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Callimachus: Hymns and Epigrams, Lycophron: Alexandra. Aratus: Phaenomena
Callimachus of Cyrene, 3rd century BCE, became after 284 a teacher of grammar and poetry at Alexandria. He was made a librarian in the new library there and prepared a catalogue of its books. He died about the year 240. Of his large published output, only 6 hymns, 63 epigrams, and fragments survive (the fragments are in Loeb no. "421"). The hymns are very learned and artificial in style; the epigrams are good (they are also in the Loeb Greek Anthology volumes).
Lycophron of Chalcis in Euboea was a contemporary of Callimachus in Alexandria where he became supervisor of the comedies included in the new library. He wrote a treatise on these and composed tragedies and other poetry. We possess "Alexandra" or "Cassandra" wherein Cassandra foretells the fortune of Troy and the besieging Greeks. This poem is a curiosity--a showpiece of knowledge of obscure stories, names, and words.
Aratus of Soli in Cilicia, ca. 315-245 BCE, was a didactic poet at the court of Antigonus Gonatas of Macedonia, where he wrote his famous astronomical poem "Phaenomena" (Appearances). He was for a time in the court of Antiochus I of Syria but returned to Macedonia. "Phaenomena" was highly regarded in antiquity; it was translated into Latin by Cicero, Germanicus Caesar, and Avienus.
Lycophron of Chalcis in Euboea was a contemporary of Callimachus in Alexandria where he became supervisor of the comedies included in the new library. He wrote a treatise on these and composed tragedies and other poetry. We possess "Alexandra" or "Cassandra" wherein Cassandra foretells the fortune of Troy and the besieging Greeks. This poem is a curiosity--a showpiece of knowledge of obscure stories, names, and words.
Aratus of Soli in Cilicia, ca. 315-245 BCE, was a didactic poet at the court of Antigonus Gonatas of Macedonia, where he wrote his famous astronomical poem "Phaenomena" (Appearances). He was for a time in the court of Antiochus I of Syria but returned to Macedonia. "Phaenomena" was highly regarded in antiquity; it was translated into Latin by Cicero, Germanicus Caesar, and Avienus.
496 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 241
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About the author
Callimachus
163 books20 followersCallimachus (310/305–240 BCE) (Greek: Καλλίμαχος, Kallimakhos) was a poet, critic, and scholar at the Library of Alexandria. He was a native of the Greek colony of Cyrene, Libya.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 14, 2021
I'm docking a star right off the bat for the translation, which is firmly in the Edwardian boarding school, cod-Shakespeare mode that mars so many of the older Loeb editions of ancient verse. It's hard to imagine something uglier to contemporary readers than all these mildewed "thees", "forewiths", and "how arts", but that was the style for a generation brought up on Tennyson and their schoolmaster's rendering of Horace. As a consequence, there are better places to go for an Anglophone non-specialist looking to read Callimachus - Susan A. Stephen's relatively recent translation, for example.
The real interest in this collection of Alexandrian poets lies in Aratus, whose Phaenomena was one of the ubiquitous texts of the Hellenistic and Roman periods, a sort of Farmers Almanac in hexameters, something anyone might have had lying around in the library. It's an essential text for anyone with an interest in classical astronomy, astrology, and meteorology, but for a casual reader, the second half of the poem, which deals exclusively with weather, will probably be more interesting than anything else in the book, as it's full of nicely evocative details involving such things as the prediction of storms by the fluttering of one's lamp or the calling of certain maritime birds.
The third section of the book contains the probably-pseudepigraphal poem Alexandra, traditionally attributed to Lycophron, another early Ptolemaic court poet. Despite a number of pleasant or at least atmospheric details here and there, it's practically unreadable without constantly turning to the annotations, which means it's practically unreadable for pleasure. The deeply charming Theocritus aside, it has to be admitted that most of the Alexandrian poets appear to have been rather ornamental and pedantic stylists, reflecting or catering to the tastes of a highly erudite elite. Lycophron consequently makes people like Joyce or Gongora seem like rather straightforward sorts of writers who hardly ever pause to show off some bit of arcane learning, relatively speaking. But it's valuable as a window into the excessive tastes of the period grammarians. It's no wonder the only other time it enjoyed any popularity was during the Byzantine period, when so much of the literature also tended to be bejeweled and obscure to the point of vulgarity.
The real interest in this collection of Alexandrian poets lies in Aratus, whose Phaenomena was one of the ubiquitous texts of the Hellenistic and Roman periods, a sort of Farmers Almanac in hexameters, something anyone might have had lying around in the library. It's an essential text for anyone with an interest in classical astronomy, astrology, and meteorology, but for a casual reader, the second half of the poem, which deals exclusively with weather, will probably be more interesting than anything else in the book, as it's full of nicely evocative details involving such things as the prediction of storms by the fluttering of one's lamp or the calling of certain maritime birds.
