Little Iliad

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Tabula Iliaca Capitolina with scenes from the Little Iliad from the late 1st century BC. BC ( Palazzo Nuovo , Capitoline Museums in Rome)

The Little Iliad ( ancient Greek Ἰλιὰς μικρά Iliàs mikrá ) is part of the epic cycle and belongs to the Trojan saga . The lost work is believed to have been around in the 7th century BC. And is usually attributed to the poet Lesches . Only brief details in the Chrestomathie of Proclus and the library of Apollodorus , a few testimonies , seven direct quotations with a total of 26 hexameters have been handed down .

Scope and narrative period

According to Proclus, the work consisted of four books. The work apparently began with the hoplon krisis , the decision to whom Achilles ' armor was due. The work therefore followed the Aithiopis of the Arktinos . The Little Iliad describes the events after Achilles' death, including the building of the Trojan horse .

Aristotle critically noted that the content offered by the work was later used to form more than eight tragedies , while a good epic should provide material for a maximum of two.

Author and title

Mostly a certain "Lesches" ( Λέσχης ) is named as the author of the Little Iliad , whereas Pausanias calls him "Lescheos" ( Λέσχεως ). In addition, "von Mitylene" and "von Pyrrha" are added to his name.

Fragments

A total of 19 fragments have been preserved from the Little Iliad.

The Proömium - typical beginning of the early Greek epic - the Little Iliad reads:

“Ἴλιον ἀείδω καὶ Δαρδανίην ἐύπωλον
ἧς πέρι πολλὰ πάθον Δαναοὶ θεράποντες Ἄρηος.”

"Ilion aeidō kai Dardaniēn eupōlon
hēs peri polla pathon Danaoi therapontes Arēos."

"I sing about Ilion and the horse-rich Dardania,
for which the Danaer , war companions of Ares, suffered much ."

The beginning is typically hymnal. It is noticeable, however, that no God is invoked here.

content

Proclus and Aristotle in his Poetics give the following as the themes of the Little Iliad:

  • The arms dispute ( ὅπλων κρίσις )
  • Philoctetes , Neoptolemus and Eurypylos
  • Poverty ( πτωχεία )
  • Destruction of Troy ( Ἰλίου πέρσις Ilíou pérsis )
  • Journey home of Sinon and the Troads ( ἀπόπλους καὶ Σίνων καὶ Τρῳάδες apóplous kai Sínōn kai Trōádes )

literature

Text output

  • Gottfried Kinkel : Epicorum graecorum fragmenta. Teubner, Leipbzig 1877, pp. 36-48 ( digitized version ).
  • Erich Bethe : Homer. Poetry and legend. Volume 2, Part 2: Kyklos - Time Determination. Second edition. Teubner, Leipzig / Berlin 1929, pp. 169–178 ( digitized version ).

Secondary literature

Remarks

  1. ↑ Aristotle, Poetics 23, 1459 a and b .
  2. ↑ For the title see z. B. Pausanias 3,26,7; Clement of Alexandria , stromata 1, p. 236; Aristotle, Poetics 1459b 5.
  3. ↑ Pausanias 10:25, 5 (3); see. Gottfried Kinkel : Epicorum graecorum fragmenta. Teubner, Leipbzig 1877, p. 38 ( digitized version ): "Poeta a plurimis Λέσχης nominatur, a Pausania semper Λέσχεως"; Otto Immisch : Lescheos – Lesches. In: Rheinisches Museum für Philologie . New series Volume 48, 1893, pp. 290–298 ( digitized version ), Lescheos considered the original, ionic form.
  4. ↑ This is what Proclus calls him: " Λεσχέω Μιτυληναίου ", Codex Venetus A 454 fol. 6 r .
  5. ↑ Tabula Iliaca Capitolina = IG XIV 1284 and Pausanias 10,25,3.
  6. ↑ Cf. Friedrich Gottlieb Welcker : The epic cycle or the Homeric poets. Second edition. Volume 1. Weber, Bonn 1865, p. 250 ( Google Books ).
  7. ↑ Pseudo-Herodotus, vita Homeri 16 = Lesches fr. 1 Bethe = I Allen = 28 Bernabé = 1 Davies; see. Wolfgang Kullmann : Homeric motifs. Contributions to the origin, character and effect of the Iliad and the Odyssey. Edited by Roland J. Müller (collection of articles on the occasion of his 65th birthday). Franz Steiner, Stuttgart 1992, p. 96.
  8. ↑ The beginnings of Proömium with the same structure can be found in Homeric Hymns 12, 18 and 27.
  9. ↑ Aristotle, Poetics 1459b 5f., Proklos, Codex Venetus A 454 fol. 6r.