Ancient Greek Epigrams: Major Poets in Verse Translation

Preface

ix PREFACE The epigrams of the ancient Greeks had an enormous influence on Latin and later European poetry and are familiar to scholars, but they are not very well known to the general reader. Part of the reason is that editions of Greek epigrams in translation often include too many poems of too many poets. Anyone who peruses the more than four thousand epigrams in the Loeb Greek Anthology is likely to be quickly discouraged. Many of the poems are difficult to understand without some explanation, and the majority are not very good. The best are among the finest poetry the Greeks ever wrote, but finding them is not a task for the faint of heart. x / Preface For this reason I have assembled an anthology containing what I believe to be the most interesting poems of the most accomplished authors, with an introduction to the poetry and poets and with explanatory notes that place each epigram in context. Since this is a book for the general reader, I do not give the Greek texts, and there are no footnotes. The general reader is unlikely to be aided by extensive citations of the secondary literature, and scholars should be able to follow my arguments without them. I provide a selected bibliography of books and articles including those mentioned in the text, emphasizing works the general reader might find interesting. I give only a small fraction of the literature I have consulted in making my translations and writing the notes, and I extend my apologies to colleagues whose publications have not been speci fically mentioned. I am greatly indebted to the Helen Riaboff Whiteley Center at Friday Harbor, Washington, where most of the translations were done, and to Churchill College, Cambridge, where the introductory chapter was written and the book finished. I am also indebted to David Blank, who read chapter 9; to Michael Haslam, who read the whole of the manuscript and helped with the proofs; and to the anonymous referees of University of California Press. The text has greatly profited from their many corrections and perceptive suggestions. The press was enormously helpful at every stage in the preparation of the book, and I am particularly grateful to the copy editor, Alice Falk. My greatest debt is to my wife, Margery, who did the illustrations, read all of the text in several drafts, made innumerable helpful recommendations, and provided the love and support during the writing of the book that made it possible for me to complete it. ...