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{{Short description|6th-century BC Greek lyric poet}}
{{redirect|Theognis|other people named Theognis|Theognis (disambiguation)}}
[[File:Tanagra, 5th century kylix a symposiast sings Theognis o paidon kalliste.png|thumb|upright=1.1|A [[kylix (drinking cup)|kylix]] from Tanagra, Boeotia, 5th century B.C. A symposiast sings ὦ παίδων κάλλιστε, the beginning of a verse by Theognis]]
'''Theognis of Megara''' ({{lang-grc-gre|[[wikt:Θέογνις#Ancient Greek|Θέογνις]] ὁ Μεγαρεύς}}, ''Théognis ho Megareús'') was a [[Greek lyric poet]] active in approximately the sixth century BC. The work attributed to him consists of [[gnomic poetry]] quite typical of the time, featuring ethical maxims and practical advice about life. He was the first Greek poet known to express concern over the eventual fate and survival of his own work<ref>B. M. Knox, 'Theognis', ''The Cambridge History of Greek Literature:I Greek Literature'', Cambridge University Press (1985), P. Easterling and B. Knox (ed.s), pages 138</ref> and, along with [[Homer]], [[Hesiod]] and the authors of the [[Homeric Hymns]], he is among the earliest poets whose work has been preserved in a continuous manuscript tradition (the work of other [[Archaic Greece|archaic]] poets is preserved as scattered fragments).<ref>Douglas E. Gerber, ''Greek Elegiac Poetry'', Loeb Classical Library (1999), page 8</ref> In fact more than half of the extant [[elegiac]] poetry of Greece before the [[Alexandrian period]] is included in the approximately 1,400 lines of verse attributed to him
The verses preserved under Theognis' name are written from the viewpoint of an aristocrat confronted by social and political revolution typical of Greek cities in the archaic period. Part of his work is addressed to Cyrnus, who is presented as his [[Pederasty in ancient Greece#Terminology|''erōmenos'']]. The author of the poems celebrated him in his verse and educated him in the aristocratic values of the time, yet Cyrnus came to symbolize much about his imperfect world that the poet bitterly resented:
{{Verse translation|italicsoff=y|
{{lang|grc|πᾶσι δ᾽ ὅσοισι μέμηλε καὶ ἐσσομένοισιν ἀοιδὴ<br>
:ἔσσῃ ὁμῶς, ὄφρ᾽ ἂν γῆ τε καὶ ἠέλιος,
αὐτὰρ ἐγὼν ὀλίγης παρὰ σεῦ οὐ τυγχάνω αἰδοῦς,<br>
:ἀλλ᾽ ὥσπερ μικρὸν παῖδα λόγοις μ᾽ ἀπατᾷς.}}<ref>Theognis 251–4, cited by Douglas E. Gerber, ''Greek Elegiac Poetry'', Loeb Classical Library (1999), page 208</ref>
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Ancient sources record dates in the mid-sixth century{{emdash}}[[Eusebius]] dates Theognis in the 58th [[Olympiad]] (548–45 BC), [[Suda]] the 59th Olympiad (544–41 BC) and [[Chronicon Paschale]] the 57th Olympiad (552–49 BC){{emdash}}yet it is not clear whether Suda in this case means a date of birth or some other significant event in the poet's life. Some scholars have argued that the sources could have derived their dates from lines 773–82 under the assumption that these refer to Harpagus's attack on [[Ionia]] in the reign of [[Cyrus The Great]].<ref>David A. Campbell, ''Greek Lyric Poetry'', Bristol Classical Press (1982), pages 345–46</ref>
Chronological evidence from the poems themselves is hampered by their uncertain authenticity. Lines 29–52, if composed by Theognis, seem to portray the political situation in Megara before the rise of the tyrant [[Theagenes of Megara|Theagenes]], about the latter half of the ''seventh century'',<ref>Martin L. West, ''Studies in Greek Elegy and Iambus'', Berlin / New York 1974, p. 68; disputed by Hendrik Selle, ''Theognis und die Theognidea'', Berlin / New York 2008, p. 233–4</ref> but lines 891–95 describe a war in [[Euboea]] in the second quarter of the ''sixth century'', and lines 773–82 seem to refer to the Persian invasion of mainland Greece in the reign of [[Xerxes I of Persia|Xerxes]], at the end of the first quarter of the ''fifth century''.<ref>Thomas J. Figueira and Gregory Nagy (eds), ''Theognis of Megara: Poetry and the Polis'', The Johns Hopkins University Press (1985), Introduction ([http://www.stoa.org/hopper/text.jsp?doc=Stoa:text:2003.01.0008 online here])</ref>
