Meleager of Gadara ( ; fl. 1st century BC) was a poet and collector of

epigram An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, sometimes surprising or satirical statement. The word derives from the Greek (, "inscription", from [], "to write on, to inscribe"). This literary device has been practiced for over two millennia ...

s. He wrote some satire, satirical prose, now lost, and some sensual poetry, of which 134 epigrams survive.

Life

Meleager was the son of Eucrates, born in the city of Gadara, now Umm Qais in

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

, then part of the Hasmonian Kingdom, which was then a partially Hellenized community noted for its "remarkable contribution to Greek culture". He was educated in Tyre and spent his later life in Cos where he died at an advanced age, perhaps at 70. According to short autobiographical poems he wrote, Meleager was proud of his hometown and identified himself as cosmopolitan, being both "Attic" (i.e.

Hellenistic In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...

) and Syrian, and also praised Tyre for having "made ima man" and Cos for taking "care of imin isold age". The scholiast to the Palatine manuscript of the ''

Greek Anthology The ''Greek Anthology'' () is a collection of poems, mostly epigrams, that span the Classical Greece, Classical and Byzantine periods of Greek literature. Most of the material of the ''Greek Anthology'' comes from two manuscripts, the ''Palatine ...

'' says he flourished in the reign of Seleucus VI Epiphanes (95 – 93 BC). The uppermost date of his compilation of the Anthology is 60 BC, as it did not include Philodemus of Gadara, though later editors added thirty-four epigrams. Some writers classed him among the Cynics, and according to historian Benjamin Isaac Meleager's belief that "all men are equal and compatriots" strengthens this view, as some Cynics already held such a world view possibly as early as the 5th century BC. Like his compatriot Menippus, Meleager wrote what were known as '' spoudogeloia'' (Greek singular: ), satirical prose essays putting philosophy in popular form with humorous illustrations. These are completely lost. Meleager's fame is securely founded on the one hundred and thirty-four epigrams of his own which he included in his Anthology. The manuscripts of the ''Greek Anthology'' are the sole source of these epigrams.

''The Garland'' of Meleager

Meleager is famous for his anthology of poetry entitled ''The Garland'' (). Polemon of Ilium and others had created collections of monumental inscriptions, or of poems on particular subjects earlier, but Meleager first did so comprehensively. He collected epigrams by 46 Greek poets, from every lyric period up to his own. His title referred to the commonplace comparison of small beautiful poems to flowers, and in the introduction to his work, he attached the names of various flowers, shrubs, and herbs—as emblems—to the names of the several poets.Smith
"Planudes"
1867, p. 385. The ''Garland'' itself has survived only as one of the original constituent roots to the

Poetry

Meleager's poetry is concerned with personal experience and emotions, frequently with love and its discontents. He typically describes himself not as an active and engaged lover, but as one struck by the beauty of a woman or boy. The following is an example:

References

Bibliography

Texts and translations

* ''The Greek Anthology I'' (Loeb Classical Library) W. R. Paton (1916) Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press; London: Heinemann) riginal Greek with facing page English translations*''Select Epigrams from the Greek Anthology.'' J. W. Mackail (1890) Longmans, Green & Co. nglish translationsbr>''The Greek Anthology''
Charles Neaves (1874) New York: John B. Alden nglish translations and commentary

Secondary sources

* *Smith, Philip (1867
"Meleager""Planudes"
In William Smith (ed.) Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. 3. Boston: Little, Brown & Co.

External links

Meleager of Gadara: translation of all surviving epigrams
at ''attalus.org''; adapted from W. R. Paton (1916–18) {{DEFAULTSORT:Meleager of Gadara 1st-century BC Greek poets Ancient Greek anthologists Cynic philosophers Hellenistic poets Roman-era Greeks Epigrammatists of the Greek Anthology Hellenistic-era philosophers from Syria 1st-century BC Greek philosophers