Poems in Context: Greek Poetry in the Egyptian Thebaid 200-600 AD (Sozomena Studies in the Recovery of Ancient Texts - Vol. 2) PDF
Preview Poems in Context: Greek Poetry in the Egyptian Thebaid 200-600 AD (Sozomena Studies in the Recovery of Ancient Texts - Vol. 2)
Laura Migue´lez Cavero Poems in Context ≥ Sozomena Studies in the Recovery of Ancient Texts Edited on behalf of the Herculaneum Society by Alessandro Barchiesi, Robert Fowler, Dirk Obbink and Nigel Wilson Vol. 2 Walter de Gruyter · Berlin · New York Laura Migue´lez Cavero Poems in Context Greek Poetry in the Egyptian Thebaid (cid:2) 200 600 AD Walter de Gruyter · Berlin · New York (cid:2)(cid:2)Printedonacid-freepaperwhichfallswithintheguidelines oftheANSItoensurepermanenceanddurability. ISBN 978-3-11-020273-1 BibliographicinformationpublishedbytheDeutscheNationalbibliothek TheDeutscheNationalbibliothekliststhispublicationintheDeutsche Nationalbibliografie;detailedbibliographicdataareavailableintheInternet athttp://dnb.d-nb.de. (cid:2)Copyright2008byWalterdeGruyterGmbH&Co.KG,D-10785Berlin. Allrightsreserved,includingthoseoftranslationintoforeignlanguages.Nopartofthis book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,includingphotocopy,recording,oranyinformationstorageandretrievalsys- tem,withoutpermissioninwritingfromthepublisher. PrintedinGermany Printingandbinding:Hubert&Co.GmbH&Co.KG,Göttingen. Coverdesign:ChristopherSchneider,Berlin. Preface Poems in Context: Greek Poetry in the Egyptian Thebaid 200–600 AD proposes an analysis of the extant Greek hexametric poems produced in Upper Egypt from the third to the sixth century which have reached usonancientinscriptions,papyri,parchmentandtablets,aswellasmedi- evalmanuscripts.Importanteffortshavebeenmadebypapyrologistsand classical scholars with the edition and commentary of individual poems, some of which have been recently acquired through the publication of new papyri.1 However, a comprehensive study is still lacking. This book aims to fill that gap and to replace the now obsolete model of the so- called (cid:2)School of Nonnus(cid:3), which has for a long time grouped the poets of the area, with a more realistic approach. Chapter1 reviews the extant poems relying upon previous scholar- ship to recreate the literary atmosphere in late antique Egypt and see how our understanding of it is mediated by modern literary criticism. Chapters 2, 3 and 4 constitute the main body of the research and deal with the style attributed to the so-called (cid:2)School of Nonnus(cid:3) (Chapter2, onmetrics,adjectives,vocabularyandstylistics),theinteractionofculture and education in late antique Panopolis, from which most of these poets come (Chapter3) and the relation between the analysed poems and school practice in the form of progymnasmata, the exercises of literary composition (Chapter4). The results of the research are summarised in Chapter5. This book is an expanded and substantially rewritten version of my doctoral dissertation (University of Salamanca, Spain, 2006). The whole process from 2001 when I finished my degree to the final stages of the presentwork,waspatientlysupervisedbyProf.Dr.Jos(cid:4)AntonioFern(cid:5)n- dezDelgado.Dr.DirkObbinkfirstintroducedmetotheworldofpapyr- ologyandthenofferedmetheopportunityofturningmythesisintomon- ograph form. I express my gratitude to them both. Iamverygratefultothosewhohelpedmewithbibliography,sugges- tions and corrections: Francisca Pordomingo, Jesffls UreÇa, Luis Arturo 1 Whenthisbookwasalreadyinprint,P.Oxy.72waspublished:itincludesseveral hexametrictexts(nos.4848–52)whichcouldnotbetakenintoaccount. VI Preface Guichard, Daniela Colomo, Claudio De Stefani, Gianfranco Agosti, Willy Clarysse, Gennaro D(cid:3)Ippolito, M(cid:5)ximo Brioso and Carmen Escri- bano. Maps were provided by Elisabeth Robinson from the Ancient World Mapping Centre (University of North Carolina). I would also like to remember my colleagues at the University of Salamanca: Alejan- draVald(cid:4)s,MariangelaBelluandRodolfoGonz(cid:5)lezEquihua.Myfather, Javier Migu(cid:4)lez, helped me in the translation of my thesis from Spanish into English and Sarah Cullinan revised it all. Errors remain my own. My PhD was funded by a grant from the Spanish Ministry of Educa- tionandCulture(BecaFPUdelMinisteriodeEducaci(cid:7)nyCultura)andI havealsobenefitedfromseveralresearchprojectsfundedbytheSpanish Ministry of Education and Culture (BFF2001–1957, HUM2004–04110, HUM2007–62093) and the Junta de Castilla y Le(cid:7)n (SA016/02). I should also like to thank my family, husband and friends, for their continuing love, patience and support in the past years. Contents List of illustrations .......................................... IX Abbreviations............................................... 1 Chapter1 The so-called school of Nonnus in the literary context of Panopolis (3rd–6th c. AD) ..................................... 3 1. Poetry in the Greek East during the 3rd to the 6th c. AD ....... 3 2. Only poetry?............................................. 6 3. Poetry in the Thebaid ..................................... 12 4. Who were they? .......................................... 85 5. Conclusions .............................................. 99 Chapter2 Common stylistic features ........................... 106 1. Metrics .................................................. 106 2. Adjectives: how and when ................................. 114 3. Vocabulary .............................................. 121 4. Poetics / stylistics ......................................... 161 5. Antecedents to late antique poetics ......................... 180 6. Conclusions .............................................. 187 Chapter3 The role of culture and education in Panopolis (3rd–6th c. AD) .............................................. 191 1. Egypt in the 3rd to the 6th c. AD ............................ 191 2. Panopolis (3rd-6th c.) ....................................... 198 3. Culture and education ..................................... 210 4. Conclusions .............................................. 260 Chapter4 Influence of school-practice on poetry: The progymnasmata ............................................. 264 1. School influence on poetic composition: The progymnasmata .. 264 2. Narrative ................................................ 266 3. Ekphrasis ................................................ 283 4. Paraphrase ............................................... 309 5. Ethopoea ................................................ 316 VIII Contents 6. Encomium ............................................... 340 7. Conclusions .............................................. 366 Chapter5 Conclusions ....................................... 371 Bibliography ................................................ 391 General Index .............................................. 434 Index Locorum ............................................. 440 List of illustrations Map 1 “Egypt in the Greek-Speaking Mediterranean, 200–600AD” X Map 2 “Late antique Egypt” XI Map 2b “Panopolis and its environs” XI
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