Born: c. 308 b. c.e.; Syracuse, Sicily (now in Italy)
Died: c. 260 b. c.e.; Syracuse, Sicily Category: Poetry; literature
Life Theocritus (thee-AHK-ruht-uhs), a lyric and semidramatic poet, is regarded as the father of pastoral poetry. Little factual biographical information exists. Much of what has sometimes passed for fact about him has been inferred from his writings, and in some cases doubt has been cast on works attributed to him. It would appear reasonable to assume, however, that he was born about 308 b. c.e. in Syracuse, Sicily (though claims have also been made for Cos), and that he studied as a youth and young man under the Greek master Philetas, in Cos. Becoming certain of his craft as a poet, Theocritus appealed to Hieron II, ruler of Syracuse, for his support as a patron (probably in 275 b. c.e.) but was refused. Shortly thereafter, a similar plea to Ptolemy Philadelphus brought success, and Theocritus took up residence in Alexandria sometime between 275 and 270 b. c.e. How long he stayed there and where he went afterward is a question on which there is only conjecture. Probably he went to Cos, perhaps back to Syracuse, where he probably died about 260 b. c.e.
Much of Theocritus’s poetry illustrates the love the ancient Greeks had for their homeland. Apparently the poet, far away from Greece in Alexandria, wrote much of his poetry in the pastoral convention to express the love he had for Greece. Theocritus was a skilled literary craftsman, and his style is vivid and graceful. His work shows a love of nature and a sophisticated ability with drama, satire, and characterization. His most famous poems, the bucolics, are pastoral poems on mythical subjects. The later epics include poems to Hieron and Ptolemy and to their respective spouses. There is also a series of epigrams of doubtful authenticity and equally doubtful date.
Influence The poems of Theocritus are often referred to as idylls, a word bestowed upon them by ancient authors. Credit is usually given to
Theocritus for being the inventor of pastoral poetry, and he probably was, although modern scholarship, by showing how Theocritus borrowed ideas and fragments from earlier authors, has somewhat diminished the reputation he once enjoyed. Theocritus inspired later Greek poets, including Moschus of Syracuse. His most successful follower, however, was the Roman poet Vergil, who, in his Eclogues (43-37 b. c.e.; English translation, 1575), introduced pastoral conventions into Latin poetry. Theocritus also influenced later poets such as Edmund Spenser.
Further Reading
Anagnostou-Laoutides, Evangelia. Eros and Ritual in Ancient Literature: Singing of Atalanta, Daphnis, and Orpheus. Piscataway, N. J.: Gorgias Press, 2005.
Burton, JoanB. Theocritus’s Urban Mimes: Mobility, Gender, and Patronage. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995.
Haber, Judith. Pastoral and the Poetics of Self-Contradiction. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1994.
Halperin, David M. Before Pastoral: Theocritus and the Ancient Tradition of Bucolic Poetry. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1983. Hubbard, Thomas. Pipes of Pan. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1998.
Hunter, Richard. “Commentary.” In Theocritus: “Idylls,” a Selection. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
_. Theocritus and the Archaeology of Greek Poetry. New York:
Cambridge University Press, 1996.
Lang, A. Theocritus, Bion, and Moschus: Rendered into English. 1880. Reprint. Boston: Elibron Classics, 2005.
Rossi, Laura. The Epigrams Ascribed to Theocritus: A Method of Approach. Sterling, Va.: Peeters, 2001.
Schmidt, Michael. The First Poets: Lives of the Ancient Greek Poets. New York: Knopf, 2005.
Walker, Steven F. Theocritus. Boston: Twayne, 1980.
Zimmerman, Clayton. The Pastoral Narcissus: A Study of the First Idyll of Theocritus. Lanham, Md.: Rowman and Littlefield, 1994.
Jonathan L. Thorndike
See also: Bucolic Poetry; Hieron II of Syracuse; Literature; Moschus of Syracuse; Ptolemaic Dynasty.
Poet
Born: c. seventh century b. c.e.; Megara(?), Greece Died: c. sixth century b. c.e.; Megara(?), Greece Also known as: Theognis of Megara Category: Poetry; literature
Life Virtually nothing is known about the life of Theognis (thee-AHG-nuhs). Ancient authorities debate his birthplace, referencing a Megara in Greece or Sicily. The former seems to be the better candidate, despite the fact that he wrote an elegy about Syracuse. Other fragments imply that he merely visited Sicily. What can be discerned through the fragments of his surviving works is that he belonged to aristocratic circles. Many of his poems are relevant to the symposium, such as drinking songs, political expositions, and pederastic love songs. His political views seemed to have put him at odds with the leaders of a democratic revolution. Betrayed by one of his friends, Theognis found himself bereft of his property and exiled. His travels took him to Euboea, Thebes, Sparta, and eventually Sicily. His poems, many addressed to his friend Cyrnus, are filled with invective against his enemies, the bemoaning of his state of poverty, and lampoons. Also, in some poems he attempted to give political and moral advice to his friend.