Even some modern scholars have interpreted those lines in that time-frame, deducing a birth date on or just before 600 BC,<ref>Thomas Hudson-Williams, ''The Elegies of Theognis'', G. Bell and Sons Ltd (1910), pages 9–10</ref> while others place his birth around 550 BC to fit in with the Persian invasion under either [[Darius I of Persia|Darius]] or Xerxes.<ref>David A. Campbell, ''Greek Lyric Poetry'', Bristol Classical Press (1982), pages 346</ref>
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Modern scholars in general opt for a birthplace in mainland Greek [[Megara]] though a suitable context for the poems could be found just about anywhere in archaic Greece<ref>B. M. Knox, "Theognis", ''The Cambridge History of Greek Literature:I Greek Literature'', Cambridge University Press (1985), P. Easterling and B. Knox (ed.s), page 138</ref> and there are options for mix-and-match, such as a birth in mainland Megara and then migration to Sicilian Megara (lines 1197–1201 mention dispossession/exile and lines 783–88 journeys to Sicily, Euboea and Sparta).<ref>David A. Campbell, ''Greek Lyric Poetry'', Bristol Classical Press (1982), pages 345</ref>
The elegiac verses attributed to Theognis present him as a complex character and an exponent of traditional Greek morality. Thus for example [[Isocrates]] includes him among "the best advisers for human life", although all consider words of advice both in poetry and in prose to be most useful, they certainly do not derive the greatest pleasure from listening to them, but their attitude towards them is the same as their attitude towards those who admonish: for although they praise the latter, they prefer to associate with those who share in their follies and not with those who seek to dissuade them. As proof one could cite the poetry of [[Hesiod]], Theognis and [[Phocylides]]; for people say that they have been the best advisers for human life, but while saying this they prefer to occupy themselves with one another's follies than with the precepts of those poets."{{emdash}}Isocrates, ''To Nicocles'' 42–4, cited and translated by Douglas E. Gerber, ''Greek Elegiac Poetry'', Loeb Classical Library (1999), page 171–3
Two modern authorities have drawn these portraits of Theognis, based on their own selections of his work:
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===Transmission===
It was probably his reputation as a moralist, significant enough to deserve comment by Aristotle and Plato, that guaranteed the survival of his work through the Byzantine period.<ref>B. M. Knox, 'Theognis', ''The Cambridge History of Greek Literature:I Greek Literature'', Cambridge University Press (1985), P. Easterling and B. Knox (ed.s), page 158</ref> However, it is clear that we
The best of these manuscripts, dated to the early 10th century, includes an end section titled "Book 2" (sometimes referred to as ''Musa Paedica''), which features some hundred additional couplets and which "harps on the same theme throughout—boy love."<ref>B. M. Knox, 'Theognis', ''The Cambridge History of Greek Literature:I Greek Literature'', Cambridge University Press (1985), P. Easterling and B. Knox (ed.s), page 137</ref> The quality of the verse in the end section is radically diverse, ranging from "exquisite and simple beauty" to "the worst specimens of the bungler's art", and many scholars have rejected it as a spurious addition,<ref>Thomas Hudson-Williams, ''The Elegies of Theognis'', G. Bell and Sons Ltd (1910), pages 55–57</ref> including the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (see [[Theognis#Nietzsche and Theognis|Nietzsche and Theognis]] below). However, many modern scholars consider the verses of Book 2 an integral part of the collection.<ref>[[Andrew Lear|Lear, Andrew]], "The Pederastic Elegies and the Authorship of the Theognidea", Classical Quarterly 61 (2011), pages 378-93.