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53 results

Page 1 of 3

  • 3 - Pindar and the Pindaric ‘I’

  • from Part I - Pindar’s Poetry
  • Edited by Henry Spelman, University of Cambridge
  • Book:
    The Cambridge Companion to Pindar
    Published online:
    26 April 2026
    Print publication:
    14 May 2026, pp 52-71

  • Summary

    Insofar as his poems generally take the mimetic form of a monologue unfolding in the present, Pindaric poetry is the Pindaric speaking voice. Far more of the corpus, furthermore, is directly concerned with the speaking subject than with any other individual. But the identity and functions of this prominent and indeed all-encompassing voice have been a persistent source of fascination and puzzlement, not least in their relationship to Pindar of Thebes as a historical individual. Better understanding the scare quotes around the ‘I’ in the title of this chapter can help us to better understand Pindar’s poetry. Scholars have formulated various ways to refer to the speaking voice, and the accumulation of terminology reflects the complexity of the topic. This chapter offers a taxonomy of voices and then criticises that taxonym. It discusses the ‘bardic I’, the ‘first-person indefinite’, the authorial voice, and the choral voice and then argues that the victor never speaks in epinicians. A conclusion briefly ties these threads together.

The Cambridge Companion to Pindar
  • Edited by Henry Spelman
  • Published online:
    26 April 2026
    Print publication:
    14 May 2026
  • Pindar was the single most important, canonical and influential lyric poet in the ancient Greek world, and he remains one of the most demanding and rewarding poets whose work has come down to us from antiquity. This volume represents the most comprehensive introduction to the poet and his reception yet published. Eighteen leading contemporary scholars contribute individual chapters that together help to provide a holistic understanding of Pindar's poetry, its major themes and its subsequent reception throughout more than two millennia. The book will be invaluable for students, teachers, and scholars, as well as those with a general interest in poetry.

  • XENOPHANES B6 DK: ETHICS, RECIPROCITY AND THE MYSTERY OF THE TRAVELLING MEAT

  • Henry Spelman
  • Journal:
    The Classical Quarterly / Volume 74 / Issue 2 / December 2024
    Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    16 April 2025, pp. 387-396
    Print publication:
    December 2024
    • Article
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  • Uncertainty about the pragmatic context, the fundamental content and hence the philosophical significance of Xenophanes B6 DK prevents this comparatively extensive fragment from playing much of a role in scholarly discussions. This essay reviews interpretations of that difficult text and then offers a new reading which arguably better accords with the preserved Greek, Xenophanes’ other fragments and ritual custom. It is also suggested how B6 fits in with Xenophanes’ philosophical and specifically ethical concerns as evidenced in other fragments.

  • 2 - Epic and Lyric

  • from Part I - Epic Engagements
  • Edited by Emma Greensmith, University of Oxford
  • Book:
    The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Greek Epic
    Published online:
    04 December 2024
    Print publication:
    28 November 2024, pp 41-57

  • Summary

    This chapter explores the complex relationship between epic and the tricky genre of lyric. Spelman begins with brief historical orientation and then focuses on broader and more theoretical questions of genre, which have been given new impetus by Culler’s Theory of the Lyric. Taking ‘lyric’ in a broad sense to include iambos and elegy as well as melic poetry, Spelman considers some of the most famous and important lyric passages (especially drawing from Pindar and Sappho) that engage with Homeric epic, the Homeric Hymns and the Epic Cycle. Spelman ultimately examines how and whether lyric works out a definition for itself in contradistinction to epic—and whether such a definition can offer us a more nuanced understanding of what epic itself is.

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