Straton from Sardis

Straton was from Sardis derived Greek poet of the 2nd century n. Chr.

Straton can be dated under Emperor Hadrian because of the mention of the doctor Artemidorus Capito . He is mentioned at the beginning of the 3rd century by Diogenes Laertios . Otherwise hardly anything is known about his life.

100 epigrams of Straton have survived, 94 of which are contained in his anthology Μουσα Παιδικη (Musa Puerilis). In its traditional, incomplete form, the Μουσα Παιδικη comprises a total of 258 epigrams by various authors. The anthology is preserved in the 12th book of the Greek anthology , a few epigrams in the 11th book. Almost the only subject in these epigrams is pederasty . The poems are characterized by their formal dexterity.

Because of the taboo subject, his poems were often not translated until the middle of the 20th century. The first complete English translation was not published until 2001 (by Daryl Hine), while there were German ones as early as 1900 (by Elisar von Kupffer ).

literature

• Daryl Hine (translator): Puerilities - Erotic Epigrams of The Greek Anthology (Lockert Library of Poetry in Translation) , Princeton 2001, ISBN 0-691-08820-9
• Paul Kroh: Lexicon of ancient authors (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 366). Kröner, Stuttgart 1972, ISBN 3-520-36601-0 , p. 587.
• The Greek Anthology , Berlin, Weimar 1981 (contains German translations of Book 12)