Solon the Singer: Politics and Poetics

175 Pages·1992·18.588 MB·English

by  Emily Katz Anhalt

Solon the Singer
Greek Studies: Interdisciplinary Approaches
General Editor: Gregory Nagy, Harvard University
Time, Religion, and Social Experience in Rural Greece
by Laurie Kain Hart, Haverford College
The Scepter and the Spear: Studies on Forms of Repetition in the
Homeric Poems
by Steven Lowenstam, University of Oregon
Hegemony and Greek Historians
by John Wickersham, Ursinus College
Solon the Singer: Politics and Poetics
by Emily Katz Anhalt
Excursions in Epichoric History: Aiginetan Essays
by Thomas J. Figueira, Rutgers University
On the front cover: A calendar frieze representing the Athenian months,
reused in the Byzantine Church of the Little Metropolis in Athens. The cross
is superimposed, obliterating Taurus of the Zodiac. The choice of this frieze
for books in Greek Studies: Interdisciplinary Approaches reflects this series'
emphasis on the blending of the diverse heritages—Near Eastern, Classical,
and Christian—in the Greek tradition. Drawing by Laurie Kain Hart, based
on a photograph.
Solon the Singer
Politics and Poetics
Emily Katz Anhalt
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC.
Published in the United States of America
by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
4720 Boston Way, Lanham, Maryland 20706
Copyright © 1993 by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may
be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior
permission of the publisher.
British Cataloging in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Anhalt, Emily Katz.
Solon the singer : politics and poetics / Emily Katz Anhalt.
cm. — (Greek studies)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
l. Solon, ca. 630 B.C.-ca. 560 B.C.—Poetic works. 2. Politics and
literature—Greece—History. 3. Athens (Greece)— Politics and
government. 4. Greek language—Metrics and rhythmics. I. Title.
II. Series.
PA4412.88754 1993
881'01—4dc20 92-38035 CIP
ISBN 0-8476—7782-6 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN 0—8476—-7783—4 (paper : alk. paper)
Printed in the United States of America
m The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of
Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.
For my father,
Maurice B. Katz,
whose aret£ ‘excellence’
1s remembered.
ἄστρα te καὶ ποταμοὶ καὶ κύματα πόντου
τὴν ἀωρίαν τὴν σὴν ἀνακαλεῖ
(Pindar fr. 136)
The stars and the rivers and the waves
of the sea call you back from your untimely death.

Contents
Foreword
Note on Sources and Translations
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction
Chapter One
Poem 13: Memory and Destiny 11
Chapter Two
Poem 4: Poetry and Community 67
Chapter Three
Poem 36: Poet and Polity 115
Conclusion 141
Editions Cited 149
Bibliography of Works Cited 151
Index 155
About the Author 161

Greek Studies: Interdisciplinary Approaches
Foreword
by Gregory Nagy, General Editor
Building on the foundations of scholarship within the disciplines of
philology, philosophy, history, and archaeology, this series spans the
continuum of Greek traditions extending from the second millennium
B.C. to the present, not just the Archaic and Classical periods. The aim
is to enhance perspectives by applying various different disciplines to
problems that have in the past been treated as the exclusive concern of
a single given discipline. Besides the crossing-over of the older
disciplines, as in the application of history to literature, the series
encourages the application of such newer disciplines as linguistics,
sociology, anthropology, and comparative literature. It also encourages
encounters with current trends in methodology, especially in the realm
of literary theory.
Solon the Singer: Politics and Poetics, by Emily Katz Anhalt, examines
objectively the poetic heritage of the great Athenian lawgiver, treating
the poetry attributed to Solon as a medium that not only expresses the
political and ethical teachings of a revered statesman but also
perpetuates the traditions associated with wisdom poetry and even with
sympotic songmaking. The author's thorough understanding of Solon's
poetics sheds new light on the historical circumstances in which this
poetry was created. This book shows clearly that the poetry of Solon is
not just a source for studying the history of the world's first democracy:
it is also an integral part of that history.