Chapters

Part II. Indo-European Context. 18. The Stakes of the Poet: Starkaðr/Suibhne

Chapter 18. The Stakes of the Poet: Starkaðr/Suibhne In 1942, the Indo-Europeanist Georges Dumézil published Horace et les Curiaces, in which he treated the battle-fury of the Indo-European warrior. [1] Aspects de la fonction guerrière chez les Indo-Européens (1956) was his first book-length examination of the warrior from a comparative Indo-European perspective; in this book he discussed for the first time the… Read more

Part I. Greece. 16. Victim of the Muses: Mythical Poets

Chapter 16. Victim of the Muses: Mythical Poets As has been shown previously, the lives of the poets are often composed of legendary and mythical elements, side by side with historical elements. We will now approach the problem from the other side, looking at selected mythical poets, testing these myths for attestations of the same patterns. A more complete survey of mythical poets can be found in… Read more

Part I. Greece. 15. Socrates: The New Aesop

Chapter 15. Socrates: The New Aesop In many ways, the Platonic Socrates fits into the pattern of Aesop, the mythical blame poet who is moral, called by god, yet rejected by a corrupt society. Socrates, like Aesop, was seen as the best of men. Thus, in the ending of the Phaedo: “Such, Echecrates, was the end of our comrade, who was, we may fairly say, of… Read more

Part I. Greece. 14. Aristophanes: Satirist versus Politician

Chapter 14. Aristophanes: Satirist versus Politician Aristophanes and the other comic poets inherited, as part of their comic art, the iambic abuse of Archilochus and Hipponax. [1] Perhaps the hallmark of Old Comedy was political satire; it is not surprising therefore that the poet in conflict with politician is constantly in evidence in the history of Old Comedy. [2]… Read more

Part I. Greece. 13. Euripides: Sparagmos of an Iconoclast

Chapter 13. Euripides: Sparagmos of an Iconoclast Euripides was closer than either of the other two major tragedians to a blame poet, so it is not surprising that his vita conforms to the exclusion pattern quite closely. [1] His plays had satirical aspects: he was especially noted for his critique of war (The Trojan Women) and for his attacks on women. Read more

Part I. Greece. 12. Aeschylus: Little Ugly One

Chapter 12. Aeschylus: Little Ugly One As we turn to the major Athenian dramatists, we find that three of the four fit into our pattern somewhat; Aeschylus suffers an adverse trial against his poetry and bitterly leaves Athens; Euripides is attacked by the Athenians and leaves Athens, only to be torn to pieces by comic poets or women; Aristophanes attacks Cleon, and is subjected to trial and… Read more

Part I. Greece. 11. Tyrtaeus: The Lame General

Chapter 11. Tyrtaeus: The Lame General Virtually all critics agree that the story of Tyrtaeus, in which the lame Athenian schoolmaster is sent to the Spartans as a joke, only to become their general in the Second Messenian War, is unhistorical—a piece of Attic propaganda, perhaps, to account for the fact that the Spartans even produced a poet. [1] H. J. Rose… Read more