The Fall of Troy - Couverture souple

Quintus, Smyrnaeus

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 1438514891 ISBN 13 : 9781438514895

Editeur : Book Jungle, 2009

Synopsis

Quintus Smyrnaeus was a Greek epic poet, who wrote in the 4th century. It is possible that Quintus used the works of the cyclic poets in writing this manuscript or perhaps he was familiar with Homer. In either case there are discrepancies with either conjecture. The Table of Contents reads as follows. How died for Troy the Queen of the Amazons, Penthesileia, How Memnon, Son of the Dawn, for Troy's sake fell in the Battle, How by the shaft of a God laid low was Hero Achilles, How in the Funeral Games of Achilles heroes contended, How the Arms of Achilles were cause of madness and death unto Aias, How came for the helping of Troy Eurypylus, Hercules' grandson, How the Son of Achilles was brought to the War from the Isle of Scyros, How Hercules' Grandson perished in fight with the Son of Achilles, How from his long lone exile returned to the war Philoctetes, How Paris was stricken to death, and in vain sought help of Oenone, How the sons of Troy for the last time fought from her walls and her towers, How the Wooden Horse was fashioned, and brought into Troy by her people, XIII How Troy in the night was taken and sacked with fire and slaughter, and How the conquerors sailed from Troy unto judgment of tempest and shipwreck.

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur

The Fall of Troy

Quintus Smyrnaeus, also known as Kointos Smyrnaios, was a Greek epic poet whose Posthomerica, following “after Homer” continues the narration of the Trojan War.

The dates of Smyrnaeus's life are controversial, but they are traditionally placed in the latter part of the 4th century AD. “His date is approximately settled by two passages in the poem, viz. vi. 531 sqq., in which occurs an illustration drawn from the man-and-beast fights of the amphitheatre, which were suppressed by Theodosius I. [379-395 A.D.]; and xiii. 335 sqq., which contains a prophecy, the special particularity of which, it is maintained by Tychsen and Koechly, limits its applicability to the middle of the fourth century A.D.”

Some scholars suggest an earlier date in the 3rd or even the 2nd century, arguing that his Posthomerica shows an influence from the “Second Sophistic”, the school of Greek orators who flourished in the 1st and 2nd centuries. According to his own account [xii. 310], he began composing poetry in his early youth while tending sheep near Smyrna [present-day Izmir]. His epic in fourteen books, known as the Posthomerica, covers the period between the end of Homer's Iliad and the end of the Trojan War. Its primary importance is as the earliest surviving work to cover this period, the archaic works in the Epic Cycle, which he knew and drew upon, having been lost.

His materials are borrowed from the cyclic poems from which Virgil [with whose works he was probably acquainted] also drew, in particular the Aethiopis [Coming of Memnon] and the Iliupersis [Destruction of Troy] of Arctinus of Miletus and the Ilias Mikra [Little Iliad] of Lesches. His work is closely modelled on Homer, though Quintus is universally acknowledged to be inferior to Homer as a poet.

The Posthomerica

The first four books, covering the same ground as the Aethiopis of Arctinus of Miletus, describe the doughty deeds and deaths of Penthesileia the Amazon, of Memnon, son of Eos, the dawn goddess, slain by Achilles, and of Achilles himself; and the funeral games in his honour.

Books five through twelve, covering the same ground as the Little Iliad of Lesches, span the contest between Aias and Odysseus for the arms of Achilles, the death of Aias of suicide after his loss, the exploits of Neoptolemus, Eurypylus and Deiphobus, the deaths of Paris and Oenone, and the building of the wooden horse.

The remaining books, covering the same ground as Arctinus’ The Sack of Troy, relate the capture of Troy by means of the wooden horse, the sacrifice of Polyxena at the grave of Achilles, the departure of the Greeks, and their dispersal by storm.

Présentation de l'éditeur

This book is part of the TREDITION CLASSICS series. The creators of this series are united by passion for literature and driven by the intention of making all public domain books available in printed format again - worldwide. At tredition we believe that a great book never goes out of style. Several mostly non-profit literature projects provide content to tredition. To support their good work, tredition donates a portion of the proceeds from each sold copy. As a reader of a TREDITION CLASSICS book, you support our mission to save many of the amazing works of world literature from oblivion.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Book Jungle
• Date d'édition: 2009
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 1438514891
• ISBN 13: 9781438514895
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 344
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible