Brill’s Companion to Hellenistic Epigram: Down to Philip (review)

In the early Hellenistic period “epigram suddenly became,” as the editors of this volume observe, “all the rage, a hot genre” (14). The same may be said of epigram’s status in classical studies today: after decades of neglect it has, once again, become a “hot genre.” One sure indication of epigram’s recent hotness is that it has attracted a beautifully edited, stimulating and brilliant Companion that will be of interest to specialists and nonspecialists alike. An impressive array of experts, brought together by Peter Bing and Jon Bruss, discuss various aspects of Hellenistic epigram under five categories (models and form, poetics, genre, epigrams and their intertexts, reception). While some of the essays primarily address readers with no previous knowledge, others make important contributions to ongoing scholarly debates. Naturally not all essays are equally good, but on the whole this is an excellent introduction to the genre.

Since the limits of this review do not permit consideration of all 28 chapters, let me merely point out some of the contributions which I found particularly appealing. Bing and Bruss’s introduction intriguingly traces epigram’s rise from simple verse inscriptions—marginal and not even all that common amid the mass of prose inscriptions—to the sophisticated and self-conscious literary genre in which most Hellenistic poets wanted to try their hand. Epigram’s epigraphic models stand in the center of the first three chapters: J. Day illuminates the performative aspects of inscriptions; A. Petrovic gives a useful survey of inscribed epigram in pre-Hellenistic literary sources (n.b. his idea that Herodotus created “mini-collections” when citing epigrams in series, cf. 56); A. Bettenworth offers an insightful discussion of the mutual influence of inscribed and literary epigram. In his essay on the Sylloge Simonidea, D. Sider, following a suggestion by Preger, raises the question whether Simonides himself might have prepared an edition of his epigrams, to which inauthentic poems were added later on.

D. Meyer’s essay deals with reading and writing in Hellenistic epigram, illustrating the roles of reader and viewer and the ways in which poems dramatize the act of their reception (those familiar with her excellent 2005 study Inszeniertes Lesevergnügen will not find many new observations here, but this condensed version of her ideas will be welcome to an English-speaking audience; see my review of her book in CW 101 [2007] 115–16). J. Murray and J. Rowland’s article is devoted to the phenomenon of gendered voice; starting from the assumption that Erinna was the first to create an authentic female voice in a hexametric, i.e., male genre, they offer valuable observations on Anyte’s and Nossis’ play with transgendered voice. Looking at ecphrastic epigrams, I. Männlein-Robert illuminates how poets stage the act of interpreting artworks in their descriptions and reflect upon the relationship between the arts.

In her thought-provoking article on Ptolemaic themes in epigram A. Ambühl investigates how epigrammatists functioned as mediators between court and public, especially through their dedicatory poems. K. Gutzwiller’s article on amatory epigram stands out among the essays on epigrammatic subgenres. She calls erotic epigram paradoxical, since it represents private oral speech in a form that goes back to public inscriptions, and subtly demonstrates the different characteristics of Asclepiades’, Callimachus’ and Meleager’s personae.

One of the most fascinating features of Hellenistic epigram is its allusiveness, and A. Sens’ essay on this topic is especially stimulating. He opts for a small series of case studies, which in my view is the best way to proceed. All are excellent. In fact, a couple of contributions left me somewhat disappointed, precisely because they do not include any close analyses. To be sure, not all of the topics allow for such an approach, but it has to be said that owing to their brevity epigrams virtually cry out for exemplary interpretations. Last but not least, I would like to mention...