Lycophron

Lycophron (/ˈlaɪkəfrɒn/; Greek: Λυκόφρων ὁ Χαλκιδεύς) was a Hellenistic Greek tragic poet,
grammarian, sophist, and commentator on comedy, to whom the poem Alexandra is attributed (perhaps
falsely).

Contents
Life and miscellaneous works
Tragedies
The Alexandra
A pseudepigraphic work?
Editions
Translations
References
Further reading
External links

Life and miscellaneous works

He was born at Chalcis in Euboea, and flourished at Alexandria in the time of Ptolemy Philadelphus (285–
247 BC). According to the Suda, the massive tenth century Byzantine Greek historical encyclopaedia, he
was the son of Socles, but was adopted by Lycus of Rhegium.[1] He was entrusted by Ptolemy with the task
of arranging the comedies in the Library of Alexandria; as the result of his labours he composed a treatise
On Comedy. Lycophron is also said to have been a skilful writer of anagrams.[2]

Tragedies
The poetic compositions of Lycophron chiefly consisted of tragedies, which secured him a place in the
Pleiad of Alexandrian tragedians. The Suda gives the titles of twenty tragedies, of which a very few
fragments have been preserved:[2] Aeolus, Allies (Symmakhoi), Andromeda, Chrysippus, Daughters of
Aeolus, Daughters of Pelops, Elephenor, Herakles, Hippolytus, Kassandreis, Laius, Marathonians,
Menedemus, Nauplius, Oedipus (two versions), Orphan (Orphanos), Pentheus, Suppliants (Hiketai),
Telegonus, and the Wanderer (Aletes). Among these, a few well-turned lines show a much better style than
the Alexandra. Lycophron's tragedies are said to have been much admired by Menedemus of Eretria,
although Lycophron had ridiculed him in a satyr play.[2]

The Alexandra
One poem traditionally attributed to him, Alexandra or Cassandra,[3] has been preserved in its complete
form, running to 1474 iambic trimeters. It consists of a prophecy uttered by Cassandra and relates the later
fortunes of Troy and of the Greek and Trojan heroes. References to events of mythical and later times are
introduced, and the poem ends with a reference to Alexander the Great, who was to unite Asia and Europe
in his world-wide empire.[2]

The style obtained for the poem's author, even among the ancients, the title of "obscure"; one modern
scholar says the Alexandra "may be the most illegible piece of classical literature, one which nobody can
read without a proper commentary and which even then makes very difficult reading."[4] The poem is
evidently intended to display the writer's knowledge of obscure names and uncommon myths; it is full of
unusual words of doubtful meaning gathered from the older poets, and long-winded compounds coined by
the author. It was probably written as a show-piece for the Alexandrian school, rather than as straight poetry.
It was very popular in the Byzantine period, and was read and commented on very frequently; the
manuscripts of the Alexandra are numerous. Two explanatory paraphrases of the poem survive, and the
collection of scholia by Isaac and John Tzetzes is very valuable[2] (much used by, among others, Robert
Graves in his Greek Myths).

A pseudepigraphic work?

Some modern studies have concluded that the Alexandra cannot be the work of the third-century BC author;
in one scholar's summary of this view, the poem was:[5]

written in the immediate aftermath of the victory of Flamininus at Battle of Cynoscephalae over
Philip V of Macedon in 197/6 BC. The author, whose true name and place of origin are
probably concealed beneath the impenetrably enigmatic biographical tradition concerning
"Lycophron," probably used the name, and some of the literary substance, of Lycophron, not in
emulation, but as an ironic reminiscence of the earlier writer, who had combined the practice of
tragedy and the elucidation of comedy. Only on this assumption of a deliberate
pseudepigraphon can the full irony of his work be appreciated.

The question turns on passages in the poem (1226–1280; cf. 1446-1450) that describe Roman dominance in
terms that only fit the situation after the Second Macedonian War. Cassandra prophesies that her Trojan
ancestors' descendants "shall with their spears win the foremost crown of glory, obtaining the sceptre and
monarchy of earth and sea" and elaborates with allusions to the course of historical events. Some scholars,
such as Stephanie West, regard these passages as interpolations and defend the attribution of the bulk of the
poem to Lycophron the tragic poet.[6]

Editions
Aldus Manutius (1513), Aldine Press, editio princeps
John Potter (1697, 1702)
Ludwig Bachmann (1830), with notes and Scaliger's Latin verse translation online (https://book
s.google.com/books?id=S7ETAAAAQAAJ)
Félix Désiré Dehèque (1853), with French translation, Latin paraphrase, and notes online (http
s://books.google.com/books?vid=HARVARD32044085138121)
Gottfried Kinkel (1880)
Eduard Scheer (1881–1908), including the paraphrases and Tzetzian scholia
Carl von Holzinger (1895), Teubner edition with German translation and commentary online (ht
tps://books.google.com/books?vid=HARVARD32044050951862)
Emanuele Ciaceri (1901), edition with Italian translation and commentary online (https://books.
google.com/books?vid=HARVARD32044085138139)
 George W. Mooney (1921), edition with facing English translation and explanatory notes.
{reprinted Arno Press, 1979]
Lorenzo Mascialino (1964), Teubner edition
Pascal Quignard, Lycophron. Alexandra, Paris, Mercure de France (1971)
André Hurst and Antje Kolde (2008), Budé edition
Simon Hornblower (repr. 2017), with translation and commentary

Translations
Philip Yorke, Viscount Royston (1784 - 1808, posthumously published 1832) online (https://boo
ks.google.com/books?id=Sjr4BdG08CYC)
A. W. Mair (1921), Loeb Classical Library (online at the Internet Archive (https://archive.org/det
ails/callimachuslycop00calluoft); online on Google Books (https://books.google.com/books?id=
bqVfAAAAMAAJ))
George W. Mooney (1921)

References
1. Suda λ 827
2. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Lycophron". Encyclopædia Britannica. 17 (11th
ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 153.
3. Alexandra is merely an alternative name for Cassandra.
4. Gauthier Liberman, review of André Hurst (ed.), Lycophron, Alexandra, Bryn Mawr Classical
Review 2009.03.38 (http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/bmcr/2009/2009-03-38.html)
5. Peter Marshall Fraser, "Lycophron," in Who's Who in the Classical World, ed. Simon
Hornblower and Tony Spawforth, Oxford University Press, 2000.
6. Stephanie West, "Lycophron," in Encyclopedia of ancient Greece, ed. N.G. Wilson, Routledge,
2006 (cf. eadem, "Notes on the Text of Lycophron," Classical Quarterly, 33 (1983), pp. 114-
135, and "Lycophron Italicised," Journal of Hellenic Studies 104 (1984), pp. 127-151).

Further reading
Studies

J. Konze, De Dictione Lycophronis (1870)

Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, De Lycophronis Alexandra (1884) online (https://books.go
ogle.com/books?id=VEUTAAAAYAAJ)

External links
Online text: Lycophron's Alexandra translated by A. W. Mair, 1921 (http://www.theoi.com/Text/L
ycophronAlexandra.html)
An ancient Life of Lycophron, compiled by Tzetzes (http://www.attalus.org/poetry/lives.html#lyc
ophron0)

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lycophron&oldid=941287475"

This page was last edited on 17 February 2020, at 18:12 (UTC).

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this
site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia
Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.