Cyclic Poets
Encyclopedia
Cyclic Poets is a shorthand term for the early Greek epic poets, approximate contemporaries of Homer
. We know no more about these poets than we know about Homer, but modern scholars regard them as having composed orally, as did Homer. In the classical period, surviving early epic poems were ascribed to these authors, just as the Iliad
and Odyssey
were ascribed to Homer. Together with Homer, whose Iliad
covers a mere 50 days of the war, they cover the complete war "cycle", thus the name. Most modern scholars place Homer in the 8th century BC. The other poets listed below seemed to have lived in the 7th–5th centuries BC. Excluding Homer's, none of the works of the cyclic poets survive.
Homer
In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
. We know no more about these poets than we know about Homer, but modern scholars regard them as having composed orally, as did Homer. In the classical period, surviving early epic poems were ascribed to these authors, just as the Iliad
Iliad
The Iliad is an epic poem in dactylic hexameters, traditionally attributed to Homer. Set during the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles...
and Odyssey
Odyssey
The Odyssey is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the other work ascribed to Homer. The poem is fundamental to the modern Western canon, and is the second—the Iliad being the first—extant work of Western literature...
were ascribed to Homer. Together with Homer, whose Iliad
Iliad
The Iliad is an epic poem in dactylic hexameters, traditionally attributed to Homer. Set during the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles...
covers a mere 50 days of the war, they cover the complete war "cycle", thus the name. Most modern scholars place Homer in the 8th century BC. The other poets listed below seemed to have lived in the 7th–5th centuries BC. Excluding Homer's, none of the works of the cyclic poets survive.
List of named poets
- HomerHomerIn the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
- Stasinus of Cyprus
- Creophylus of SamosCreophylus of SamosCreophylus or Kreophylos is the name of a legendary early Greek singer, native to Samos or Chios. He was said to have been a contemporary of Homer and author of the lost epic Capture of Oechalia. According to some sources Homer gave the poem to Creophylus in return for hospitality; one source...
- Panyassis of Halicarnassus
- Arctinus of MiletusArctinus of MiletusArctinus of Miletus or Arctinus Milesius was a Greek epic poet whose reputation is purely legendary, as none of his works survive. Traditionally dated between 775 BC and 741 BC, he was said to have been a pupil of Homer. Phaenias of Eresus placed him in the 7th century BC and claimed that he was...
- Lesches of PyrrhaLeschesLesches is a semi-legendary early Greek poet and the reputed author of the Little Iliad. According to the usually accepted tradition, he was a native of Pyrrha in Lesbos, and flourished about 660 BC . Proclus refers to him as "Lesches of Mytilene"...
- Cinaethon of SpartaCinaethon of SpartaCinaethon of Sparta or Kinaithon of Lakedaimon is a legendary Greek poet to whom different sources ascribe the lost epics Oedipodea, Little Iliad and Telegony. Eusebius says that he flourished in 764/3 BC.-References:...
- Thestorides of PhocaeaThestorides of PhocaeaThestorides of Phocaea was a legendary or semi-legendary early Greek poet, one of those to whom the epic Little Iliad was ascribed.Thestorides figures as a major character in the fictional Life of Homer fraudulently ascribed to Herodotus...
(the pseudo-Herodotean Life of HomerLife of Homer (Pseudo-Herodotus)The Life of Homer — its unknown author is referred to as Pseudo-Herodotus — is one among several ancient biographies of the Greek epic poet, Homer...
says that Thestorides used writing) - Antimachus of Teos
- Eumelus of CorinthEumelus of CorinthEumelus of Corinth or Eumelos of Korinthos, of the clan of the Bacchiadae, is a semi-legendary early Greek poet, the Corinthian author of the Prosodion, the treasured processional anthem of Messenian independence that was performed on Delos. One small fragment of it survives in a quote by Pausanias...
- Agias of Troezen
- Diodorus of Erythrae
- Hegesias of Salamis (or Hegesinus)
- Cyprias of Halicarnassus
- Carcinus of Naupactus
- Prodicus of Phocaea
- Eugammon of CyreneEugammon of CyreneEugammon of Cyrene was an early Greek poet to whom the epic Telegony was ascribed. According to Clement of Alexandria, he stole the poem from the legendary early poet Musaeus; meaning, possibly, that a version of a long-existing traditional epic was written down by Eugammon. He is said to have...
- Pisinous of Lindus
- Pisander of Camirus
The Epic Cycle
- Cypria, ascribed to Homer or Stasinus of Cyprus or Hegesinus (or Hegesias) of Salamis or Cyprias of Halicarnassus
- IliadIliadThe Iliad is an epic poem in dactylic hexameters, traditionally attributed to Homer. Set during the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles...
, nearly always ascribed to Homer - AethiopisAithiopisThe Aethiopis or Aithiopis is a lost epic of ancient Greek literature. It was one of the Epic Cycle, that is, the "Trojan" cycle, which told the entire history of the Trojan War in epic verse. The story of the Aethiopis comes chronologically immediately after that of the Homeric Iliad, and is...
, ascribed to Arctinus of Miletus- Amazonia once ascribed to Homer (perhaps a different version of or another name for Aethiopis)
- Little IliadLittle IliadThe Little Iliad is a lost epic of ancient Greek literature. It was one of the Epic Cycle, that is, the "Trojan" cycle, which told the entire history of the Trojan War in epic verse. The story of the Little Iliad comes chronologically after that of the Aethiopis, and is followed by that of the...