Influence Despite the loss of much of his work and the doubtful authorship of some Theognic fragments, the ancient authors placed him on par with Hesiod and Solon. He appears to have been a prominent voice for aristocratic concerns during a century of political transition.
Further Reading
Edgecombe, Rodney Stenning. “Keats’ ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’ and Theognis’ Elegies 1.15-18.” Notes & Queries 52, no. 4 (December, 2005): 463.
Edwards, J. M. Greek Elegy and Iambus. Vol. 1. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1982.
Mulroy, David. Early Greek Lyric Poetry. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2000.
West, M. L. Greek Lyric Poetry. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press, 1994.
Todd William Ewing
See also: Hesiod; Literature; Solon.
Philosopher
Born: c. 372 b. c.e.; Eresus, Lesbos, Greece Died: c. 287 b. c.e.; Athens?, Greece Also known as: Tyrtamus (birth name)
Category: Philosophy
Life Theophrastus (thee-oh-FRAS-tuhs) was associated with the great Greek philosopher Aristotle during much of his active life. He appears to have met Aristotle sometime during the 340’s b. c.e., perhaps in Asia Minor. He accompanied Aristotle when the latter moved to Macedonia (342335 b. c.e.) and stayed with him when Aristotle returned to Athens. He succeeded Aristotle as the leader of the collection of scholars teaching philosophy in Athens in the late fourth and early third centuries b. c.e.
Influence Although most of Theophrastus’s writings have not survived, he carried on the philosophical speculations ofAristotle, though not without some criticism of Aristotle’s conclusions. Of the few works that have survived, the most significant are his study of fire (in which he expressed some disagreement with Aristotle’s views) and his account of plants of the eastern Mediterranean, particularly its trees. He believed in close observation followed by rational evaluation of possible explanations of the observed phenomena. His study of plants laid the methodological foundations of modern botany, particularly through his descriptions of the methods of reproduction used by the different plants.
Further Reading
Baltussen, H. Theophrastus Against the Presocratics and Plato: Peripatetic Dialectic in “De sensibus.” Boston: Brill, 2000.
Brunschwig, Jacques, and G. E. R. Lloyd, eds. Greek Thought: A Guide to Classical Knowledge. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2000.
Theophrastus. (Library of Congress)
Van Ophuijsen, Johannes M., and Marlein von Raalte. Theophrastus: Reappraising the Sources. New Brunswick, N. J.: Transaction, 1998. Williams, Bernard. “Philosophy.” In The Legacy of Greece: A New Appraisal, edited by M. I. Finley. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 1984.
Nancy M. Gordon
See also: Aristotle; Literature; Philosophy; Science.
The site of Bronze Age Akroteri, this island was destroyed in a volcanic catastrophe purported to have endedMinoan civilization and given rise to the Atlantis myth.
Date: 2000-1400 b. c.e.
Category: Historic sites
Locale: Thera (modern Thira), in the Cyclades
Background Thera (THIHR-uh), the largest island in the Santorini Archipelago, is about 62 miles (100 kilometers) north of Crete. Thera and the lesser island, Therasia (modern Thirasia), are remnants of a caldera (crater) rim formed by the collapse of an exploded volcano.
Thera’s latest explosion, probably in 1623 b. c.e., was one of the largest volcanic explosions recorded in human history. In addition to blasting out a caldera, the volcano discharged an estimated 35,000-39,000 cubic yards (27 to 30 cubic kilometers) of volcanic debris, burying Bronze Age settlements on the archipelago with thick ash and pumice. Airborne volcanic ash, mineralogically dated, occurs in archaeological excavations and natural exposures throughout the eastern Mediterranean, as far as the Nile Delta, Israel, and central Anatolia. This ash is about eight inches (twenty centimeters) thick off northern Crete. In addition, the eruption probably caused atsunami. Tsunami effects have been observed on the north coast of Crete, and some archaeologists credit a tsunami rather than an earthquake for tumbling large stone blocks in the ruins of Knossos. Also, geologists argue that glowing ash clouds from Thera could have crossed the sea to Crete to start the fires that accompanied Knossos’s destruction. Finally, ash blown into the stratosphere by a large explosive eruption could cause temporary global cooling and crop failures. Indeed, volcanic traces in the Greenland ice cap and stunted growth recorded in tree-rings from California and Ireland indicate global cooling around 1623 b. c.e. and are widely ascribed to Thera’s last explosive eruption.
