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The third-century BC Greek poet Herodas had been all but forgotten until a papyrus of eight of his Mimiambs (plus fragments) turned up in the Egyptian desert at the end of the 19th century. They have since been translated into various modern languages and supplied with scholarly commentaries. This book is the first to attempt to reproduce in English Herodas'' ''choliambic'' or ''limping'' metre (sic) - distinctive for its signatory reversed final foot, a variant on the standard Greek iambic trimeter. The present volume provides an accessible introduction to Herodas and his Mimiambs requiring no knowledge of Greek. The translation steers a judicious course between literal accuracy and fidelity to this linguistically very demanding poet''s spirit and intention. The contextual introductions and notes on the poems take into account the most recent scholarship, providing explanation of the context of the Mimiambs and guiding the reader to an appreciation of the poetry itself. The General Introduction places the author in his cultural world and context, namely urban society in the Ptolemaic Empire of the hellenistic period. This he conjures up in his Mimiambs with an often scathing vividness.>
List of contents
General Introduction
About this work
Who was Herodas
The Hellenistic Age
Dramatic location of the Mimiamboi
Alexandrian poetry
The character and characters of the Mimiamboi
Mime as genre
Sex, Slavery and Class in the Mimiamboi
Iambics
The Mimiamb
Herodas’ Greek and the Present Translation
Diction
Were the Mimiamboi staged or read?
The Mimiamboi as a collection
Herodas as theorist of art
Metre
Text
Mimiamb One
Introduction
Mimiamb One: The Bawd
Notes
Mimiamb Two
Introduction
Mimiamb Two: THE BROTHEL-KEEPER
Notes
Mimiamb Three
Introduction
Mimiamb Three: THE SCHOOLMASTER
Notes
Mimiamb Four
Introduction
Mimiamb Four: OFFERINGS TO ASKLEPIOS
Notes
Mimiamb Five
Introduction
Mimiamb Five: A JEALOUS WOMAN
Notes
Mimiamb Six
Introduction
Mimiamb Six: INTIMATE FRIENDS
Notes
Mimiamb Seven
Introduction
Mimiamb Seven: THE SHOEMAKER
Notes
Mimiamb Eight
Introduction
Mimiamb Eight: THE DREAM
Notes
The Fragments
Introduction
The Fragments IX-XIII
Select Bibliography
About the author
Anna Rist was Lecturer in Classics at the University of Toronto, Canada, and is now a private scholar. Her publications include The Poems of Theocritus (1978) and a book of poems and a one-act play: Festival and Ferial (2014).
Summary
The third-century BC Greek poet Herodas had been all but forgotten until a papyrus of eight of his Mimiambs (plus fragments) turned up in the Egyptian desert at the end of the 19th century. They have since been translated into various modern languages and supplied with scholarly commentaries. This book is the first to attempt to reproduce in English Herodas’ ‘choliambic’ or ‘limping’ metre (sic) - distinctive for its signatory reversed final foot, a variant on the standard Greek iambic trimeter.
The present volume provides an accessible introduction to Herodas and his Mimiambs requiring no knowledge of Greek. The translation steers a judicious course between literal accuracy and fidelity to this linguistically very demanding poet’s spirit and intention. The contextual introductions and notes on the poems take into account the most recent scholarship, providing explanation of the context of the Mimiambs and guiding the reader to an appreciation of the poetry itself. The General Introduction places the author in his cultural world and context, namely urban society in the Ptolemaic Empire of the hellenistic period. This he conjures up in his Mimiambs with an often scathing vividness.
Foreword
The first translation of Herodas’ poems into an English choliambic metre with literary-historical introductions to each poem and a general introduction.
Additional text
A bold and lively translation of Herodas, echoing his metre and capturing
his racy and artful style, with introduction and notes that help the reader
enjoy these Mimiambs as scripts for performance.
