Synopses & Reviews
Examines the history of archaic Greek through its poetry, particularly the work of Solon.
Synopsis
The poetry of archaic Greece sheds important light on the history and political culture of the age which produced and enjoyed it. This book studies the political poetry of the period, in particular that of Solon, the famous Athenian lawgiver. It considers the context of performance, the aristocratic symposium, and its influence on the poetry's overall meaning and function. It also examines the wider role of poetry in archaic Greek political culture and evidence for its use by tyrants.
About the Author
Elizabeth Irwin is Research Fellow at Girton College Cambridge. She is the author of articles on Greek literature and a contributor to The Hesiodic Catalogue of Women (editor Richard Hunter) (Cambridge, forthcoming).
Table of Contents
Introduction; Part I. The Politics of Exhortation: Introduction; 1. Understanding the political in martial exhortation; 2. Synthesising content and context; 3. Contextualising the city: archaic verse inscriptions and the 'rise' of the polis; Part II. Political Poetics: Solon's Eunomia: Introduction; 4. Solon 4 and martial poetry; 5. Solon's Odyssey; 6. Solon 4 and Hesiod; Part III. Poetry and Political Culture: Introduction; 7. Solon and the language of the tyrant; 8. Rewriting (some) history: Solon and Peisistratus; Conclusion.