Archaeological Excavations Before the great explosion, Thera and Therasia supported a thriving culture, named the Cycladic, but broadly included in the contemporaneous Minoan culture on Crete. Cycladic ruins and artifacts were first brought to light in 1866 in pumice quarries opened for the Suez Canal Company on Therasia. In 1869, extensive archaeologic excavation began when archaeologist and volcanologist Ferdinand Fouque first found Akroteri at the south end of Thera. Between 1895 and 1903, German archaeologists excavated ruins near the town of Thera.
Akroteri, however, remains the most important Cycladic site and is a popular tourist destination. There, the Greek archaeologist Spyridon Mar-inatos began unearthing a rich, beautifully preserved city in 1967. After Marinatos’s death in 1974, Christos Doumas continued the project. The Akroteri excavation includes several large, well-constructed, multistory houses notable for very well-preserved frescoes. These frescoes completely cover the interior walls of entire rooms, illustrating ships, men, women, children, birds, plants, and monkeys in a naturalistic style. They closely resemble Minoan frescoes on Crete but remain the finest uncovered Bronze Age artworks. The frescoes, pottery, and other Theran artifacts clearly indicate strong affinity with the Cretan Minoan culture. In contrast to Pompeii and Herculaneum, also overwhelmed by volcanic debris, human remains are notably few on Thera. Either the inhabitants fled the island or they were trapped in an undiscovered refuge.
Thera as Atlantis Archaeologists and other scholars speculate that Thera’s explosion gave rise to the Atlantis myth. In his Critias (360-347 b. c.e.; English translation, 1793) and Timaeus (360-347 b. c.e.; Timeaus, 1793), Plato describes Atlantis as an island occupied by a highly civilized, powerful empire that, after being struck by violent earthquakes and floods, sinks into the sea during a single day and night. Thera and Knossos’s destruction resembles this myth. Knossos and other Cretan cities and palaces were struck by an earthquake or possibly a tsunami and then destroyed by fire and abandoned at the height of the Minoan culture, about 1450 b. c.e. Akroteri also suffered an earthquake and was temporarily reoccupied before its volcanic destruction. No apparent cultural decline preceded either city’s destruction, and both regions were subsequently occupied by people from mainland cultures. Therefore, although some explain the Cretan disaster as an overwhelming invasion, many archaeologists believe Thera’s eruption caused the destruction on both Thera and Crete.
The sequence of pottery styles, however, indicates that Akroteri’s destruction significantly predates Knossos’s fall. The youngest pottery in Akroteri’s ruins is considered of the same age as that of the Late Minoan lA age, an age defined by sequencing pottery decorative styles. These pots are somewhat older than the Late Minoan IB materials at ruined Knossos. These dates are founded on correlating the Cycladic and Minoan decorative style sequences, and the calendar dates are based on Egyptian hieroglyphic records. None of this, however, is accepted by all archaeologists. Radiocarbon dates do not support simultaneous destruction of Thera and Minoan Crete. The radiocarbon age of charcoal in the ruins of Akroteri ranges from 1740 to 1550 b. c.e., favoring a seventeenth century b. c.e. date for the eruption and for Minoan IA ceramics on Thera. Radiocarbon dates for Late Minoan lA or IB ceramics at Knossos are imprecise, but the subsequent Late Minoan II periods are placed at around 1510 to 1430 b. c.e. Nevertheless, many authorities consider the events synchronous. In addition, Thera’s eruption has been speculatively linked with the reddening of the Nile, pollution of water, and the three-day darkening of the sky reported in the book of Exodus. Pinkish-gray ash blown from Thera, identified in the Nile Delta, easily could have darkened the sky, colored the river, and polluted water supplies. Although the Exodus “plagues” are unrecorded in Egyptian hieroglyphics, historians believe they occurred sometime in the vicinity of Thera’s eruption.
Further Reading
Broad, William J. “It Swallowed a Civilization.” The New York Times, October 21, 2003, pp. F1-F2.
Doumas, Christos G. Thera, Pompeii of the Ancient Aegean. London: Thames and Hudson, 1983.
Forsyth, Phyllis Young. “Thera in the Bronze Age.” American University Studies 9, no. 187 (1997).
Fouque, Ferdinand A. Santorini and Its Eruptions. Translated and with a new introduction by Alexander R. McBirney. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998.
Hardy, D. A., ed. Thera and the Aegean WorldIII. London: Thera Foundation, 1990.
Palyvou, Clairy. Akrotiri Thera: An Architecture of Affluence 3,500 Years Old. Philadelphia: Instap Academic Press, 2005.
Papaodysseus, C., et al. “Distinct, Late Bronze Age (c. 1650 b. c.) Wall-
Paintings from Akrotiri, Thera, Comprising Advanced Geometrical Patterns.” Archaeometry 48, no. 1 (February, 2006): 97-114. Sigurdsson, Haraldur. Melting the Earth. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
M. Casey Diana
World History
