Delphi Collected Fragments of Alcaeus (Illustrated)
()
About this ebook
A contemporary of Sappho, Alcaeus of Mytilene was a sixth century BC lyric poet from the island of Lesbos, who is credited for inventing the Alcaic stanza, which would become a favorite model for Horace. The works of Sappho and Alcaeus represent for many the high point of brilliance for the development of early Greek lyrical poetry. Some ancient critics held Alcaeus even higher than Pindar in their estimation of his poetical abilities. His works consist of hymns in honour of gods and heroes, love poetry, drinking songs and political poems, reflecting the turbulent political life of his native Mytilene. Delphi’s Ancient Classics series provides eReaders with the wisdom of the Classical world, with both English translations and the original Greek texts. This eBook presents Alcaeus’ collected fragments, with illustrations, informative introductions and the usual Delphi bonus material. (Version 1)
* Beautifully illustrated with images relating to Alcaeus’ life and works
* Features the collected fragments of Alcaeus, in both English translation and the original Greek
* Concise introduction to the poet
* Includes J. M. Edmonds’ 1922 translation, previously appearing in the Loeb Classical Library
* Excellent formatting of the texts
* Easily locate the fragments you want to read with individual contents tables
* Features a bonus biography — discover Alcaeus’ ancient world
* Ordering of texts into chronological order and literary genres
Please visit www.delphiclassics.com to explore our range of Ancient Classics titles or buy the entire series as a Super Set
CONTENTS:
The Translation
The Fragments
The Greek Text
Contents of the Greek Text
The Biography
Life of Alcaeus (1922) by J. M. Edmonds
Please visit www.delphiclassics.com to browse through our range of exciting titles
Related to Delphi Collected Fragments of Alcaeus (Illustrated)
Titles in the series (100)
Delphi Complete Works of Julian (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDelphi Complete Works of Theocritus (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDelphi Complete Works of Seneca the Younger (Illustrated) Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Delphi Complete Works of Lucian (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsComplete Works of Demosthenes (Delphi Classics) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDelphi Complete Works of Plato (Illustrated) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Delphi Complete Works of Strabo - Geography (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDelphi Complete Works of Clement of Alexandria (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDelphi Complete Works of Homer (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Library of Apollodorus (Delphi Classics) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Adventures of Leucippe and Clitophon - Delphi Complete Works of Achilles Tatius (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDelphi Complete Works of Quintilian (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDelphi Complete Works of Varro (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDelphi Complete Works of Ammianus Marcellinus (Illustrated) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Delphi Septuagint - Complete Greek and English Edition (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDelphi Complete Works of Plautus (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDelphi Complete Works of Procopius (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDelphi Complete Works of Appian (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDelphi Complete Fables of Phaedrus (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDelphi Complete Works of Isocrates (Illustrated) Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Delphi Complete Works of Callimachus (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDelphi Complete Works of Iamblichus (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDelphi Complete Works of Dionysius of Halicarnassus (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDelphi Complete Works of Manetho (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDelphi Complete Works of Cornelius Nepos (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDelphi Complete Works of Cato the Elder (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDelphi Complete Works of Eutropius (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDelphi Complete Works of Claudian (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDelphi Complete Works of Bacchylides (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDelphi Complete Works of Herodian (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related ebooks
The Fragments of Alcman Illustrated Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDelphi Complete Works of Parthenius (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Argonautica of Gaius Valerius Flaccus (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDelphi Complete Works of Bacchylides (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDelphi Complete Works of Athenaeus (Illustrated) Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Delphi Complete Works of Persius (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Alexandra of Lycophron (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Rape of Helen by Coluthus (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Adventures of Leucippe and Clitophon - Delphi Complete Works of Achilles Tatius (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsComplete Works of Apollonius of Rhodes (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDelphi Complete Works of Theocritus (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDelphi Complete Works of Aratus - Appearances (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsComplete Works of Pausanias (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsComplete Works of Catullus (Illustrated) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hippolytus: "Silence is true wisdom's best reply" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDelphi Complete Works of Callimachus (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDescription of Greece (Volume I) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDelphi Complete Works of Aristophanes (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Life, Poetry and Influence of Sappho Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Poems of Hesiod: Theogony, Works and Days, and The Shield of Herakles Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Delphi Complete Works of Alciphron (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDelphi Complete Works of Isaeus (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDelphi Complete Works of Antiphon (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDelphi Complete Works of Fronto (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHistory against the Pagans by Orosius (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDelphi Complete Works of Herodas (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDelphi Complete Works of Dionysius of Halicarnassus (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDelphi Complete Works of Onasander (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDelphi Complete Works of Oppian (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Poetry For You
Dante's Inferno: The Divine Comedy, Book One Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Prophet Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Divine Comedy: Inferno, Purgatory, and Paradise Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dante's Divine Comedy: Inferno Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Iliad: The Fitzgerald Translation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Odyssey: (The Stephen Mitchell Translation) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Canterbury Tales Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5For colored girls who have considered suicide/When the rainbow is enuf Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sun and Her Flowers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Inward Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bell Jar: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Way Forward Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Odyssey Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTao Te Ching: A New English Version Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Iliad of Homer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beyond Thoughts: An Exploration Of Who We Are Beyond Our Minds Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Poems That Make Grown Men Cry: 100 Men on the Words That Move Them Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gilgamesh: A New English Version Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When Angels Speak of Love Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Leaves of Grass: 1855 Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Edgar Allan Poe: The Complete Collection Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Beowulf Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Twenty love poems and a song of despair Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Daily Stoic: A Daily Journal On Meditation, Stoicism, Wisdom and Philosophy to Improve Your Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Selected Poems Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bedtime Stories for Grown-ups Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5You Better Be Lightning Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sir Gawain And The Green Knight, Pearl, And Sir Orfeo Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Divine Comedy: Inferno Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for Delphi Collected Fragments of Alcaeus (Illustrated)
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Delphi Collected Fragments of Alcaeus (Illustrated) - Alcaeus of Mytilene
Collected Fragments of
ALCAEUS
(c. 625/620-c. 580 BC)
img1.jpgContents
The Translation
The Fragments
The Greek Text
Contents of the Greek Text
The Biography
Life of Alcaeus (1922) by J. M. Edmonds
The Delphi Classics Catalogue
img2.png© Delphi Classics 2022
Version 1
img3.jpgBrowse Ancient Classics
img4.jpgimg5.jpgimg6.jpgimg7.jpgimg8.jpgimg9.jpgimg10.jpgCollected Fragments of
ALCAEUS OF MYTILENE
img11.pngBy Delphi Classics, 2022
COPYRIGHT
Collected Fragments of Alcaeus
First published in the United Kingdom in 2022 by Delphi Classics.
© Delphi Classics, 2022.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form other than that in which it is published.
ISBN: 978 1 80170 051 1
Delphi Classics
is an imprint of
Delphi Publishing Ltd
Hastings, East Sussex
United Kingdom
Contact: [email protected]
img12.pngwww.delphiclassics.com
The Translation
img13.pngMytilene, the capital of the Greek island of Lesbos — Alcaeus’ birthplace
img14.jpgAncient ruins at Mytilene
The Fragments
img15.pngTranslated by J. M. Edmonds, Loeb Classical Library, 1922
Alcaeus of Mytilene (c. 625/620 – c. 580 BC) was a lyric poet from the Greek island of Lesbos, who is credited with inventing the Alcaic stanza (which consists of two Alcaic hendecasyllables, followed by an Alcaic enneasyllable and an Alcaic decasyllable). A contemporary of Sappho, also from Lesbos, he was included in the canonical list of nine lyric poets by the scholars of Hellenistic Alexandria. He was born into the aristocratic governing class of Mytilene, where he was involved in political disputes and feuds. By the end of the seventh century BC, Mytilene was the most influential of all the North Aegean Greek cities, with a strong navy and colonies securing its trade-routes in the Hellespont. The city had long been ruled by kings born to the Penthilid clan, but during Alcaeus’s life, the Penthilids were a depleted force and rival aristocrats and their factions contended for supreme power. Alcaeus and his older brothers were passionately involved in the struggle, though they experienced little success.