</ref> The rest of the work also raises issues about authenticity, since some couplets look like lines attributed by ancient sources to other poets ([[Solon]], [[Euenus]], [[Mimnermus]] and Tyrtaeus).<ref group ="nb">Solon (lines 315–18, 585–90), Euenus (lines 467–96, 667–82, 1341–50), Mimnermus (lines 795–56, 1020–22) and Tyrtaeus (lines 1003–6),</ref> and other couplets are repeated with few or no changes elsewhere in the text.<ref group ="nb">Repeated lines: 87–90≈1082cf, 116≈644, 39–42≈1081–82b, 209–10≈332ab, 509–10≈211–12, 853–54≈1038ab, 877–78≈1070ab, 415–18≈1164eh, and including Book Two 1151–52≈1238ab.</ref> Ironically, Theognis mentions to his friend Cyrnus precautions that he has taken to ensure the fidelity of his legacy:
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===Subject matter===
All the poetry attributed to Theognis deals with subjects typically discussed at aristocratic [[Symposium|symposia]]{{emdash}}drinking parties that had symbolic and practical significance for the participants:
{{quote|
Sympotic topics covered by Theognis include wine,<ref group ="nb">Example of a wine-theme: "Two demons of drink beset wretched mortals, enfeebling thirst and harsh drunkenness. I'll steer a middle course between them and you won't persuade me either not to drink or to drink too much."{{emdash}}lines 837–40, translated by Douglas Gerber, ''Loeb'', page 295</ref> politics,<ref group ="nb">Example of political theme:"Cyrnus, this city is pregnant and I am afraid she will give birth to a man who will set right our wicked insolence. The townsmen are still of sound mind but their leaders have changed and fallen into the depths of depravity."{{emdash}}lines 39–42, translated by Douglas Gerber, ''Loeb'', page 181</ref> friendship,<ref group ="nb">Example of friendship theme: "Many in truth are your comrades when there's food and drink, but not so many when the enterprise is serious."{{emdash}}lines 115–16, translated by Douglas Gerber, ''Loeb'' page 189</ref> war,<ref group ="nb">Example of war theme: "This is excellence, this the best human prize and the fairest for a man to win. This is a common benefit for the state and all the people, whenever a man with firm stance holds his ground among the front ranks."{{emdash}}lines 1003–6 (also attributed to [[Tyrtaeus]]), translated by Douglas Gerber, ''Loeb'' page 319</ref> life's brevity,<ref group ="nb">Example of [[carpe diem]] theme: "Enjoy your youth, my dear heart: soon it will be the turn of other men, and I'll be dead and become dark earth."{{emdash}}lines 877–78, translated by Douglas Gerber, ''Loeb'', page 301</ref> human nature,<ref group ="nb">Example of human nature theme: "It is easier to beget and rear a man than to put good sense in him. No one has yet devised a means whereby one has made the fool wise and a noble man out of one who is base."{{emdash}}lines 429–31, translated by Douglas Gerber, ''Loeb'' page 237</ref> wealth<ref group ="nb">Example of Wealth theme: "O wretched poverty, why do you delay to leave me and go to another man? Don't be attached to me against my will, but go, visit another house, and don't always share this miserable life with me.{{emdash}}lines 351–54, translated by Douglas Gerber, ''Loeb'' page 225</ref> and
Theognis also details the heightened political tensions within Megara during the seventh century. His works depict the arrival of "other men" that have challenged and displaced former members of the elite.<ref>Mackil, Emily, "Tyrtaeus and Theognis", Lecture, September 11, 2018</ref> His works, particularly lines 53-58, demonstrate that increasing urbanization among the rural populace surrounding Megara has resulted in heightened social pressures within the city. His writings are thought by modern scholars to largely represent the aristocratic viewpoint of the Megarian elite. However, it is difficult for modern scholars to ascertain both Theognis' position in Megarian society and his role in writing these lines due to possible later additions to his works and the confusion surrounding his origins.