The third section of the book contains the probably-pseudepigraphal poem Alexandra, traditionally attributed to Lycophron, another early Ptolemaic court poet. Despite a number of pleasant or at least atmospheric details here and there, it's practically unreadable without constantly turning to the annotations, which means it's practically unreadable for pleasure. The deeply charming Theocritus aside, it has to be admitted that most of the Alexandrian poets appear to have been rather ornamental and pedantic stylists, reflecting or catering to the tastes of a highly erudite elite. Lycophron consequently makes people like Joyce or Gongora seem like rather straightforward sorts of writers who hardly ever pause to show off some bit of arcane learning, relatively speaking. But it's valuable as a window into the excessive tastes of the period grammarians. It's no wonder the only other time it enjoyed any popularity was during the Byzantine period, when so much of the literature also tended to be bejeweled and obscure to the point of vulgarity.
March 9, 2022
This is a review of the text of Aratus' "Phaenomena", not the entire volume. It's prose translation of the work, which is also available online on the Loeb library site:
https://www.theoi.com/Text/AratusPhae...
Aratus' work is a combination of earlier work, now lost, by Eudoxus of Cnidus, which is a didactic poem focusing on the constellations and other celestial phenomena. The second part of the work is Aratus' own poem, which is more concerned with weather and the seasonal agricultural cycle.
There's various reasons why this poem is of such interest. For me, besides it being an astronomical text of antiquity, I was curious to see what it looked like, seeing as it is a didactic poem. Lucretius' De Rerum was the first such work that I encountered, one I find to be endlessly fascinating. Phaenomena has the same feel at times, but because of method rather than content. There's also, at times, particularly in Aratus' own work, a tone somewhat like Hesiod's Works and Days.
I don't know, this text may be a bit esoteric, even for those who are interested in verse, but the subject matter, its age, and its method, should such things interest you, make it a fascinating read.
https://www.theoi.com/Text/AratusPhae...
Aratus' work is a combination of earlier work, now lost, by Eudoxus of Cnidus, which is a didactic poem focusing on the constellations and other celestial phenomena. The second part of the work is Aratus' own poem, which is more concerned with weather and the seasonal agricultural cycle.
There's various reasons why this poem is of such interest. For me, besides it being an astronomical text of antiquity, I was curious to see what it looked like, seeing as it is a didactic poem. Lucretius' De Rerum was the first such work that I encountered, one I find to be endlessly fascinating. Phaenomena has the same feel at times, but because of method rather than content. There's also, at times, particularly in Aratus' own work, a tone somewhat like Hesiod's Works and Days.
I don't know, this text may be a bit esoteric, even for those who are interested in verse, but the subject matter, its age, and its method, should such things interest you, make it a fascinating read.
January 10, 2023
I found this marvellous book during a thorough inspection of the shelves in the Abbey Bookshop, Paris. My copy appears much more weathered and ancient than this version. How I love how the Greeks are enthralled by height, in all senses of the word. Somehow, there is a wish… not to touch the oak’s highest leaf…but to hover above, to move out of the tangible into the transparent. All is fleeting, all is on the brink of something. Pallas shall look into Argos for the last time. These words pour into my brain like oil in a heated skillet. I truly just feel that Callimachus must have been writing with a silver pen for he could not get any closer to streaming out the truth of the human experience. Gold was as holy as light, ‘Artemis, Lady of Maidenhood, Slayer of Tityus, golden were thine arms and golden thy belt, and a golden car didst thou yoke, and golden bridles, goddess, didst thou put on thy deer.’
Furthermore, the idea of eternity, of timeless duration, grounds his work; I especially like the comment about Zeus not requiring the designated tomb constructed by the Cretans, since ‘thou didst not die, for thou art for ever’.
‘Hie, hie, Carneius! Lord of many prayers,—thine altars wear flowers in spring, even all the pied flowers which the Hours lead forth when Zephyrus breathes dew, and in winter the sweet crocus. Undying evermore is thy fire, nor ever doth the ash feed about the coals of yester-even.’
Aratus didn’t particularly interest me, as the descriptions of the zodiacs in his Phaenomena were not humanistically oriented. Celestial passages don’t prompt emotive reactions in me. Lycophron’s Alexandra, though, is teeming with imposing imagery and esoteric names and whatnot, so there is nothing to dislike in my eyes.
Furthermore, the idea of eternity, of timeless duration, grounds his work; I especially like the comment about Zeus not requiring the designated tomb constructed by the Cretans, since ‘thou didst not die, for thou art for ever’.
‘Hie, hie, Carneius! Lord of many prayers,—thine altars wear flowers in spring, even all the pied flowers which the Hours lead forth when Zephyrus breathes dew, and in winter the sweet crocus. Undying evermore is thy fire, nor ever doth the ash feed about the coals of yester-even.’
Aratus didn’t particularly interest me, as the descriptions of the zodiacs in his Phaenomena were not humanistically oriented. Celestial passages don’t prompt emotive reactions in me. Lycophron’s Alexandra, though, is teeming with imposing imagery and esoteric names and whatnot, so there is nothing to dislike in my eyes.
August 21, 2022
Read for Michael's module on Hellenistic lit. They were interesting reads, but the translations were a bit dull, and the nature of the content is quite repetitive, so it wasn't /fantastic/. However, the concept of Lycophron's Alexandra in particular is fascinating. I'm looking forward to looking at the Greek!
January 30, 2015
To a ancient Greek freak, this was interesting but not memorable except for filling in a few spots in the chronology of the myths involving the Trojan War.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews