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Durham E-Theses
The Bookish Turn: Assessing the Impact of the
Book-Roll on Authorial Self- Representation in Early
Hellenistic Poetry
CHESTERTON, BARNABY
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CHESTERTON, BARNABY (2016) The Bookish Turn: Assessing the Impact of the Book-Roll on
Authorial Self- Representation in Early Hellenistic Poetry, Durham theses, Durham University. Available
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The Bookish Turn:
Assessing the Impact of the Book-Roll on Authorial Self-
Representation in Early Hellenistic Poetry

Barnaby Chesterton
Thesis submitted to the Department of Classics and Ancient History, Durham University,
for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
19th August, 2016
Table of Contents

Abstract ...................................................................................................................................... 4
Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................... 5
Abbreviations ............................................................................................................................. 6
Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 8
Outline of chapters ........................................................................................................... 11
The bookish age and the bookish author .......................................................................... 16
The authorial persona: between fiction, reality and the reader ....................................... 21
Part I.
The Miniature, the Intricate and the Fragmented: Epigrammatic Authorial Personae in Early
Hellenistic Poetry ..................................................................................................................... 28

Chapter 1.
Developments in Authorial Self-Representation from Inscribed to Book-Epigram ............ 29
Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 29
1.1 Speaking objects, silent authors: assessing the absence of authorial personae
in pre-Hellenistic inscribed epigram ..................................................................... 31
1.2 Personae of author and reader in the sepulchral epigrams ascribed to Erinna ... 38

Chapter 2.
The Roles of Predecessors in Acts of Self-Representation .................................................. 55
Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 55
2.1 The intertextual representation of predecessors in the Seal of Posidippus ........... 61
2.2 Materiality, memory and predecessor in Callimachus’ Tomb of Simonides ......... 78

Chapter 3.
Composite Self-Representation in Epigrammatic Collections ........................................... 103
Introduction .................................................................................................................... 103
3.1 Silencing the echoes of Sappho: Nossis’ assertion of poetic individuality ......... 105
3.2 The author as editor: the authorial personae of Asclepiades’ collection ........... 115

Part II.
Mockery and Merriment, Laughter and Pain: Herodas’ Invention of the Mimiambic Poet .. 136

Chapter 4.
Authorial Persona and Poetic Programme in Mimiamb 8 .................................................. 137
Introduction .................................................................................................................... 137
4.1 Persona, predecessor and guarantor in Mimiamb 8 ........................................... 141
4.2 The employment of programmatic narrative topoi in Mimiamb 8 ...................... 153

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Chapter 5.
Performance, Audience and the Representations of Reception in Mimiambs 4 and 8 ....... 170
Introduction .................................................................................................................... 170
5.1 Ἐν χοροῖς Διωνύσου: evocations of performance in Mimiamb 8 ........................ 175
5.2 Models for readers (good and bad): representations of audience reception in
Mimiambs 4 and 8 ............................................................................................... 184

Chapter 6.
Generic and Tonal Hybridity in Mimiambs 1, 6 and 7 ....................................................... 196
Introduction .................................................................................................................... 196
6.1 Genre, gender and the objectification of poetry in Mimiambs 6 and 7 ............... 198
6.2 A knock at the door: generic disunity in Mimiamb 1 .......................................... 212
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 219
Bibliography .......................................................................................................................... 222

