Praxilla
Encyclopedia
Praxilla of Sicyon
, was a Greek
lyric
poet
of the 5th century BC. She was a contemporary of Telesilla. Antipater of Thessalonica lists her first among his canon of nine 'immortal-tongued' women poets She was highly esteemed in her time. Evidence of this is shown in that Lysippus, a famous sculptor, made a bronze statue of her. In addition to this statue a vase was found with the first four words of a poem, she had written, on it. "Further evidence for the reception of her work in the fifth century BC comes from the comec playwright Aristophanes, who parodied lines from her poetry both in the Wasps(1238)and the Thesmophoriazusae (528). Not only did he know her work, but his parody implies that he expected his Athenian audience to recognize it too." Not much of her works survive, only eight fragments of her work. Her talents were varied, she wrote drinking songs (scolia
), hymns and dithyrambs (choral odes performed at festivals of Dionysus). She composed a hymn to Adonis
from which one fragment survives, in which Adonis, in response to a question from the shades in the underworld ("What was the most beautiful thing you left behind?"), answers:
This fragment survives because Zenobius
quoted it to explain the proverbial expression "sillier than Praxilla's Adonis" (because the inclusion of cucumbers alongside the sun and moon could seem incongruous). Testimonia and fragments in David A. Campbell, Greek Lyric, vol. 4, pp. 374–381 (Loeb Classical Library
, 1992). "An apparent pun in line three between cucumber (in Greek sicyos) and the name of Praxilla's own city suggest we can read more than one level of meaning into Adonis' lines."
She invented a dactylic metre that became known as Praxilleion.
Because drinking songs were a popular form of entertainment, Praxilla's works were enjoyed into the 2nd century BC. "That Praxilla wrote poetry of this type, intended to be sung at parties from which respectable women would be excluded, has led to the speculation that she may have been a hetaera, or courtesan, as women of this class did attend such parties."
As the years progressed Praxilla's works were not all received as well. "Tatian (Against the Greeks 33) states that she said nothing useful in her poetry, but his criticism is of little value to us, as the moral Christian standpoint he adopts causes him to criticise all Greek works of art." A general evaluation of Praxilla is difficult given the amount of surviving works, but it can be said that had more of her works survived we might have noticed a great deal of origination and a charm of description.
Sicyon
Sikyon was an ancient Greek city situated in the northern Peloponnesus between Corinth and Achaea on the territory of the present-day prefecture of Corinthia...
, was a Greek
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
lyric
Lyric poetry
Lyric poetry is a genre of poetry that expresses personal and emotional feelings. In the ancient world, lyric poems were those which were sung to the lyre. Lyric poems do not have to rhyme, and today do not need to be set to music or a beat...
poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
of the 5th century BC. She was a contemporary of Telesilla. Antipater of Thessalonica lists her first among his canon of nine 'immortal-tongued' women poets She was highly esteemed in her time. Evidence of this is shown in that Lysippus, a famous sculptor, made a bronze statue of her. In addition to this statue a vase was found with the first four words of a poem, she had written, on it. "Further evidence for the reception of her work in the fifth century BC comes from the comec playwright Aristophanes, who parodied lines from her poetry both in the Wasps(1238)and the Thesmophoriazusae (528). Not only did he know her work, but his parody implies that he expected his Athenian audience to recognize it too." Not much of her works survive, only eight fragments of her work. Her talents were varied, she wrote drinking songs (scolia
Skolion
Not to be confused with scholionSkolion , also scolion , were songs sung by invited guests at banquets in ancient Greece. Often extolling the virtues of the gods or heroic men, skolia were improvised to suit the occasion and accompanied by a lyre, which was handed about from singer to singer as the...
), hymns and dithyrambs (choral odes performed at festivals of Dionysus). She composed a hymn to Adonis
Adonis
Adonis , in Greek mythology, the god of beauty and desire, is a figure with Northwest Semitic antecedents, where he is a central figure in various mystery religions. The Greek , Adōnis is a variation of the Semitic word Adonai, "lord", which is also one of the names used to refer to God in the Old...
from which one fragment survives, in which Adonis, in response to a question from the shades in the underworld ("What was the most beautiful thing you left behind?"), answers:
| κάλλιστον μὲν ἐγὼ λείπω φάος ἠελίοιο, δεύτερον ἄστρα φαεινὰ σεληναίης τε πρόσωπον ἠδὲ καὶ ὡραίους σικύους καὶ μῆλα καὶ ὄγχνας· (747 PMG) |
Finest of all the things I have left is the light of the sun, Next to that the brilliant stars and the face of the moon, Cucumbers in their season, too, and apples and pears. (trans. Bernard Knox Bernard Knox Bernard MacGregor Walker Knox was an English classicist, author, and critic who became an American citizen. He was the first director of the Center for Hellenic Studies. In 1992 the National Endowment for the Humanities selected Knox for the Jefferson Lecture, the U.S... ) |
This fragment survives because Zenobius
Zenobius
Zenobius was a Greek sophist, who taught rhetoric at Rome during the reign of Emperor Hadrian .-Biography:He was the author of a collection of proverbs in three books, still extant in an abridged form, compiled, according to the Suda, from Didymus of Alexandria and "The Tarrhaean"...
quoted it to explain the proverbial expression "sillier than Praxilla's Adonis" (because the inclusion of cucumbers alongside the sun and moon could seem incongruous). Testimonia and fragments in David A. Campbell, Greek Lyric, vol. 4, pp. 374–381 (Loeb Classical Library
Loeb Classical Library
The Loeb Classical Library is a series of books, today published by Harvard University Press, which presents important works of ancient Greek and Latin Literature in a way designed to make the text accessible to the broadest possible audience, by presenting the original Greek or Latin text on each...
, 1992). "An apparent pun in line three between cucumber (in Greek sicyos) and the name of Praxilla's own city suggest we can read more than one level of meaning into Adonis' lines."
She invented a dactylic metre that became known as Praxilleion.
Because drinking songs were a popular form of entertainment, Praxilla's works were enjoyed into the 2nd century BC. "That Praxilla wrote poetry of this type, intended to be sung at parties from which respectable women would be excluded, has led to the speculation that she may have been a hetaera, or courtesan, as women of this class did attend such parties."
As the years progressed Praxilla's works were not all received as well. "Tatian (Against the Greeks 33) states that she said nothing useful in her poetry, but his criticism is of little value to us, as the moral Christian standpoint he adopts causes him to criticise all Greek works of art." A general evaluation of Praxilla is difficult given the amount of surviving works, but it can be said that had more of her works survived we might have noticed a great deal of origination and a charm of description.
Sources
- Snyder, Jane McIntosh. The Woman and the Lyre: Women Writers in Classical Greece and Rome. Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press, 1989. Print.