Theognis of Megara

Theognis of Megara (Greek: Θέογνις ὁ Μεγαρεύς, Théognis ho Megareús) was a Greek lyric poet active in approximately the sixth century BC. The work attributed to him consists of gnomic poetry quite typical of the time, featuring ethical maxims and practical advice about life. He was the first Greek poet known to express concern over the eventual fate and survival of his own work^[1] and, along with Homer, Hesiod and the authors of the Homeric Hymns, he is among the earliest poets whose work has been preserved in a continuous manuscript tradition (the work of other archaic poets is preserved as scattered fragments).^[2] In fact more than half of the extant elegiac poetry of Greece before the Alexandrian period is included in the approximately 1,400 lines of verse attributed to him,^[3] though several poems traditionally attributed to him were composed by others, e.g. Solon and Euenus.^[4] Some of these verses inspired ancient commentators to value him as a moralist^[5] yet the entire corpus is valued today for its "warts and all" portrayal of aristocratic life in archaic Greece.^[6]

The verses preserved under Theognis' name are written from the viewpoint of an aristocrat confronted by social and political revolution typical of Greek cities in the archaic period. Part of his work is addressed to Cyrnus, who is presented as his erōmenos. The author of the poems celebrated him in his verse and educated him in the aristocratic values of the time, yet Cyrnus came to symbolize much about his imperfect world that the poet bitterly resented:

πᾶσι δ᾽ ὅσοισι μέμηλε καὶ ἐσσομένοισιν ἀοιδὴ
:ἔσσῃ ὁμῶς, ὄφρ᾽ ἂν γῆ τε καὶ ἠέλιος, αὐτὰρ ἐγὼν ὀλίγης παρὰ σεῦ οὐ τυγχάνω αἰδοῦς,
:ἀλλ᾽ ὥσπερ μικρὸν παῖδα λόγοις μ᾽ ἀπατᾷς.

^[7]

To all to whom there is pleasure in song and to people yet unborn
You also will be a song, while the earth and sun remain,
Yet I am treated by you without even the least mark of respect
And, as if I were a child, you have deceived me with words.

In spite of such self-disclosures, almost nothing is known about Theognis the man: little is recorded by ancient sources and modern scholars question the authorship of most of the poems preserved under his name.^[8]

^ B. M. Knox, 'Theognis', The Cambridge History of Greek Literature:I Greek Literature, Cambridge University Press (1985), P. Easterling and B. Knox (ed.s), pages 138
^ Douglas E. Gerber, Greek Elegiac Poetry, Loeb Classical Library (1999), page 8
^ cf. Highbarger, p.170
^ Dorothea Wender; Penguin Classics edition
^ B. M. Knox, 'Theognis', The Cambridge History of Greek Literature:I Greek Literature, Cambridge University Press (1985), P. Easterling and B. Knox (ed.s), page 140
^ David Mulroy, Early Greek Lyric Poetry, The University of Michigan Press (1992), page 171
^ Theognis 251–4, cited by Douglas E. Gerber, Greek Elegiac Poetry, Loeb Classical Library (1999), page 208
^ David A. Campbell, Greek Lyric Poetry, Bristol Classical Press (1982), pages 343–47

[1] B. M. Knox, 'Theognis', The Cambridge History of Greek Literature:I Greek Literature, Cambridge University Press (1985), P. Easterling and B. Knox (ed.s), pages 138

[2] Douglas E. Gerber, Greek Elegiac Poetry, Loeb Classical Library (1999), page 8

[3] . Highbarger, p.170

[4] Dorothea Wender; Penguin Classics edition

[5] B. M. Knox, 'Theognis', The Cambridge History of Greek Literature:I Greek Literature, Cambridge University Press (1985), P. Easterling and B. Knox (ed.s), page 140

[6] David Mulroy, Early Greek Lyric Poetry, The University of Michigan Press (1992), page 171

[7] Theognis 251–4, cited by Douglas E. Gerber, Greek Elegiac Poetry, Loeb Classical Library (1999), page 208

[8] David A. Campbell, Greek Lyric Poetry, Bristol Classical Press (1982), pages 343–47

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