Lycophron (/ˈlaɪkəfrɒn/LY-kə-fron;Ancient Greek:Λυκόφρων ὁ Χαλκιδεύς,romanized: Lukóphrōn ho Chalkidéus; born about 330–325 BC[1]) was aHellenisticGreek tragic poet, grammarian, and commentator on comedy, to whom the poemAlexandra is attributed (perhaps falsely).
He was born atChalcis inEuboea, and flourished atAlexandria in the time ofPtolemy Philadelphus (285–247 BC). According to theSuda, the massive tenth century Byzantine Greek historical encyclopaedia, he was the son of Socles, but was adopted by Lycus of Rhegium.[2] It is believed that Lycophron was acquaintances with Greek philosopherMenedemus, who may have influenced some of Lycophron's tragedies and even wrote asatyr drama about the man. At an unknown date Lycophron was intrigued by the literary movement in Alexandria and settled there.[3] He was entrusted by Ptolemy with the task of arranging the comedies in theLibrary of Alexandria; as the result of his labours he composed a treatiseOn Comedy. Lycophron is also said to have been a skillful writer ofanagrams.[4] Like most of his life, the end of Lycophron's life is lost to time as of now, but there is some evidence of his death. Although it is not known if he stayed in Alexandria for the rest of his life, what may be his end is told in Ovid'sIbis, "Tuque cothurnatus cecidesse Lycophrona narrant, Haereat in fibris fixa sagitta tuis" (And they say that Lycophron fell in his boots, and let his arrow stick in his bones.)[3]
The poetic compositions of Lycophron chiefly consisted oftragedies, which secured him a place in thePleiad of Alexandrian tragedians. TheSuda gives the titles of twenty tragedies, of which a very few fragments have been preserved:[4]Aeolus,Allies (Symmakhoi),Andromeda,Chrysippus,Daughters of Aeolus,Daughters of Pelops,Elephenor,Herakles,Hippolytus,Kassandreis,Laius,Marathonians,Menedemus,Nauplius,Oedipus (two versions),Orphan (Orphanos),Pentheus,Suppliants (Hiketai),Telegonus, and theWanderer (Aletes). Among these, a few well-turned lines show a much better style than theAlexandra.
One poem traditionally attributed to him,Alexandra orCassandra,[5] has been preserved in its complete form. The first mention ofAlexandra is from the first century A.D. by The ancient scholiast, whose report is traced back toTheon, an Alexandrian Grammarian (first century A.D.).[6]Alexandra runs at 1474iambic trimeters. It consists of a prophecy uttered byCassandra and relates the later fortunes ofTroy and of the Greek and Trojan heroes. References to events of mythical and later times are introduced, and the poem ends with a reference toAlexander the Great, who was to unite Asia and Europe in his world-wide empire.[4]
The style obtained for the poem's author, even among the ancients, the title of "obscure"; one modern scholar says theAlexandra "may be the most illegible piece of classical literature, one which nobody can read without a proper commentary and which even then makes very difficult reading."[7] The poem is evidently intended to display the writer's knowledge of obscure names and uncommon myths; it is full of unusual words of doubtful meaning gathered from the older poets, and long-winded compounds coined by the author. It was probably written as a show-piece for the Alexandrian school, rather than as straight poetry. It was very popular in theByzantine period, and was read and commented on very frequently; the manuscripts of theAlexandra are numerous. Two explanatory paraphrases of the poem survive, and the collection ofscholia by Isaac andJohn Tzetzes is very valuable[4] (much used by, among others,Robert Graves in hisGreek Myths).
Through most of antiquity there seems to be a mostly universal opinion that the tragedy was written by Lycophron. The only real skeptics from antiquity instead believe thatAlexandra was rather written by a homonymous poet who probably was a grandson of Lycophron and lived during the first half of the second century B.C.[6]
Many support that it was written by a revisionist. The reasoning behind this is that there are many historical inconsistencies withinAlexandra. Many of the key elements of the poem do not line up with the third century B.C., notably its mentions of Rome.Alexandra takes place in the Hellenistic period, and says that Rome was on the rise to be a great world power. An example is in verses 1444-1450, in which the poet describes the Romans' successes against the Macedonians. Many historians believe that for somebody living in the second century B.C., describing thefirst Macedonian War as a victory for Rome is unfitting, the details and predictions for the Roman's triumph fit better with thesecond Macedonian War.[6] Some modern studies have concluded that theAlexandra cannot be the work of the third-century BC author; in one scholar's summary of this view, the poem was:[8]
written in the immediate aftermath of the victory ofFlamininus atBattle of Cynoscephalae overPhilip V of Macedon in 197/6 BC. The author, whose true name and place of origin are probably concealed beneath the impenetrably enigmatic biographical tradition concerning "Lycophron," probably used the name, and some of the literary substance, of Lycophron, not in emulation, but as anironic reminiscence of the earlier writer, who had combined the practice of tragedy and the elucidation of comedy. Only on this assumption of a deliberatepseudepigraphon can the full irony of his work be appreciated.
Cassandra prophesies that herTrojan ancestors' descendants "shall with their spears win the foremost crown of glory, obtaining the sceptre and monarchy of earth and sea" and elaborates with allusions to the course of historical events. Some scholars, such as Stephanie West, regard these passages asinterpolations and defend the attribution of the bulk of the poem to Lycophron the tragic poet.[9] Thomas Nelson and Katherine Molesworth have argued that 'Lycophron' is a pen name to signpost the poem's style, aligning it with the 'frigidity' ofLycophron the sophist.[10]
Many scholars are certain that the Ptolemaic court would not have commissioned a piece to praise the Romans. Although the Egyptians and Romans had established a political relationship in 273 B.C., the two powers did not do much diplomacy together during the rule ofPtolemy II. Egypt became more dependent on Rome after the second century B.C. when the nation was a shell of its former self due to a series of weak pharaohs. This is why many historians believe thatAlexandra was written after the military success of the Roman generalTitus Quinctus Flamininus overPhilip V of Macedonia atCynoscephalae, which, if correct, would then give 197 B.C. as a beginning date or creation.[6]
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One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Lycophron".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 153.| International | |
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