The ''Margites'' () is a comic mock-epic ascribed to

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

that is largely lost. From references to the work that survived, it is known that its central character is an exceedingly stupid man named Margites (from

ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

, ''margos'', "raving, mad; lustful"), who was so dense he did not know which parent had given birth to him. His name gave rise to the adjective ''margitomanēs'' (), "mad as Margites", used by

Philodemus Philodemus of Gadara (, ''Philodēmos'', "love of the people"; – prob. or 35 BC) was an Epicurean philosopher and poet. He studied under Zeno of Sidon in Athens, before moving to Rome, and then to Herculaneum. He was once known chiefly for h ...

. The work, among a mixed genre of works loosely labelled " Homerica" in antiquity, was commonly attributed to

, as by

Aristotle Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...

(''Poetics'' 13.92)—"His ''Margites'' indeed provides an analogy: as are the ''Iliad'' and ''Odyssey'' to our tragedies, so is the ''Margites'' to our comedies"—and

Harpocration __NOTOC__ Valerius Harpocration ( or , ''gen''. Ἁρποκρατίωνος) was a Greek grammarian of Alexandria, probably working in the 2nd century AD. He is possibly the Harpocration mentioned by Julius Capitolinus (''Life of Verus'', 2) as ...

Basil of Caesarea Basil of Caesarea, also called Saint Basil the Great (330 – 1 or 2 January 379) was an early Roman Christian prelate who served as Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia from 370 until his death in 379. He was an influential theologian who suppor ...

writes that the work is attributed to Homer but that he is unsure regarding this attribution. However, the massive medieval Greek encyclopaedia called the ''

Suda The ''Suda'' or ''Souda'' (; ; ) is a large 10th-century Byzantine Empire, Byzantine encyclopedia of the History of the Mediterranean region, ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Soudas () or Souidas (). It is an ...

'' attributed the ''Margites'' to Pigres, a Greek poet of

Halicarnassus Halicarnassus ( ; Latin: ''Halicarnassus'' or ''Halicarnāsus''; ''Halikarnāssós''; ; Carian language, Carian: 𐊠𐊣𐊫𐊰 𐊴𐊠𐊥𐊵𐊫𐊰 ''alos k̂arnos'') was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek city in Caria, in Anatolia.

. It is written in mixed

hexameter Hexameter is a metrical line of verses consisting of six feet (a "foot" here is the pulse, or major accent, of words in an English line of poetry; in Greek as well as in Latin a "foot" is not an accent, but describes various combinations of s ...

and iambic lines, an oddity characteristic also of the '' Batrachomyomachia'' (likewise attributed to Pigres), which inserts a pentameter line after each hexameter of the ''Iliad'' as a curious literary game. ''Margites'' was famous in the ancient world, but only the following lines survive: Due to the Margites character, the Greeks used the word as an insult to describe foolish and useless people.

Demosthenes Demosthenes (; ; ; 384 – 12 October 322 BC) was a Greek statesman and orator in ancient Athens. His orations constitute a significant expression of contemporary Athenian intellectual prowess and provide insight into the politics and cu ...

called

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

Margites in order to insult and degrade him.Harpokration, Lexicon of the Ten Orators, § m6
/ref>Aeschines, Against Ctesiphon, §160
/ref>Plutarch, Life of Demosthenes, §23
/ref>

References

Bibliography

* Smith, William. ''

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' is a biographical dictionary of classical antiquity, edited by William Smith (lexicographer), William Smith and originally published in London by John Taylor (English publisher), Tayl ...

'', 1870, article on Margites, . *West, M.L. ''Iambi et Elegi Graeci ante Alexandrum cantati'', vol. II. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992. . {{Authority control Ancient Greek mock-heroic poems Lost poems Homer Ancient Greek epic poems