, ascribed to Lesches of Pyrrha or Cinaethon of Sparta or Diodorus of Erythrae or Homer - Sack of TroyIliou persisThe Iliupersis , also known as The Sack of Troy, is a lost epic of ancient Greek literature. It was one of the Epic Cycle, that is, the "Trojan" cycle, which told the entire history of the Trojan War in epic verse...
, ascribed to Arctinus of Miletus - Return from TroyNostoiThe Nostoi , also known as Returns or Returns of the Greeks, was a lost epic of ancient Greek literature. It was one of the Epic Cycle, that is, the "Trojan" cycle, which told the entire history of the Trojan War in epic verse...
, ascribed to Eumelus of Corinth or Agias of Troezen or Homer - OdysseyOdysseyThe Odyssey is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the other work ascribed to Homer. The poem is fundamental to the modern Western canon, and is the second—the Iliad being the first—extant work of Western literature...
, usually ascribed to Homer - TelegonyTelegonyThe Telegony is a lost ancient Greek epic poem about Telegonus, son of Odysseus by Circe. His name is indicative of his birth on Aeaea, far from Odysseus' home of Ithaca. It was part of the Epic Cycle of poems that recounted the myths not only of the Trojan War but also of the events that led up...
, ascribed to Cinaethon of Sparta; otherwise said to have been stolen from Musaeus by Eugammon of Cyrene- Thesprotis (perhaps a different version of or another name for Telegony)
The Theban Cycle
- OedipodeaOedipodeaThe Oedipodea is a lost poem of the Theban cycle, a part of the Epic Cycle . The poem was about 6,600 verses long and the authorship was credited by ancient authorities to Cinaethon , a barely known poet who lived probably in Sparta...
, ascribed to Cinaethon of Sparta - ThebaidThebaid (Greek poem)The Thebaid or Thebais is an Ancient Greek epic poem of uncertain authorship sometimes attributed by early writers to Homer. It told the story of the war between the brothers Eteocles and Polynices, and was regarded as forming part of a Theban Cycle. Only fragments of the text...
, sometimes ascribed to Homer - EpigoniEpigoni (epic)Epigoni was an early Greek epic, a sequel to the Thebaid and therefore grouped in the Theban cycle. Some ancient authors seem to have considered it a part of the Thebaid and not a separate poem....
, ascribed to Antimachus of Teos or Homer - AlcmeonisAlcmeonisAlcmeonis is the title of a lost early Greek epic which is considered to have formed part of the Theban cycle. There are only seven references to the Alcmeonis in ancient literature, and all of them make it clear that the authorship of the epic was unknown...
Other epics
- TitanomachyTitanomachy (epic poem)The Titanomachy is a lost epic poem, which is a part of Greek mythology. It deals with the struggle that Zeus and his siblings, the Olympian Gods, had in overthrowing their father Cronus and his divine generation, the Titans....
, ascribed to Eumelus of CorinthEumelus of CorinthEumelus of Corinth or Eumelos of Korinthos, of the clan of the Bacchiadae, is a semi-legendary early Greek poet, the Corinthian author of the Prosodion, the treasured processional anthem of Messenian independence that was performed on Delos. One small fragment of it survives in a quote by Pausanias... - HeracleiaPeisanderPeisander of Camirus in Rhodes, Ancient Greek epic poet, supposed to have flourished about 640 BC.He was the author of a Heracleia - Ἡράκλεια, in which he introduced a new conception of the hero Heracles costume, the lions skin and club taking the place of the older armor of the heroic era. He is...
, said to have been stolen from Pisinous of Lindus by Pisander of Camirus - Capture of OechaliaCapture of OechaliaThe Capture of Oechalia was an epic segment of the ancient Greek Epic Cycle that has not survived; it was variously attributed in Antiquity to either Homer or Creophylus of Samos; a tradition was reported that Homer gave the tale to Creophylus, in gratitude for guest-friendship , and that he wrote...
, said to have been given by Homer to Creophylus of Samos - NaupactiaNaupactiaThe Naupactia is a lost epic poem of ancient Greek literature. In antiquity the title was also written Naupaktika , and it is also in the present day sometimes referred to among scholars by the Latin phrase carmen Naupactium...
, ascribed to Arctinus of Miletus or Carcinus of Naupactus - PhocaisThestorides of PhocaeaThestorides of Phocaea was a legendary or semi-legendary early Greek poet, one of those to whom the epic Little Iliad was ascribed.Thestorides figures as a major character in the fictional Life of Homer fraudulently ascribed to Herodotus...
, ascribed to Thestorides of Phocaea or Homer - MinyasMinyas (poem)Minyas was the title of an early Greek epic poem, probably dating to the 6th century BC, which is now lost and whose author is unknown. The very few fragments that survive Minyas was the title of an early Greek epic poem, probably dating to the 6th century BC, which is now lost and whose author...
, ascribed to Prodicus of Phocaea - DanaisDanais (epic)Danais refers to a lost ancient Greek epic written by one of the cyclic poets. The Danaid tetralogy of Aeschylus undoubtedly draws its material from this particular literary work. Danais is represented in the table of epics in the received canon on the very fragmentary "Borgia table" as "Danaides"....
or Danaides - Europia, perhaps also called Bougonia, ascribed to Eumelus of Corinth