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:''"Theognis" redirects here. For other people named Theognis, see Theognis (disambiguation).'' Theognis of Megara (, ''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〔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〕 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 poets is preserved as scattered fragments).〔Douglas E. Gerber, ''Greek Elegiac Poetry'', Loeb Classical Library (1999), page 8〕 In fact more than half of the extant elegiac poetry of Greece before the Alexandrian period is included in the approximately 1,400 verses attributed to him.〔cf. Highbarger, p.170〕 Some of these verses inspired ancient commentators to value him as a moralist〔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 140〕 yet the entire corpus is valued today for its "warts and all" portrayal of aristocratic life in archaic Greece.〔David Mulroy, ''Early Greek Lyric Poetry'', The University of Michigan Press (1992), page 171〕 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 ''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: :: ::: :: :::〔Theognis 251–4, cited by Douglas E. Gerber, ''Greek Elegiac Poetry'', Loeb Classical Library (1999), page 208〕 Here paraphrased to retain the form of the Elegiac couplet: ::To all to whom there is pleasure in song and to people yet unborn :::You also will be a song, while the earth and sun remain, ::Yet I am treated by you without even the least mark of respect :::And, as if I were a child, you have deceived me with words. In spite of such self-disclosures, almost nothing is known about Theognis the man: little is recorded by ancient sources and modern scholars question the authorship of most of the poems preserved under his name.〔David A. Campbell, ''Greek Lyric Poetry'', Bristol Classical Press (1982), pages 343–47〕 ==Life== Ancient commentators, the poems themselves and even modern scholars offer mixed signals about the poet's life. Some of the poems respond in a personal and immediate way to events widely dispersed in time. Ancient sources record dates in the mid-sixth centuryEusebius 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)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.〔David A. Campbell, ''Greek Lyric Poetry'', Bristol Classical Press (1982), pages 345–46〕 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, about the latter half of the ''seventh century'',〔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〕 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, at the end of the first quarter of the ''fifth century''.〔Thomas J. Figueira and Gregory Nagy (eds), ''Theognis of Megara: Poetry and the Polis'', The Johns Hopkins University Press (1985), Introduction ((online here )〕 Even some modern scholars have interpreted those lines in that time-frame, deducing a birth date on or just before 600 BC,〔Thomas Hudson-Williams, ''The Elegies of Theognis'', G. Bell and Sons Ltd (1910), pages 9–10〕 while others place his birth around 550 BC to fit in with the Persian invasion under either Darius or Xerxes.〔David A. Campbell, ''Greek Lyric Poetry'', Bristol Classical Press (1982), pages 346〕 There is confusion also about his ''place'' of birth, "Megara", which Plato for example understood to be Megara Hyblaea in Sicily,〔Plato ''Laws'' 1.630a, cited by Douglas E. Gerber, ''Greek Elegiac Poetry'', Loeb Classical Library (1999), page 169〕 while a scholiast on Plato cites Didymus for the rival theory that the poet was born in a Megara in Attica, and ventures the opinion that Theognis might have later migrated to the Sicilian Megara〔Scholiast on ''Laws'' 1.630a, cited by Douglas E. Gerber, ''Greek Elegiac Poetry'', Loeb Classical Library (1999), page 169〕 (a similar theory had assigned an Attic birthplace to the Spartan poet Tyrtaeus). 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〔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〕 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).〔David A. Campbell, ''Greek Lyric Poetry'', Bristol Classical Press (1982), pages 345〕 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", even able to be ignored as a wowser,〔"... 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 once 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."Isocrates, ''To Nicocles'' 42–4, cited and translated by Douglas E. Gerber, ''Greek Elegiac Poetry'', Loeb Classical Library (1999), page 171–3〕 yet Plato's Socrates cites some Theognidean verses to dismiss the poet as a confused and self-contradictory sophist whose teachings are not to be trusted,〔Meno 95, contrasting verses 33–6 with 434–38 (online version: (Perseus Digital Library ))〕 while a modern scholar excuses self-contradictions as typical of a lifelong poet writing over many years and at the whim of inspiration.〔David A. Campbell, ''Greek Lyric Poetry'', Bristol Classical Press (1982), p. 345〕 The ''Theognidea'' might in fact be a collection of elegiac poems by different authors (see Modern scholarship below) and the "life" that emerges from them depends on which poems editors consider authentic. Two modern authorities have drawn these portraits of Theognis, based on their own selections of his work: 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Theognis of Megara」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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