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Mimnermus
Sign in to saveAlso known as Mimnermus of Colophon
thumb|upright=1.8|Mimnermus was one of several ancient Greek poets who composed verses about solar eclipses, and there was a total solar eclipse of his home town, Smyrna, on April 6, 648 BC. His poetry survives only as a few fragments yet they afford us a glimpse of his "brilliantly vivid" style. Mimnermus ( Mímnermos) was a Greek elegiac poet from either Colophon or Smyrna in Ionia, who flourished about 632–629 BC (i.e. in the 37th Olympiad, according to Suda). He was strongly influenced by Homer, yet he wrote short poems suitable for performance at drinking parties and was remembered by anci
Person · Open Library
- Born
- 7th cent. B.C.
- Works
- 6
via Open Library + Wikidata
Recent publications · Crossref
2 total works indexed
- Fragments
· 1999 · cited 1x
- Testimonia
· 1999
via Crossref · CC0
Quotes
- “Τίς δὲ βίος, τί δὲ τερπνὸν ἄτερ χρυσῆς Ἀφροδίτης; τεθναίην ὅτε μοι μηκέτι ταῦτα μέλοι,κρυπταδίη φιλότης καὶ μείλιχα δῶρα καὶ εὐνή, οἷ᾽ ἥβης ἄνθ εα γίγνεται ἁρπαλέαἀνδράσιν ἠδὲ γυναιξίν· ἐπεὶ δ᾽ ὀδυνηρὸν ἐπέλθῃ γῆρας, ὅ τ᾽ αἰσχρὸν ὁμῶς καὶ κακὸν ἄνδρα τιθεῖ,αἰεί μιν φρένας ἀμφὶ κακαὶ τείρουσι μέριμναι, οὐδ᾽ αὐγὰς προσορῶν τέρπεται ἠελίου,ἀλλ᾽ ἐχθρὸς μὲν παισίν, ἀτίμαστος δὲ γυναιξίν, οὕτως ἄργαλέον γῆρας ἔθηκε θεός.”
- “Ἠέλιος μὲν γὰρ πόνον ἔλλαχεν ἤματα πάνταοὐδέ κοτ᾽ ἄμπαυσις γίγνεται οὐδεμίαἵπποισίν τε καὶ αὐτῷ, ἐπεὶ ῥοδοδάκτυλος ἨὼςὨκεανὸν προλιποῦσ᾽ οὐρανὸν εἰσαναβῇ:τὸν μὲν γὰρ διὰ κῦμα φέρει πολυήρατος εὐνὴκοιΐλη, Ἡφαίστου χερσὶν ἐληλαμένηχρυσοῦ τιμήεντος, ὑπόπτερος, ἄκρον ἐφ᾽ ὕδωρεὕδονθ᾽ ἁρπαλέως χώρου ἀφ᾽ Ἑσπερίδωνγαῖαν ἐς Αἰθιόπων, ἵνα οἱ θοὸν ἅρμα καὶ ἵπποιἑστᾶσ᾽, ὄφρ᾽ Ἠὼς ἠριγένεια μόλῃ:ἐνθ᾽ ἐπεβήσεθ᾽ ἑῶν ὀχέων Ὑπερίονος υἱός.”
- “We are all clever enough at envying a famous man while he is yet alive, and at praising him when he is dead.”
via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA
~11 min read
Article
12 sectionsContents
- Life and work
- Nanno
- Poetic style
- Comments by other poets
- Solon
- Hermesianax
- Callimachus
- Propertius
- Horace
- Editions and translations
- References
- External links
thumb|upright=1.8|Mimnermus was one of several ancient Greek poets who composed verses about solar eclipses, and there was a total solar eclipse of his home town, Smyrna, on April 6, 648 BC. His poetry survives only as a few fragments yet they afford us a glimpse of his "brilliantly vivid" style. Mimnermus ( Mímnermos) was a Greek elegiac poet from either Colophon or Smyrna in Ionia, who flourished about 632–629 BC (i.e. in the 37th Olympiad, according to Suda). He was strongly influenced by Homer, yet he wrote short poems suitable for performance at drinking parties and was remembered by ancient authorities chiefly as a love poet. Mimnermus in turn exerted a strong influence on Hellenistic poets such as Callimachus and thus also on Roman poets such as Propertius, who even preferred him to Homer for his eloquence on love themes (see Comments by other poets below).
His work was collected by Alexandrian scholars in just two "books" (relatively few compared for example with the twenty-six books for Stesichorus) and today only small fragments survive. The fragments confirm the ancient estimate of him as a "consummate poet" but also indicate that he was a "sturdier character" than the indulgent love poet he was assumed to be by various ancient commentators. Almost no reliable biographical details have been recorded. One ancient account linked him romantically with a flute girl who subsequently gave her name, Nanno, to one of his two books.