Greek Anthology
The Greek Anthology is a significant collection of approximately 4,500 short Greek poems, compiled from the seventh century BCE to 1000 CE, making it the largest surviving corpus of Greek poetry. It features contributions from around 300 authors, with the earliest notable compilation attributed to the poet Meleager of Gadara in the first century, who referred to the collection as "Stephanos," or "gathering of flowers." This anthology highlights the continuity of Greek literary tradition across nearly two millennia, as the poems share common themes, language, and stylistic qualities.
Over time, additional contributions were made, notably by Constantinus Cephalas in the ninth century, which expanded the anthology to sixteen books, including various themes such as love, epigrams on art, and reflections on aging and health. Scholars have extensively analyzed the anthology, revealing its rich symbolism and historical value, as well as its influence on later literary figures. While much of modern scholarship focuses on select poems, the full collection serves as a testament to the enduring nature of Greek literature and its cultural significance.
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Greek Anthology
The Greek Anthology is the largest surviving collection of short Greek poems. In all, it contains about 4,500 works from about 300 authors. The works date from the seventh century BCE to 1000 CE. Greek poet Meleager of Gadara first contributed to the anthology early in the first century, introducing poems by fifty writers and many by himself. He called the collection Stephanos, which translates to “gathering of flowers.” As such, he introduced the collection with a poem comparing each of the writers in the collection to a flower. In the ninth century, Constantinus Cephalas added to the collection with works from Philippus of Thessalonica, Diogenianus, Agathias, and others. The collection, which contains sixteen books in all, illustrates the continuity of Greek literature over almost two thousand years because the latest and earliest inclusions share similar language, style, and feeling.
Brief History
Greek poet Meleager of Gadara is credited with compiling the collection of poems of what would later be known as the Greek Anthology. In the first century, he compiled the work of fifty writers and himself. He introduced the collection with a poem comparing each writer to a flower, calling the anthology Stephanos, or “gathering of flowers.” Meleager’s own poems had an important influence on other epigrams, or short poems, written during the time of the Roman Empire. They focused mainly on erotic topics featuring women and boys.
In the late ninth century, Contantinus Cephalus added to the anthology with works from Philippus of Thessalonica (first century), Diogenianus (second century), Agathias (sixth century) and others. This collection was revised and added to during the tenth century; this revision accounts for the first fifteen books of the anthology and is called the Palatine Anthology. The books of the Palatine Anthology include I, Christian Epigrams; II, Descriptions of Statues; III, Inscriptions in a temple at Cyzicus; IV, Prefaces of Meleager, Philippus, and Agathias; V, Amatory Epigrams; VI, Dedicatory; VII, Sepulchral; VIII, Epigrams of St. Gregory; IX, Declamatory; X, Hortatory and Admonitory; XI, Convivial and Satirical; XII, Strato’s “Musa Puerilis”; XIII, Metrical Curiosities; XIV, Problems, Riddles, and Oracles; and XV, Miscellanies.
The sixteenth book of the anthology, called Planudean Appendix: Epigrams on Works of Art is made of poems originating from another, shorter manuscript version, and is known as the Planudean manuscript or Planudean Anthology. This book was compiled by Maximus Planudes in 1301.
All of the poems in the anthology were translated from Greek into English by W.R. Paton in 1916. Many other partial translations and imitations of the work in the anthology have also been made over the years including Selections from the Greek Anthology, a collection of select epigrams translated by Andrew Sinclair in 1967; and Two Hundred Poems from The Greek Anthology, translated by Robin Skelton in 1971.
Overview
According to scholars, some of the most outstanding poets included in the anthology are Meleager, Antimatter of Antipater of Sidon, Crinagoras, Palladas, Agathiasm, and Paulus Silentiarius. The works from these authors and others included in the sixteen books of the anthology would have a major influence on many later writers, including the Russian poet Alexander Pushkin and Spanish Renaissance-era poets.
Over the years, scholars have analyzed a number of topics found within The Greek Anthology. In a 1928 book called Birds and Beasts of the Greek Anthology, Norman Douglas found about 600 references to wild animals and about 150 different kinds of animals including lions, lynxes, geckos, ravens, ants, and even the halcyon, in the anthology’s poems. Animals represented different symbols and sometimes taught lessons: the wasp, Douglas stated, is a symbol of malignity, with poets like Hipponax and Archilochus being compared to wasps for the cruelty of their verses.
Another topic that has been explored by scholars is aging and the aged. John Wortley’s 1998 paper, “Aging and the Aged in ‘The Greek Anthology’” explores attitudes related to the aging and aged, especially women. According to Wortley, they reflect scorn for women who “used to trade the charms which she has outlived,” yet affection for the elderly woman who has aged gracefully and kept her lover’s devotion. They also speak to the fears of a man approaching old age, the anger of another who is fighting against it, and the calm of yet another who has accepted it. The poems also give some evidence of the factors that drove working people into retirement in past cultures.
Yet another topic analyzed by scholars is medical themes found within the texts. In the 1914 paper, “The Medical Aspects of the Greek Anthology,” J.D. Rolleston analyzes a number of medical references including mentions of physicians, medical saints found within the Christian epigrams, and the brutality with which medical treatment was carried out. The latter refers to an anonymous epigram (xi, 126) that satirizes a particular medical treatment, saying a trident was used instead of a spatula to anoint the author’s eyes before dragging their eyelashes by the roots. Many of the poems are critical of physicians, with four describing doctors as the sudden cause of the death of their patients. Though many of the epigrams seems exaggerated, Rolleston noted that they were not completely uncalled for, as the medical profession in Rome during the early Empire was considerably overcrowded and had many practitioners of questionable ability.
Overall, modern literary researchers generally focus on the literary value of only a fraction of the overall anthology. However, the entirety of the collection does a good job of preserving historical interest since it illustrates the continuity of Greek literature over a span of nearly two thousand years. Though the poems included in the anthology spanned a number of centuries and represented hundreds of poets, the style, language, and feeling remains similar throughout.
Bibliography
Douglas, Norman. “Birds and Beasts of the Greek Anthology.” Project Gutenberg Australia, 1927, gutenberg.net.au/ebooks03/0300611h.html#ch-2. Accessed 18 July 2022.
“Greek Anthology.” Attalus, http://www.attalus.org/poetry/anthology.html. Accessed 18 July 2022.
“Greek Anthology.” Hellenica World, www.hellenicaworld.com/Greece/Literature/en/GreekAnthology.html. Accessed 18 July 2022.
“Meleager.” Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/meleager. Accessed 18 July 2022.
Paton, W.R. “Greek Anthology, Volume I.” Tufts, www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2008.01.0472. Accessed 18 July 2022.
Paton, W.R. “Greek Anthology, Volume II.” Harvard University Press, www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674990753. Accessed 18 July 2022.
Rolleston, J.D. “The Medical Aspects of the Greek Anthology.” Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine, 1914, journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/003591571400701602. Accessed 18 July 2022.
Wortley, John. “Aging and the Aged in ‘The Greek Anthology’.” The International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 1 July 1998, journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.2190/UCCB-V22T-5RGY-N9T1. Accessed 18 July 2022.