The Cyzicene epigrams are a collection of nineteen numbered Greek epigrams, [1] each accompanied by a short prose preamble, which, together with a one-sentence introduction, constitute the third and shortest book of the Palatine Anthology . [2] The epigrams are supposed to have been inscribed somewhere on the columns of the Temple of Apollonis at Cyzicus, a monument which no longer exists. [3] Apollonis was the wife and queen of Attalus I, first king of Pergamon. When she died in the mid-second century BC, two of her sons, Eumenes and Attalus, built a temple in Apollonis' home town of Cyzicus, and dedicated it to her. [4]
According to the one-sentence introduction, each epigram was, apparently, a kind of subtitle for a relief decorating each column of the temple, illustrating a scene from Greek mythology. The prose preamble, taking the place of the carved image, provides a description of it. [5] As befitting a temple built by sons to honor their mother, the preambles describe scenes of love between mothers and sons. [6]
The author and date of the collection is unknown. [7]
In Greek mythology, Phoenix was the son of king Amyntor. Because of a dispute with his father, Phoenix fled to Phthia, where he became king of the Dolopians, and tutor of the young Achilles, whom he accompanied to the Trojan War. After Achilles had in anger withdrawn from the war, Phoenix tried to persuade Achilles to return.
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Adrasteia, also spelled Adrastia, Adrastea, Adrestea, Adastreia or Adrasta, originally a Phrygian mountain goddess, probably associated with Cybele, was later a Cretan nymph, and daughter of Melisseus, who was charged by Rhea with nurturing the infant Zeus in secret, to protect him from his father Cronus. By at latest the fifth century BC, she became identified with Nemesis, the goddess of divine retribution.
Maximus Planudes was a Byzantine Greek monk, scholar, anthologist, translator, mathematician, grammarian and theologian at Constantinople. Through his translations from Latin into Greek and from Greek into Latin, he brought the Greek East and the Latin West into closer contact with one another. He is now best known as a compiler of the Greek Anthology.
The Greek Anthology is a collection of poems, mostly epigrams, that span the Classical and Byzantine periods of Greek literature. Most of the material of the Greek Anthology comes from two manuscripts, the Palatine Anthology of the 10th century and the Anthology of Planudes of the 14th century.
Anyte of Tegea was a Hellenistic poet from Tegea in Arcadia. Little is known of her life, but twenty-four epigrams attributed to her are preserved in the Greek Anthology, and one is quoted by Julius Pollux; nineteen of these are generally accepted as authentic. She introduced rural themes to the genre, which became a standard theme in Hellenistic epigrams. She is one of the nine outstanding ancient women poets listed by Antipater of Thessalonica in the Palatine Anthology. Her pastoral poetry may have influenced Theocritus, and her works were adapted by several later poets, including Ovid.
Philetaerus was the founder of the Attalid dynasty of Pergamon in Anatolia.
Meleager of Gadara was a poet and collector of epigrams. He wrote some satirical prose, now lost, and some sensual poetry, of which 134 epigrams survive.
Asclepiades of Samos (Sicelidas) was an ancient Greek epigrammatist and lyric poet who flourished around 270 BC. He was a friend of Hedylus and possibly of Theocritus. He may have been honoured by the city of Histiaea in about 263 BC.
Attalus II Philadelphus was a ruler of the Attalid kingdom of Pergamon and the founder of the city of Attalia (Antalya).
Philodemus of Gadara was an Epicurean philosopher and poet. He studied under Zeno of Sidon in Athens, before moving to Rome, and then to Herculaneum. He was once known chiefly for his poetry preserved in the Greek Anthology, but since the 18th century, many writings of his have been discovered among the charred papyrus rolls at the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum. The task of excavating and deciphering these rolls is difficult, and work continues to this day. The works of Philodemus so far discovered include writings on ethics, theology, rhetoric, music, poetry, and the history of various philosophical schools. Ethel Ross Barker suggested in 1908 that he was owner of the Villa of the Papyri Library.
Attalus I, surnamed Soter ruled Pergamon, an Ionian Greek polis, first as a dynast, later as king, from 241 BC to 197 BC. He was the first cousin once removed and the adopted son of Eumenes I, whom he succeeded, and was the first of the Attalid dynasty to assume the title of king in 238 BC. He was the son of Attalus and his wife Antiochis.
Antipater of Thessalonica was a Greek epigrammatist of the Roman period.
The Palatine Anthology, sometimes abbreviated AP, is the collection of Greek poems and epigrams discovered in 1606 in the Palatine Library in Heidelberg. It is based on the lost collection of Constantinus Cephalas of the 10th century, which in turn is based on older anthologies. It contains material from the 7th century BC until 600 AD and later on was the main part of the Greek Anthology which also included the Anthology of Planudes and more material.
Alcaeus of Messene was an ancient Greek poet, who flourished between 219 and 196 BC. Twenty-two of his short poems or epigrams survive in the Greek Anthology, from some of which his date may be fixed at around the late 3rd/early 2nd century BC. Some of his poems are on literary themes, but most are political.
In Greek mythology, the name Cleobule or Cleoboule or Cleobula refers to:
In Greek mythology, Idaea or Idaia was, by some accounts, the daughter of the Scythian king Dardanus, and the second wife of Phineus, the king of Thrace. Idaea's false accusations against her stepsons were responsible for her husband's misfortunes. She was sent back to Scythia, where she was condemned to death. Other ancient sources give other names for Phineus' second wife, including: Eidothea, sister of Cadmus, and Eurytia.
In Greek mythology, Thoas was a son of Jason and Hypsipyle, and a grandson of the Lemnian king Thoas, and the twin brother of Euneus. Thoas and Euneus took part in the funeral games of the Nemean king Lycurgus' infant son Opheltes, after which they succeeded in rescuing their mother Hypsipyle from her servitude.
Hypsipyle is a partially preserved tragedy by Euripides, about the legend of queen Hypsipyle of Lemnos, daughter of King Thoas. It was one of his last and most elaborate plays. It was performed c. 411–407, along with The Phoenician Women which survives in full, and the lost Antiope.
Apollonis was the wife of Attalus I, the first ruler of Pergamon. The dates of her birth and death are unclear; scholars estimate that she was born around 240 BCE., while estimating her death as any time between 175 and 159 BCE. Apollonis outlived her husband, who was approximately 30 years older than her, by many years.
The Temple of Appolonis was built at Cyzicus in the 2nd century BC, in order to honor Apollonis of Cyzicus. The Cyzicene epigrams were inscribed in this temple.