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The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published
without the author’s prior written consent and information derived from it should be
acknowledged.
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Abstract
My thesis takes its start from the oft-used description of Hellenistic poetry as ‘bookish’, but
looks beyond the connotations of this label as denoting a milieu which was self-consciously
intellectual, and instead considers the more fundamental ramifications of the designation: that
Hellenistic poetry was bookish in its form, as much as in outlook. To consider the implications
of this, I focus upon a period, and a significant poetic topos, wherein the effects of the book-
roll can be most keenly discerned, assessing the impact of the medium upon authorial self-
representations - particularly in the construction of authorial personae - undertaken in early
Hellenistic poetry (c.323-246 BC).
In Part I of the thesis, I assess the evolution of authorial self-representation in epigram, charting
developments from the inscribed form of the genre through to the book-epigram collections of
the Hellenistic period: I argue that the author acquired a newfound prominence in this medial
transition, asserting their presence as a voice within the text as opposed to a figure situated
strictly in antecedence to it. I demonstrate this through analyses of Posidippus, Callimachus,
Nossis, Asclepiades, and the epigrams ascribed to Erinna, and suggest that we repeatedly
observe authors undertaking composite processes of self-representation, as a direct result of the
composite context of the book-roll.
In Part II of the thesis, I examine the Mimiambs of Herodas. Through the analysis of Mimiamb
8 (in which Herodas constructs an authorial persona, and defines his poetic programme) in
conjunction with an appraisal of the metapoetic dimension of the other Mimiambs, I assess the
manner in which Herodas undertakes a complex, intertextual process of self-representation.
Arguing that the author reflects upon the generic and medial innovations of his poetic practice
across his corpus, I demonstrate that this process of reflection complements Herodas’ overt
authorial self-representation in Mimiamb 8.
In summary, I argue that the impact of the book-roll on authorial self-representation was wide-
ranging, but that the most significant consequence of the medium was the evolution of authorial
self-representation as a composite, roll-spanning activity.

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Acknowledgements
I am happy to acknowledge the support of the Arts and Humanities Research Council, whose
generous provision of an AHRC doctoral studentship made the writing of this thesis possible.
Additional financial support from the British School at Athens, Durham University Department
of Classics and Ancient History, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Rijiksuniversiteit Groningen
and University College London enabled a number of invaluable research trips, for which I am
grateful.
My thanks also go to the staff of the Department of Classics and Ancient History at Durham:
the department has been more than a workplace to me for these past years, and I will always
remember my time there. I would particularly like to thank my second supervisor, Barbara
Graziosi, for her thoughtful feedback on chapter drafts, and for inviting me to join the
stimulating meetings of the Living Poets project, an undertaking in which I am happy to have
played even a small part. Furthermore, I offer my gratitude to my examiners, Richard Hunter
and Jennifer Ingleheart, for their insightful comments and questions, and their suggestions for
the future development of this thesis.
I have been fortunate that my doctoral work has been anything but solitary: the friendship of
Alison, Andrea, Chiara, Daniele, Donald, Erika, Eris, Francesca, Giulia, Julia, Jamie, Marijn,
Matteo, Melissa, Nick, Paul, Paula, Tom and Will (and Mr Miyagi, the finest Labrador proof-
reader one could ask for) has made working on this thesis a pleasure. Thank you all for
tolerating quite so many Junior Work in Progress seminars on Hellenistic poetry!
My last thanks go to the three people without whom this thesis would not have had its own
bookish turn. From first supervising my BA dissertation 6 years ago, Ivana Petrovic has been
a constant source of encouragement and a steadfast rock of support: as the primary supervisor
of this thesis, I have been so fortunate to have her mentorship, and profoundly grateful for her
generosity of time and spirit in all my endeavours. Finally, to my parents, Kate and Blake
Chesterton: I don’t have the words to express my gratitude for all that you’ve done for me - it
has been, and continues to be, a privilege to be your son. This thesis is dedicated to you both,
with my love.