===Poetic style===
Theognis wrote in the archaic [[Elegy|elegiac]] style. An "elegy" in English is associated with lamentation. In ancient Greece it was a much more flexible medium, suitable for performance at drinking parties and public festivals, urging courage in war and surrender in love. It gave the [[hexameter]] line of epic verse a lyrical impulse by the addition of a shorter "pentameter" line, in a series of couplets accompanied by the music of the [[aulos]] or pipe.<ref>Douglas E. Gerber, ''Greek Elegiac Poetry'', Loeb Classical Library (1999), page 1–3</ref> Theognis was conservative and unadventurous in his use of language, frequently imitating the epic phrasing of [[Homer]], even using his Ionian dialect rather than the Dorian spoken in Megara, and possibly borrowing inspiration and entire lines from other elegiac poets, such as Tyrtaeus, Mimnermus and Solon. His verses are not always melodious or carefully constructed but he often places key words for good effect and he employs linguistic devices such as [[asyndeton]], familiar in common speech.<ref>David A. Campbell, ''Greek Lyric Poetry'', Bristol Classical Press (1982), pages 346–47</ref> He was capable of arresting imagery and memorable statements in the form of terse epigrams.<ref>David Mulroy, ''Early Greek Lyric Poetry'', The University of Michigan Press (1992), page 171</ref> Some of these qualities are evident in the following lines [425-8], considered to be "the classic formulation of Greek pessimism":<ref>B. M. Knox, 'Theognis', ''The Cambridge History of Greek Literature:I Greek Literature'', Cambridge University Press (1985), P. Easterling and B. Knox (ed.s), page 144</ref>
{{Verse translation|italicsoff=y|
{{lang|grc|Πάντων
φύντα δ᾽ ὅπως ὤκιστα πύλας Ἀΐδαο περῆσαι<br>
|
Best of all for mortal beings is never to have been born at all
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:And then repose, the earth piled into a mound round himself.}}
The lines were much quoted in antiquity, as for example by [[Stobaeus]] and [[Sextus Empiricus]], and it was imitated by later poets, such as [[Sophocles]] and [[Bacchylides]].<ref group ="nb">Stobaeus 4.52, Sextus Empiricus ''Pyrrh. hypot.'' 3.231, Sophocles ''O.C'' 1225 and Bacchylides 5.160–2{{emdash}}cited by David Campbell, ''Greek Lyric Poetry'' page 366</ref> Theognis himself might be imitating others: each of the longer hexameter lines is loosely paraphrased in the shorter pentameter lines, as if he borrowed the longer lines from some unknown source(s) and added the shorter lines to create an elegiac version.<ref>Douglas E. Gerber, ''Greek Elegiac Poetry'', Loeb Classical Library (1999), note 1 page 235</ref> Moreover, the last line could be imitating an image from Homer's ''[[Odyssey]]'' (5.482), where Odysseus covers himself with leaves though some scholars think the key word {{lang|grc|ἐπαμησάμενον}} might be corrupted.<ref>Thomas Hudson-Williams, ''The elegies of Theognis and other elegies included in the Theognidean sylloge'' (1910), note 428 pages 205–6</ref><ref>see also J. M. Edmonds (ed.), ''Elegiac Poems of Theognis'', ''Elegy and Iambus'' Vol.1, note 103, [
{{lang|grc|... δοιοὺς δ' ἄρ' ὑπήλυθε θάμνους}} <br>
{{lang|grc|ἐξ ὁμόθεν πεφυῶτας· ὁ μὲν φυλίης, ὁ δ' ἐλαίης.}}<br>
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Odyssey 5.476–83</ref> The smothering accumulation of eta ({{lang|grc|η}}) sounds in the last line of the Greek is imitated here in the English by ''mound round''.
==Scholarship==
==Classical scholarship==▼
According to [[Diogenes Laërtius]], the second volume of the collected works of [[Antisthenes]] includes a book entitled ''Concerning Theognis''.<ref>Diogenes Laërtius, ''[[Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers]]''. VI. 16.</ref> The work does not survive.