At some point prior to 600, Mytilene fought Athens for control of Sigeion and Alcaeus is believed to have taken part in the fighting. According to Herodotus, he threw away his shield to make good his escape from the victorious Athenians and then celebrated the occasion in a poem that he sent to his friend, Melanippus. It is thought that Alcaeus travelled widely during his years in exile, including at least one visit to Egypt. He wrote numerous verses in celebration of Antimenides’ return, including a reference to his valour in slaying the larger opponent and he proudly describes the military hardware that adorned his family home.
Since both Alcaeus and Sappho composed for the entertainment of Mytilenean friends, they would have had opportunities to associate with each other, including at such events as the Kallisteia, an annual festival celebrating the island’s federation under Mytilene, held at the ‘Messon’, where Sappho is known to have performed with female choirs. Alcaeus refers to Sappho in his poetry in terms more typical of a divinity, as holy/pure, honey-smiling Sappho
, which may have been inspired by the witnessing of her performances. The works of Sappho and Alcaeus represent for many the high point of brilliance for the development of early Greek lyrical poetry.
Alcaeus’ poems were collected into ten books, with elaborate commentaries, by the Alexandrian scholars Aristophanes of Byzantium and Aristarchus of Samothrace sometime in the 3rd century BC. Sadly, today his verses exist only in fragmentary form, varying in size from mere phrases to entire groups of stanzas. Some ancient critics held Alcaeus even higher than Pindar in their estimation of his poetical abilities. Dionysius of Halicarnassus wrote: Observe in Alcaeus the sublimity, brevity and sweetness coupled with stern power, his splendid figures, and his clearness which was unimpaired by the dialect; and above all mark his manner of expressing his sentiments on public affairs
, while Quintilian, after commending Alcaeus for his excellence in that part of his works where he inveighs against tyrants and contributes to good morals; in his language he is concise, exalted, careful and often like an orator
; goes on to add: but he descended into wantonness and amours, though better fitted for higher things
.
The poems are conventionally grouped according to five genres.
Political songs, covering the power struggles on Lesbos with the passion and vigour of a partisan, cursing his opponents, rejoicing in their deaths, delivering blood-curdling homilies on the consequences of political inaction and exhorting his comrades to heroic defiance.
Drinking songs: According to the grammarian Athenaeus, Alcaeus made every occasion an excuse for drinking and he has provided posterity several quotes in proof of it. Alcaeus exhorts his friends to drink in celebration of a tyrant’s death, to drink away their sorrows, to drink because life is short, to drink through winter storms and to drink through the heat of summer.
Hymns: Alcaeus sang about the gods in the spirit of the Homeric hymns, to entertain his companions rather than to glorify the gods and in the same meters that he used for his ‘secular’ lyrics.
Love songs: Almost all Alcaeus’ amorous verses have vanished without trace. There is a brief reference to his love poetry in a passage by Cicero. Horace, who often wrote in imitation of Alcaeus, sketches in verse one of the Lesbian poet’s favourite subjects: Lycus of the black hair and eyes.
Miscellaneous: Alcaeus wrote on a wide variety of subjects and themes that contradictions in his character emerge. Athenaeus has preserved some verses about perfumed ointments to prove just how unwarlike Alcaeus could be and he quoted his description of the armour adorning the walls of his house as proof that he could be unusually warlike for a lyric poet.
img16.pngAn assumed bust of Alcaeus, Wellcome Collection, London
img17.jpgRoman bust of Pittacus (c. 640 – 568 BC), an ancient Mytilenean military general and one of the Seven Sages of Greece. He was the dominant political figure of Alcaeus’s time, voted supreme power by the political assembly of Mytilene. Pittacus appears to have governed well (590-580 BC), even allowing Alcaeus and his faction to return home in peace.
CONTENTS
BOOK I. HYMNS
BOOK II. WAR-SONGS
BOOKS III AND IV. POLITICAL POEMS
BOOK V
BOOK VI
BOOK VII. LOVE POEMS
BOOK VIII. ENCOMIA
BOOKS IX AND X. DRINKING SONGS
DETAILED TABLE OF CONTENTS
img18.jpg‘Sappho and Alcaeus’ by Lawrence Alma-Tadema, The Walters Art Museum, 1881
BOOK I. HYMNS
1. TO APOLLO
Himerius Orations: I will tell you likewise one of Alcaeus’ tales, a tale which he sang in lyric verse when he wrote a paean to Apollo. And I tell it you