An Approach to the Technopaegnia of the Palatine Anthology

Translation and Brief Commentary

Authors

  • Sebastián Eduardo Carrizo Universidad Nacional de La Plata

Keywords:

Palatine Anthology, technopaegnia, Simias, Theocritus, Dosiadas, Vestinus

Abstract

Book 15 of the Palatine Anthology has preserved six epigrams whose texts are intended to represent certain objects: the wings of a statuette of the god Eros, an axe, a nightingale's egg, a syrinx, and a pair of sacrificial altars. This small poetic compilation constitutes the oldest antecedent within Western culture of what is now known in general terms as calligram or visual poetry. The aim of our work is to make a translated and briefly commented presentation of these figure poems (technopaegnia) in order to describe the stylistic, formal and thematic characteristics of the genre. As a conclusion, we hypothetically outline a programmatic reading of the collection based on the metaliterary references of the poems. Certainly, these poetic forms, which originally intended to emulate epigrams engraved on votive objects, little by little began to abandon their pretensions to credibility to finally vindicate the artificial and playful nature of the genre.

 

Author Biography

Sebastián Eduardo Carrizo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata

Profesor en Letras por la Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Doctor en Letras por la Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Actualmente es Profesor Asociado en la cátedra de Griego I y Profesor Adjunto en los Seminarios de Textos en Griego I y II en la Licenciatura en Filosofía, y Profesor Adjunto de Literatura Griega Clásica en la Licenciatura de Letras de la Universidad Católica de La Plata. Ha sido becario doctoral y postdoctoral de CONICET. Es miembro investigador del Centro de Estudios Helénicos (IdIHCS, UNLP-CONICET). Integra los siguientes Proyectos de Investigación: “Pasiones (com)partidas: las emociones en los fragmentos de tragedia, comedia y drama satírico de la Atenas del s. V a.C.” (ANPCYT, IdIHCS, UNLP-CONICET) y “La interacción genérica como práctica literaria en la Antigüedad” (PROYECTOS CONSOLIDAR, UNC).

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Published

19-05-2023

How to Cite

Carrizo, S. E. (2023). An Approach to the Technopaegnia of the Palatine Anthology: Translation and Brief Commentary. Revista De Estudios Clásicos, (53), 67–103. Retrieved from https://revistas.uncu.edu.ar/ojs/index.php/revistaestudiosclasicos/article/view/6634

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