=== Modern
{{cquote|
The collection of verses attributed to Theognis has no overall structure, being a continuous series of elegiac couplets featuring frequent, sudden changes in subject and theme, in which different people are addressed and even the speaker seems to change persona, voicing contradictory statements and, on a couple of occasions, even changing sex.<ref group ="nb">A woman's voice for example here: "My friends betray me and refuse to give me anything when men appear. Well, of my own accord I'll go out at evening and return at dawn, when the roosters awake and crow"{{emdash}}lines 861–64 translated by Douglas Gerber, ''Loeb'' page 299</ref> It looks like a miscellaneous collection by different authors (some verses are in fact attributed elsewhere to other poets) but it is not known when or how the collection was finalized.<ref>translated by B. M. Knox, 'Theognis', ''The Cambridge History of Greek Literature:I Greek Literature'', Cambridge University Press (1985), P. Easterling and B. Knox (ed.s), page 137</ref> [[Friedrich Gottlieb Welcker]], sometime known as "the father of Theognidean criticism", was the first modern scholar to edit the collection with a view to separating authentic verses from spurious additions (1826), Ernest Harrison (''Studies in Theognis'' 1902) subsequently defended the authenticity of the collection, and thus the scholarly world divided into two camps, which one recent scholar half-jokingly referred to as "separatists" and "unitarians"<ref>David A. Campbell, ''Greek Lyric Poetry'', Bristol Classical Press (1982), page 343–45</ref> There have also been divisions within the camps. Separatists have agreed with [[Theodor Bergk]] (1843) that the collection was originally assembled as the work of Theognis, into which a large admixture of foreign matter has somehow found its way, or they have believed it was compiled originally as a textbook for use in schools or else as a set of aristocratic [[Symposium|drinking]] songs, in which some verses of Theognis happen to be strongly represented.<ref>Thomas Hudson-Williams, ''The elegies of Theognis and other elegies included in the Theognidean sylloge'' (1910), note 428 pages 17, 24 and 43</ref> Quite recently Martin Litchfield West identified 306 lines as a core sequence of verses that can be reliably attributed to Theognis since they contain mention of Cyrnus and are attested by 4th century authorities such as Plato and Aristotle, though the rest of the corpus could still contain some authentic verses.<ref>M.L.West, ''Theognidis et Phocylides fragmenta'' Berlin (1978), cited by B. M. Knox, 'Theognis', ''The Cambridge History of Greek Literature:I Greek Literature'', Cambridge University Press (1985), P. Easterling and B. Knox (ed.s), page 139</ref> West however acknowledges that the whole collection is valuable since it represents a cross-section of elegiac poetry composed in the sixth and early fifth centuries.<ref>M.L.West, ''Greek Lyric Poetry'', Oxford University Press (1993), pages xiv–xv</ref> According to another view, the quest for authentically Theognidean elegies is rather beside the point—the collection owes its survival to the political motivations of Athenian intellectuals in the 5th and 4th century, disappointed with democracy and sympathetic to old aristocratic values: "The persona of the poet is traditionally based, ideologically conditioned and generically expressed." According to this view, the verses were drinking songs in so far as the symposium was understood to be a microcosm of society, where multiple views were an aspect of adaptive behaviour by the embattled aristocracy, and where even eroticism had political symbolism: "As the polis envisaged by Theognis is degenerate, erotic relationships are filled with pain..."<ref>Thomas J. Figueira and Gregory Nagy (eds), ''Theognis of Megara: Poetry and the Polis'', The Johns Hopkins University Press (1985), Introduction ([http://www.stoa.org/hopper/text.jsp?doc=Stoa:text:2003.01.0008 online here]</ref>
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In lines 19–22, the poet announces his intention of placing a "seal" on the verses to protect them from theft and corruption. The lines are among the most controversial in Theognidean scholarship and there is a large body of literature dedicated to their explanation. The 'seal' has been theorized to be the name of Theognis or of Cyrnus or, more generally, the distinct poetic style or else the political or ethical content of the 'poems',<ref>Douglas E. Gerber, ''Greek Elegiac Poetry'', Loeb Classical Library (1999), note 2 page 179</ref> or even a literal seal on a copy entrusted to some temple, just as [[Heraclitus of Ephesus]] was said once to have sealed and stored a copy of his work at the [[Artemisium]].<ref>B. M. Knox, 'Theognis', ''The Cambridge History of Greek Literature:I Greek Literature'', Cambridge University Press (1985), P. Easterling and B. Knox (ed.s), page 139</ref>