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Abbreviations
Abbreviations of the names of ancient works and authors follow those of the Liddell Scott
Jones and Oxford Latin Dictionaries; abbreviations of journals in the bibliography follow those
used by L’Année Philologique. All dates referring to the ancient world are BC, unless otherwise
noted.
AB Austin, C. and Bastianini, G., (eds.) 2002. Posidippi Pellaei quae
Supersunt Omnia (Milan)
AP Palatine Anthology
APl Planudean Anthology
Bergk Bergk, T., (ed.) 1853. Poetae Lyrici Graeci (Leipzig)
BMC Gardner, P., Head, B.V. and Poole, R.S., et al., (eds.) 1873-. Catalogue
of Greek Coins in the British Museum (London)
CEG Hansen, P.A., (ed.) 1983, 1989. Carmina Epigraphica Graeca, 2 vols.
(Berlin)
Degani Degani, E., (ed.) 1991. Hipponactis Testimonia et Fragmenta (Leipzig)
Domingo-Forastè Domingo-Forastè, D., (ed.) 1994. Claudii Aeliani Epistulae et
Fragmenta (Leipzig)
FD III Bourguet, É., et al., (eds.)1929-. Fouilles de Delphes, III. Épigraphie
(Paris)
FGE Page, D.L., (ed.) 1981. Further Greek Epigrams, rev. R.D. Dawe and J.
Diggle (Cambridge)
FPhGr Mullach, F.G.A., (ed.) 1881. Fragmenta Philosophorum Graecorum
(Paris)
FrGHist Jacoby, F., et al., (eds.) 1923-. Die Fragmente der Griechischen
Historiker (Berlin)
Gow Gow, A.S.F., (ed.) 1950. Theocritus, 2 vols. (Cambridge)
GP Gow, A.S.F. and Page, D.L., (eds.) 1965. The Greek Anthology:
Hellenistic Epigrams, 2 vols. (Cambridge)
GPh Gow, A.S.F. and Page, D.L., (eds.) 1968. The Greek Anthology. The
Garland of Philip, 2 vols. (Cambridge)
Gramm.Lat. Keil, H., (ed.) 1855-80. Grammatici Latini, 7 vols. (Leipzig)
GVI Peek, W., (ed.) 1955. Griechische Vers-Inschriften I, Grab-Epigramme
(Berlin)
IDorIns Peek, W., (ed.) 1969. Inschriften von den Dorischen Inseln
(AbhLeipzigAk 62 (I) (Berlin)
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IG 1893-. Inscriptiones Graecae (Berlin)
Keil Keil, B., (ed.) 1898. Aelius Aristidis Smyrnaei quae Supersunt Omnia, 2
vols. (Berlin)
La Penna La Penna, A., (ed.) 1957. Publi Ovidi Nasonis Ibis (Florence)
LGPN Fraser, P.M. and Matthews, E., (eds.) 1987-2010. A Lexicon of Greek
Personal Names, 6 vols. (Oxford)
LSJ Liddell, H.G. and Scott, R., et al. (eds.) 1843-. A Greek-English Lexicon,
rev. and augmented by H.S. Jones (Oxford)
Matthews Matthews, V.J., (ed.) 1996. Antimachus of Colophon: Text and
Commentary (Leiden)
Pf. Pfeiffer, R., (ed.) 1949, 1953. Callimachus, 2 vols. (Oxford)
PH Patton, W.R. and Hicks, E.L., (eds.) 1891. The Inscriptions of Cos
(Oxford)
PCG Austin, C. and Kassel, R., (eds.) 1983-. Poetae Comici Graeci (Berlin)
PMG Page, D.L., (ed.) 1962. Poetae Melici Graeci (Oxford)
Powell Powell, J.U., (ed.) 1925. Collectanea Alexandrina: Reliquiae Minores
Poetarum Graecorum Aetatis Ptolemaicae 323-146 A.C.: Epicorum,
Elegiacorum, Lyricorum, Ethicorum. Cum Epimetris et Indice Nominum
(Oxford)
Rose Rose, V., (ed.). 1863. Aristoteles Pseudepigraphus (Leipzig)
Sandbach Sandbach, F.H., (ed.) 1969. Plutarch, Moralia; Volume XV, fragments
(Cambridge, Mass.)
SEG Hondius, J.J.E., et al., (eds.) 1923-. Supplementum Epigraphicum
Graecum (Leiden)
SH Lloyd-Jones, H. and Parsons, P., (eds.) 1983. Supplementum
Hellenisticum (Berlin)
Snell-Maehler Maehler, H. and Snell, B., (eds.) 1980-1984. Pindari Carmina cum
Fragmentis, 2 vols. (Leipzig)
Tcal Segre, M., 1952. ‘Tituli Calymnii’, in Annuario della (Reg.) Scuola
Archaeologica di Atene, 22-23, pp.1-248
Thilo Hagen, H. and Thilo, G. (ed.), 1878-1902. Servii Grammatici qui
Feruntur in Vergili Carmina Commentarii, 3 vols. (Leipzig)
Wendel Wendel, C., (ed.) 1914. Scholia in Theocritum Vetera (Stuttgart)
West West, M.L., (ed.) 1989. Iambi et Elegi Graeci ante Alexandrum Cantati,
2 vols. (Oxford)
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