Callimachus’ Iambi and Aetia and Herodas’ Mimiambi, known from papyrus, and a few manuscript possibilities, such as Callimachus’ Hymns and portions of Theocritus. Collections of epigrams were also among the earliest… Read more

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4. Excursus: Theocritus and the Problem of Judgment

4. Excursus: Theocritus and the Problem of Judgment At least one critic has remarked that the stichomythic competition between sophists in Plato’s Euthydemus can be compared to the representation of the Streitgesang ‘singing match’ in several of Theocritus’ Idylls, especially the fifth. [1] This comparison can now be expanded to include the many other passages of Greek literature we have seen that… Read more

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5. Conclusion

5. Conclusion The two most obvious features of classical drama neglected by this Part in general are the agôn and the strophic/antistrophic divisions of choral odes. Both of these features of Athenian drama show similarities in the form of point ~ counterpoint to the capping phenomena that we have explored on a smaller scale. Where the agôn presents two often irreconcilable sides to a central issue, and… Read more

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Part II. Sporting at Symposia: Verse and Skolia Competitions6. Play and the Seriousness of Sympotic Poetry Games

Part II. Sporting at Symposia: Verse and Skolia Competitions ’Sblood, do you think I am easier to be play’d on than a pipe? Call me what instrument you will, though you can fret me, you cannot play upon me. Hamlet, Act III, Scene ii 6. Play and the Seriousness of Sympotic Poetry Games In contrast to the rather severe traditional concerns… Read more

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7. The Skolion Game

7. The Skolion Game Our sources tell us that the most common poetry game played at symposia was called skolion, the testimonia of which were thoroughly outlined in 1893 by Richard Reitzenstein, [1] whose work has significantly influenced generations of other critics. [2] The term itself, however, admits of several different usages already in the earliest literary… Read more

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8. Aristophanes’ Wasps 1222–49

8. Aristophanes’ Wasps 1222–49 We are fortunate to possess in Aristophanes’ Wasps 1222–49 one of the earliest depictions of how the skolion game was actually played. [1] It involves examples 3) and 4) (given earlier) as definitions of skolion—known lyric passages or improvised poetry recited to cap a previous verse or verses. We might note at the outset that the game’s very… Read more

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9. The Attic Skolia, Theognis, and Riddles

9. The Attic Skolia, Theognis, and Riddles By pairing the so-called “Attic skolia” preserved for us by Athenaeus (694c–695f = PMG 884–908) with Theognis, I have in mind to demonstrate that the form of both sets of poetry as we have them reflects, at least in part, an improvisational heritage. Both Athenaeus’ collection of skolia and the doublets in Theognis give evidence of being performance variations, recorded… Read more

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10. Symposiasts versus Rhapsodes

10. Symposiasts versus Rhapsodes In Part III we shall see how rhapsodes performing at a major public festival like the Panathenaia were capable of improvising in the course of reciting memorized verses. Memorized lines of Homeric poetry furnish the basis for modifications in sense or embellishment, in other words improvisation, as each competing rhapsode contributes to the larger performance demand of interweaving passages or episodes of Homer. Read more

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11. Xenophanes

11. Xenophanes Most vicious and explicit in his criticism of epic, by which is meant Homer and Hesiod, is of course Xenophanes of Colophon (frr. 21 B 11 and 12 DK from his Silloi), and it is important to establish the vantage point of his critique. Xenophanes was not only said to have composed hexametric poetry but also to have performed his own poetry rhapsodically. [… Read more

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12. Heraclitus

12. Heraclitus Heraclitus of Ephesus also rejected the performance of Homeric poetry in a vein similar to, but not identical with, that of Xenophanes. Although Heraclitus’ criticisms never achieved the recognition of Xenophanes’, they appear nevertheless to derive similarly from the vantage point of the symposium. One fragment that has drawn attention is (fr. 30 Marcovich = 22 B 42 DK): τόν τε Ὅμηρον ἔφασκεν ἄξιον ἐκ… Read more