Chersias ( grc, Χερσίας) of
Orchomenus (fl. late 7th century BCE) was an
archaic Greek
Archaic Greece was the period in Greek history lasting from circa 800 BC to the second Persian invasion of Greece in 480 BC, following the Greek Dark Ages and succeeded by the Classical period. In the archaic period, Greeks settled across the M ...
epic poet
An epic poem, or simply an epic, is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants.
...
whose work is all but lost today.
Plutarch presents Chersias as an interlocutor in the ''Banquet of the
Seven Sages'', making him a contemporary of
Periander
Periander (; el, Περίανδρος; died c. 585 BC) was the Second Tyrant of the Cypselid dynasty that ruled over ancient Corinth. Periander's rule brought about a prosperous time in Corinth's history, as his administrative skill made Corinth o ...
and
Chilon
Chilon of Sparta ( grc, Χείλων) (fl. 6th century BC) was a Spartan and one of the Seven Sages of Greece.
Life
Chilon was the son of Damagetus, and lived towards the beginning of the 6th century BC. Herodotus speaks of him as contemporary ...
. Chersias is also said to have been present when Periander's father
Cypselus dedicated a treasury at
Delphi
Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), in ancient times was a sacred precinct that served as the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient classical world. The oracle ...
. According to
Pausanias, Chersias' poetry had already fallen out of circulation by his day, but the geographer quotes the only extant fragment of his epic poetry, citing a speech delivered by
Callippus of Corinth (5th century BCE) to the Orchomenians as the source:
This fragment suggests that Chersias, like his apparent contemporary
Asius of Samos, composed in the genre of genealogical epic best represented today by the fragmentary Hesiodic ''
Catalogue of Women''. Pausanias goes on to relate that Chersias composed the epitaph which the Orchomenians inscribed upon the base of a statue they erected in Hesiod's honor:
[Paus]
9.38.10
This epitaph is also preserved in the '' Contest of Homer and Hesiod''; cf. .
References
Bibliography
* .
* . (Greek text with facing English translation)
{{Authority control
Ancient Greek poets
7th-century BC poets
Ancient Greek epic poets
Early Greek epic poets
Culture of ancient Boeotia