Year: 1981
Type: article
Abstract: I N RECENT YEARS studies of Tyrtaeus have moved beyond the extensive debates about the historical context and authenticity of the fragments that characterized scholarship on the poet in the first part of this century.The 'Tyrtaean question' has for the most part been laid to rest, and it is now generally believed that virtually all the extant poems and fragments are genuine.Since the appearance of such studies as Jaeger's "Tyrtaeus on True Arete" and Bowra's Early Greek Elegy critics have shown a much greater willingness to accept the poet on his own terms.1The recent editions of Prato and West have done much to facilitate this process, and such studies as those by Adkins, Shey, and Tarkow have greatly furthered our understanding of the poet's style and intent. 2 Considerable efforts have been devoted to understanding the relationship of Tyrtaeus and the epic tradition.3 A consistent interest of these studies has been the manner and extent to which a particular element of diction or content marks a change or advance from epic tradition and technique.This approach has led to the 1 W. Jaeger, Five Essays (Montreal 1966) 101-42.This essay, which has exercised considerable influence on contemporary scholarship, originally appeared under the title "Tyrtaios tiber die wahre dpsnj," SitzBerlin 23 (1932) 537-68.C. M. Bowra, Early Greek Elegy (Martin Classical Lectures 7: Cambridge [Mass.]1938). 2 C. Prato, Tyrtaeus (Rome 1968); M. L. West, lambi et Elegi Graeci Ante Alexandrum Cantati II (Oxford 1972); see also B. Gentili and C. Prato's recent Teubner text, Poetarum elegiacorum testimonia et fragmenta (Leipzig 1979).All references to the works of Callinus and Solon as well as Tyrtaeus will be to West's edition.A. W. H. Adkins, "Callinus 1 and Tyrtaeus 10 as Poetry," HSCP 81 (1977) 59-97 (see also W. J. Verdenius, "Tyrtaeus 6-7D, A Commentary," Mnemosyne SER.IV 22 [1969] 337-55).H. ].Shey, "Tyrtaeus and the Art of Propaganda," Arethusa 9 (1976) 5-28; T. A. Tarkow, "Tyrtaeus 9D: The Role of Poetry in the New Sparta," forthcoming in Antel.I am very grateful to Professor Tarkow for his kindness in making a copy of his manuscript available to me. 3 In addition to the works of Prato and Adkins (supra n.2) see the latter's Merit and Responsibility (Oxford 1960) and Moral Values and Political Behavior in Ancient Greece (New York 1972); P. A. L. Greenhalgh, "Patriotism in the Homeric World," Historia 21 (1972) 528-37; T. Hudson-Williams, Early Greek Elegy (Cardiff/London 1926); and B. Snell's important monograph Tyrtaios und die Sprache des Epos (Hypomnemata 22: Gottingen 1969).For the derivation of Tyrtaeus' language from Ionic vernacular rather than directly from epic diction see K. ].Dover, "The Poetry of Archilochus," Entretiens Fondation Hardt X (Vandoeuvres-Geneve 1964) 181-222, at 190-94.215
Author: Charles Fuqua
Language: English
Topic: Classical Antiquity Studies
Subfield: Classics
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W1572842429