Callinus (Ancient Greek: Καλλῖνος, Kallinos; fl. mid-7th c. BC)[1] was an ancient Greek elegiac poet who lived in the city of Ephesus in Asia Minor in the mid-7th century BC. His poetry is representative of the genre of martial exhortation elegy in which Tyrtaeus also specialized and which both Archilochus and Mimnermus appear to have composed.[2] Along with these poets, all his near contemporaries, Callinus was considered the inventor of the elegiac couplet by some ancient critics.[3]
He resided in Ephesus in Asia Minor.[4] He is supposed to have flourished between the invasion of Asia Minor by the Cimmerians and their expulsion by Alyattes (630–560 BC). During his lifetime his own countrymen were also engaged in a life-and-death struggle with the Magnesians. These two events give the key to his poetry, in which he endeavours to rouse the indolent Ionians to a sense of patriotism.[5]
Only a few fragments of the Callinus' poetry have survived. One of the longest fragments, consisting of 21 lines of verse, is a patriotic exhortation to his fellow Ephesians urging them to fight the invading Cimmerians, who were menacing the Greek colonies in Asia Minor:
|
It is honorable and splendid for a man to fight |
τιμῆέν τε γάρ ἐστι καὶ ἀγλαὸν ἀνδρὶ μάχεσθαι |
Works of martial elegy such as this often allude to the language and the thematic content of Homer's Iliad.[7] It is likely that Callinus performed his poetry at symposia.[8]
Notes
edit- ^ West, Martin L. (2015), "Callinus, Greek elegiac poet, mid-7th cent. BCE", Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Classics, Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.1280, ISBN 978-0-19-938113-5
- ^ West (1974, p. 10).
- ^ Barron, Easterling & Knox (1985, p. 129 with n. 1). Cf. Clement of Alexandria, Stromata 1.21.131, "Semonides is assigned to the era of Archilochus; Callinus is not much older" (Σιμωνίδης [sic] μὲν οὖν κατὰ Ἀρχίλοχον φέρεται, Καλλῖνος δὲ πρεσβύτερος οὐ μακρῷ, cf. Orion, Etymologia s.v. ἔλεγος), and Terentianus 1721–2,"People are unsure who was the first author to fashion the pentameter: some do not hesitate to say it was Callinus" (Pentametrum dubitant quis primus finxerit auctor: quidam non dubitant dicere Callinoum).
- ^ Herodian, De orthographia s.v. Καλλῖνος, Photius, Bibliotheca cod. 239, p. 319b12.
- ^ One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Callinus". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 5 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 57.
- ^ Callinus fr. 1.6–9.
- ^ Irwin (2005, p. 17).
- ^ West (1974, p. 11), Bowie (1986, pp. 15–16).
Select bibliography
edit- Barron, J.P.; Easterling, P.E.; Knox, B.M.W. (1985), "Elegy and Iambus", in P.E. Easterling; B.M.W. Knox (eds.), The Cambridge History of Classical Literature: Greek Literature, Cambridge, pp. 117–64, ISBN 978-0-521-21042-3
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link). - Bergk, T. (1882), Poetae lyrici Graeci, Leipzig
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link). - Bowie, E.L. (1986), "Early Greek Elegy, Symposium and Public Festival", The Journal of Hellenic Studies, 106: 13–35, doi:10.2307/629640, JSTOR 629640, S2CID 162738189.
- Campbell, D.A. (1982), Greek Lyric Poetry (2nd ed.), London, ISBN 0-86292-008-6
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link). — Text and commentary on select fragments. - Diehl, E. (1949–52), Anthologia lyrica Graeca (3rd ed.), Leipzig
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link). — Critical edition of the Greek. - Gerber, D.E. (1999), Greek Iambic Poetry, Loeb Classical Library (2nd ed.), Cambridge, MA, ISBN 978-0674995819
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link). — Translation with facing Greek text. - Irwin, E. (2005), Solon & Early Greek Poetry: The Politics of Exhortation, Cambridge, ISBN 978-0521851787
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link). - West, M.L. (1974), Studies in Greek Elegy and Iambus, Berlin, ISBN 978-3110045857
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link). - West, M.L. (1992), Iambi et Elegi Graeci ante Alexandrum cantati, vol. ii (2nd ed.), Oxford, ISBN 0-19-814096-7
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link). — Critical edition of the Greek. - West, M.L. (2003), Greek Epic Fragments, Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, MA, ISBN 978-0-674-99605-2
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link).