Hermesianax
Encyclopedia
Hermesianax of Colophon
was an Ancient Greek
elegiac
poet of the Hellenistic period
, said to be a pupil of Philitas of Cos
; the dates of his life and work are all but lost, but Philitas is supposed to have been born c. 340.
His chief work was a poem in three books, dedicated to his mistress Leontion. Of this poem a fragment of about one hundred lines has been preserved by Athenaeus
. Plaintive in tone, it enumerates instances, mythological and historical, of the irresistible power of love. Hermesianax, whose style is characterized by alternate force and tenderness, was exceedingly popular in his own times, and was highly esteemed even in the Augustan period.
Many separate editions have been published of the fragment, the text of which is in a very unsatisfactory condition: by FW Schneidewin
(1838), J Bailey (1839, with notes, glossary, and Latin and English versions), and others; R Schulze's Quaestiones Hermesianacteae (1858), contains an account of the life and writings of the poet and a section on the identity of Leontion.
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Colophon
Colophon was a city in the region of Lydia in antiquity dating from about the turn of the first millennium-BC. It was likely one the oldest of the twelve Ionian League cities, between Lebedos and Ephesus and its ruins are in the eponymously named modern region of Ionia.The city's name comes from...
was an Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
elegiac
Elegy
In literature, an elegy is a mournful, melancholic or plaintive poem, especially a funeral song or a lament for the dead.-History:The Greek term elegeia originally referred to any verse written in elegiac couplets and covering a wide range of subject matter, including epitaphs for tombs...
poet of the Hellenistic period
Hellenistic period
The Hellenistic period or Hellenistic era describes the time which followed the conquests of Alexander the Great. It was so named by the historian J. G. Droysen. During this time, Greek cultural influence and power was at its zenith in Europe and Asia...
, said to be a pupil of Philitas of Cos
Philitas of Cos
Philitas of Cos , sometimes spelled Philetas , was a scholar and poet during the early Hellenistic period of ancient Greece. A Greek associated with Alexandria, he flourished in the second half of the 4th century BC and was appointed tutor to the heir to the throne of Ptolemaic Egypt...
; the dates of his life and work are all but lost, but Philitas is supposed to have been born c. 340.
His chief work was a poem in three books, dedicated to his mistress Leontion. Of this poem a fragment of about one hundred lines has been preserved by Athenaeus
Athenaeus
Athenaeus , of Naucratis in Egypt, Greek rhetorician and grammarian, flourished about the end of the 2nd and beginning of the 3rd century AD...
. Plaintive in tone, it enumerates instances, mythological and historical, of the irresistible power of love. Hermesianax, whose style is characterized by alternate force and tenderness, was exceedingly popular in his own times, and was highly esteemed even in the Augustan period.
Many separate editions have been published of the fragment, the text of which is in a very unsatisfactory condition: by FW Schneidewin
Friedrich Wilhelm Schneidewin
Friedrich Wilhelm Schneidewin , was a German classical scholar.-Biography:He was born at Helmstedt. In 1833 he became a teacher at the Brunswick gymnasium...
(1838), J Bailey (1839, with notes, glossary, and Latin and English versions), and others; R Schulze's Quaestiones Hermesianacteae (1858), contains an account of the life and writings of the poet and a section on the identity of Leontion.
Further Reading
Lightfoot, Jane L. , Hellenistic Collection: Philitas, Alexander of Aetolia, Hermesianax (Loeb Classical Library, 2009) ISBN 0-674-99636-4----