Poets and Philosophers
Lyric Poetry
Surviving examples from archaic period (but tradition
is much older)
Performance Style
-
Recitation
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Sung by poet w/ lyre
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Sung by choir (choral lyric)
Performance Setting
-
Formal (public celebration)
-
Informal (esp. symposium)
Survival
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Medieval manuscripts (only Pindar)
-
Quotations in other authors
-
Papyrus fragments
Three Poets
Archilochus of Paros (c. 650)
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Mercenary; helped colonize Thasos
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79: discarding shield
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Feud w/ Lycambes & Neobule
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18: Sex with (?) Neobule’s sister
Sappho of Lesbos (c. 600)
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Aristocratic family
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Led circle of younger women
-
Victorian image vs. 101:
...] olisb [ ...
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43, 78: Girls absent or departing
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1: Hymn to Aphrodite
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14: Wedding of Hector & Andromache
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25: Power of love (e.g. Helen)
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20: "When I look at you ..."
Anacreon of Teos (c. 535)
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Associated w/ Polycrates, tyrant of Samos
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Themes: partying, girls, boys, death
"Pre-Socratic" Philosophers
Milesian Thinkers (< Miletus)
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Proto-scientific
-
Archê: first principle, source
| Thales (active 585) |
water |
| Anaximander (d. after 547?) |
apeiron |
| Anaximenes (active c. 530?) |
air |
Xenophanes of Colophon (c. 500)
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Wandering poet-philosopher
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Criticized Homeric/Hesiodic gods
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Monotheistic tendencies?
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Contempt for athletes
Mystical Thinkers
Pythagoras (c. 530) & Pythagoreans
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Harmony: geometry, music
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Metempsychosis (reincarnation)
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Communities in southern Italy
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Diet: no animal products, beans
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Influential on Plato
Heraclitus of Ephesus (c. 500)
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Famous for oracular style
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Logos: reason/logic/speech/order
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Fire as basic element (28; 72)
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Unity of opposites (108-110; 117)
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Change and flux (20-23)
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