Studies in the Anacreontea
Date
1986
Authors
Hegedus, Pamela J.
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Abstract
The goal of this thesis is to examine in detail important aspects of the Anacreontea, a collection of poems dated to the post-classical era, whose widespread popularity has not been sufficiently matched by scholarly attention. My investigation focuses on three main objectives: to analyze features of metre and text; to trace out salient thematic currents, paralleling similar elements in other Greek as well as Latin poetry in order to discover genre trends; and to demonstrate that the Anacreontea, despite their title, give only a partial reflection of the work of Anacreon, the sixth century poet from Teas.
The Introduction provides information regarding the manuscript and sources of the Anacreontea. Precise dating is shown to be a problematic issue. General comments concerning content and manner of composition are given; recurring themes and stylistic approaches are highlighted. A concise historical summary of the important editions of the Anacreontea shows that scholars, even up to as late as the eighteenth century, were reluctant to consider the Anacreontea unauthentic. Another section is devoted to the literary heritage of the collection. Finally, a brief outline of the metres used in the Anacreontea is presented.
Chapter One contains a biography of Anacreon and a survey of his work. The fragmentary condition of the extant poems proves to be the greatest impediment to gaining an complete, understanding of the poet. It is essential that the differences between the Anacreontea and Anacreon's poetry be made clear.
In Chapter Two, a translation of the Anacreontea, based on Campbell's text, is given, together with a critical commentary on metrical and textual matters. The text of the Anacreontea has undergone extensive alteration at the hands of various editors over the centuries, primarily because of a fervent desire to establish lines whose metre conforms to the standards of classical prosody. There are numerous cruxes which are examined individually. Points of divergence between the texts of Campbell and West are noted and analyzed.
The third chapter focuses upon Anacreontea 1. This poem is unique, serving as the introduction to the whole collection, and deserves particular attention. The opening poem indicates that the Anacreontea are far removed from the archaic Anacreon.
In Chapter Four, those Anacreontea which concern the theme of poetry are explored. The first section examines the use of the recusatio motif, a stylistic device whereby a poet asserts his refusal to compose one kind of poetry in favour of another. One of the cornerstones of the genre of lyric poetry is the application of the recusatio to communicate a poet's preference to compose lyric rather than epic poetry. The motif was most typically used by the Augustan poets, an observation which strongly suggests that the authors of the Anacreontea were well-acquainted with Latin literature. The second section of this chapter looks at the connection between poetry and wine in the Anacreontea. Wine has symbolic applications not only as a medium for poetic inspiration but also as a representation of poetry itself. There are abundant literary parallels for this symbolic usage of wine. The final section concentrates on Anacreontea 34, a well-composed poem about a cicada . The author of this poem has attempted to represent the insect as a poet in miniature . The poem fits in with the general theme of poetry discussed in the rest of the chapter.
The final chapter looks at the various amatory poems in the collection. Several parallels are drawn from Anacreon, the Greek Anthology and the Roman poets. The Anacreontea incorporate a broad spectrum of literary influences . This attests to the scholarly erudition of the authors . It is a mistake to measure these poems solely in comparison t o Anacreon . The Anacreontea must be accorded their own merit.