Portrait of a poet : Erinna’s Ekphrastic Epigram, AP 6.352
Date
2020
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Stellenbosch University, Department of Ancient Studies
Abstract
Although we know very little about the young female poet, Erinna, it
is evident from the reception of later Hellenistic epigrammatists that
she was highly respected and contributed greatly to the advancement
of the Hellenistic aesthetic. However, her pioneering role in the
development, if not the establishment, of the literary ekphrastic
epigram has long been overlooked in favour of her short hexameter
poem and funerary epigrams on female lamentation and loss.
This paper examines the numerous ways in which Erinna had
contributed to the ekphrastic tradition and the manner in which her
ekphrastic epigram AP 6.352 may have served as a prototype for
later ekphrastic texts of the Hellenistic age.
Description
CITATION: Martin, A. 2020. Portrait of a poet : Erinna’s Ekphrastic Epigram, AP 6.352. Akroterion, 65, 13-30, doi:10.7445/65-0-1020.
The original publication is available at http://akroterion.journals.ac.za
The original publication is available at http://akroterion.journals.ac.za
Keywords
Greek poetry, Hellenistic, Hellenistic Greek poetry, Hellenistic realism in art, Realism in art, Realism (Art), Idealism in art, Ekphrasis, Ecphrasis, Epigrams, Greek, Greek epigrams, Women poets, Greek, Greek women poets, Erinna ( her name appears with and without aspiration in ancient Greek testimonies; poetess), Herinna (Greek form)
Citation
Martin, A. 2020. Portrait of a poet : Erinna’s Ekphrastic Epigram, AP 6.352. Akroterion, 65, 13-30, doi:10.7445/65-0-1020