==== Friedrich Nietzsche ====
[[File:P.Berol.21220 Theognis.png|right|thumb|A papyrus fragment covering lines 917–33, part of a poem addressed to ''Democles'' (identity unknown) and considered on textual grounds to be a late addition to the Theognidean corpus, probably fifth century<ref>Douglas E. Gerber, ''Greek Elegiac Poetry'', Loeb Classical Library (1999), note 1 page 307</ref><br>Coincidentally, Nietzsche's first published article, ''On the History of the Collection of the Theognidean Anthology'' (1867), concerned the textual transmission of the poems.<ref>Maudemarie Clark and Alan Swensen in their edition, ''On the Genealogy of Morality: a polemic'', Hackett Publishing Company (1998), note 13:13 page 133</ref>]]
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However a later scholar has observed that the catchword principle can be made to work for just about any anthology as a matter of coincidence due to thematic association.<ref>Thomas Hudson-Williams, ''The Elegies of Theognis'', G. Bell and Sons Ltd (1910), pages 13–15</ref>
Nietzsche valued Theognis as an archetype of the embattled aristocrat, describing him as "...a finely formed nobleman who has fallen on bad times", and "a distorted [[Janus]]-head" at the crossroads of social change.<ref>quoted in a biography on Nietzsche by Curt Paul Janz and cited in a note by Maudemarie Clark and Alan Swensen in their edition, ''On the Genealogy of Morality: a polemic'', Hackett Publishing Company (1998), page 133</ref><ref group ="nb">"Theognis appears as a finely formed nobleman who has fallen on bad times...full of fatal hatred toward the upward striving masses, tossed about by a sad fate that wore him down and made him milder in many respects. He is a characteristic image of that old, ingenious somewhat spoiled and no longer firmly rooted blood nobility, placed at the boundary of an old and a new era, a distorted [[Janus]]-head, since what is past seems so beautiful and enviable, that which is coming{{emdash}}something that basically has an equal entitlement{{emdash}}seems disgusting and repulsive; a typical head for all those noble figures who represent the aristocracy prior to a popular revolution and who struggle for the existence of the class of nobles as for their individual existence."{{emdash}}from a biography of Nietzsche by Curt Paul Zanz, quoted and translated by Maudemarie Clark and Alan Swensen in their edition, ''On the Genealogy of Morality: a polemic'', Hackett Publishing Company (1998), page 133</ref> Not all the verses in the collection however fitted Nietzsche's notion of Theognis, the man, and he rejected ''Musa Paedica'' or "Book 2" as the interpolation of a malicious editor out to discredit him.<ref>Thomas Hudson-Williams, ''The Elegies of Theognis'', G. Bell and Sons Ltd (1910), pages 60–61</ref> In one of his seminal works, ''[[On the Genealogy of
==== Charles Darwin ====
Charles Darwin represented a widespread preference for a biological interpretation of such statements when he commented on the above lines thus:
{{cquote|
{{-}}
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* Nietzsche, On Theognis of Megara, edited by Renato Cristi & Oscar Velasquez, Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2015
* Selle, Hendrik, ''Theognis und die Theognidea'' (Berlin; New York: Walter de Gruyter, 2008) (Untersuchungen zur antiken Literatur und Geschichte, 95).
*{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Theognis of Megara|volume=26|first=Thomas Hudson |last=Williams}} This has a critical review of the poetry.
===Editions===
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*{{wikiquote-inline}}
*{{wikisourcelang-inline|el|Θέογνις ο Μεγαρεύς|Θέογνις}}
*J.M.Edmonds (ed.) [
*[http://www.blackcatpoems.com/t/theognis_of_megara.html Poems by Theognis of Megara] English translations
*[http://demonax.info/doku.php?id=text:theognis_poems Theognis of Megara Poems] with complete table of contents
{{Ancient Greece topics}}
{{Authority control}}
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[[Category:Ancient Greek erotic poets]]
[[Category:Ancient Megarians]]
[[Category:
[[Category:
[[Category:Ancient Greek elegiac poets]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
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