Anyte of Tegea
Encyclopedia
Anyte of Tegea
(fl. early 3rd century BC) was an Arcadia
n poet
, admired by her contemporaries and later generations for her charming epigram
s and epitaph
s. Antipater of Thessalonica
listed her as one of the nine earthly muses.
According to some sources, she was the leader of a school of poetry and literature on Peloponnesus, which also included the poet Leonidas of Tarentum
.
At least 18 of her epigrams, written in the Doric
dialect, survive in the Greek Anthology
; an additional six are doubtfully attributed to her. Even so, we have more complete poems by Anyte than by any other Greek woman, since the nine books of Sappho
survive only in fragments.
She was the first to write epitaphs for animals, and one of the first known to write vivid descriptions of untamed nature. The following example (translated by Marilyn B. Skinner) is of a statue of Aphrodite
, often known as the "Cyprian" because of her origin:
Tegea
Tegea was a settlement in ancient Greece, and it is also a former municipality in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Tripoli, of which it is a municipal unit. Its seat was the village Stadio....
(fl. early 3rd century BC) was an Arcadia
Arcadia
Arcadia is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the administrative region of Peloponnese. It is situated in the central and eastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. It takes its name from the mythological character Arcas. In Greek mythology, it was the home of the god Pan...
n poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, admired by her contemporaries and later generations for her charming epigram
Epigram
An epigram is a brief, interesting, usually memorable and sometimes surprising statement. Derived from the epigramma "inscription" from ἐπιγράφειν epigraphein "to write on inscribe", this literary device has been employed for over two millennia....
s and epitaph
Epitaph
An epitaph is a short text honoring a deceased person, strictly speaking that is inscribed on their tombstone or plaque, but also used figuratively. Some are specified by the dead person beforehand, others chosen by those responsible for the burial...
s. Antipater of Thessalonica
Antipater of Thessalonica
Antipater of Thessalonica was the author of over a hundred epigrams in the Greek Anthology. He is the most copious and perhaps the most interesting of the Augustan epigrammatists...
listed her as one of the nine earthly muses.
According to some sources, she was the leader of a school of poetry and literature on Peloponnesus, which also included the poet Leonidas of Tarentum
Leonidas of Tarentum
Leonidas of Tarentum was an epigrammatist and lyric poet. He lived in the third century B.C. Leonidas lived in Tarentum, in the coast of Calabria, then Magna Graecia. Over a hundred of his epigrams are present in the Greek Anthology...
.
At least 18 of her epigrams, written in the Doric
Doric Greek
Doric or Dorian was a dialect of ancient Greek. Its variants were spoken in the southern and eastern Peloponnese, Crete, Rhodes, some islands in the southern Aegean Sea, some cities on the coasts of Asia Minor, Southern Italy, Sicily, Epirus and Macedon. Together with Northwest Greek, it forms the...
dialect, survive in the Greek Anthology
Greek Anthology
The Greek Anthology is a collection of poems, mostly epigrams, that span the classical and Byzantine periods of Greek literature...
; an additional six are doubtfully attributed to her. Even so, we have more complete poems by Anyte than by any other Greek woman, since the nine books of Sappho
Sappho
Sappho was an Ancient Greek poet, born on the island of Lesbos. Later Greeks included her in the list of nine lyric poets. Her birth was sometime between 630 and 612 BC, and it is said that she died around 570 BC, but little is known for certain about her life...
survive only in fragments.
She was the first to write epitaphs for animals, and one of the first known to write vivid descriptions of untamed nature. The following example (translated by Marilyn B. Skinner) is of a statue of Aphrodite
Aphrodite
Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation.Her Roman equivalent is the goddess .Historically, her cult in Greece was imported from, or influenced by, the cult of Astarte in Phoenicia....
, often known as the "Cyprian" because of her origin:
- This is the site of the Cyprian, since it is agreeable to her
- to look ever from the mainland upon the bright sea
- that she may make the voyage good for sailors. Around her the sea
- trembles looking upon her polished image.