Tryphiodorus
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Tryphiodorus (; 3rd or 4th century AD) was an epic poet from Panopolis (today Akhmim),
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. His only surviving work is ''The Sack of Troy'', an epic poem in 691 verses. Other recorded titles include ''Marathoniaca'' and ''The Story of Hippodamea''. During his lifetime he was known as Triphiodorus ( local god of Akhim. The confusion between the two spellings occurred already in the sixth century AD due to the widespread confusion of the pronunciation of i/y. A false etymology claims spelling "Tryphiodorus" is based on the Greek word "truphē," meaning "luxury" or "extravagance".


Life

There is little known about the life of Triphiodorus other than two entries in the Byzantine encyclopedia 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 ...
'' (T 1111 and 1112), thought to refer to the same individual. The ''Suda'' provides his place of birth, that he was a grammarian and epic poet, but not when he lived. Traditionally he was dated to the fifth century because he was thought to imitate the '' Dionysiaca'' of Nonnus of Panopolis (then dated to the fourth or fifth century), and he was in his turn imitated by Coluthus (he lived under emperor Anastasius I). However, the publication in the 1970s of a fragment of papyrus from
Oxyrhynchus Oxyrhynchus ( ; , ; ; ), also known by its modern name Al-Bahnasa (), is a city in Middle Egypt located about 160 km south-southwest of Cairo in Minya Governorate. It is also an important archaeological site. Since the late 19th century, t ...
(''P. Oxy.'' 41.2946), containing lines 391-402 of ''The Sack of Troy'' and dated to the third or early fourth century, has made most scholars place him in the third century (see the editions of Livrea, Gerlaud and Dubielzig). Triphiodorus' pagan name cannot be considered proof that he was a pagan, and nothing in his poem allows us to call him a
Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
: the reference in lines 604–5 to children paying with their lives for the sins of their parents is not decisive, having classical parallels such as Homer's ''
Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; , ; ) is one of two major Ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odyssey'', the poem is divided into 24 books and ...
'' 3.298-301.


Writings


''The Taking of Ilios''

Triphiodorus' only extant work is ''The Sack of Troy'', a 691-verse epic poem, narrating events from the capture of the Trojan seer Helenus to the sailing of the Greek troops after the capture of Troy. The poem begins with an invocation to
Calliope In Greek mythology, Calliope ( ; ) is the Muse who presides over eloquence and epic poetry; so called from the ecstatic harmony of her voice. Hesiod and Ovid called her the "Chief of all Muses". Mythology Calliope had two famous sons, OrpheusH ...
, the Muse of epic poetry (lines 1–5). The narrative is introduced with a summary of the dire situation of the troops of the Greeks and Trojans (lines 6-39): both are mined by the tiredness of years of fighting and heavy casualties. Then the Greeks capture the Trojan seer and following his advice call Neoptolemus (Achilles’ son) to join their lines and steal the Palladion from Troy (lines 40–56). The construction of the
Trojan Horse In Greek mythology, the Trojan Horse () was a wooden horse said to have been used by the Greeks during the Trojan War to enter the city of Troy and win the war. The Trojan Horse is not mentioned in Homer, Homer's ''Iliad'', with the poem ending ...
follows and Triphiodorus gives a long description (lines 57–107). The Greeks have an assembly in which
Odysseus In Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology, Odysseus ( ; , ), also known by the Latin variant Ulysses ( , ; ), is a legendary Greeks, Greek king of Homeric Ithaca, Ithaca and the hero of Homer's Epic poetry, epic poem, the ''Odyssey''. Od ...
convinces the most brave fighters to hide with him in the horse and the rest of the troops to pretend they are fleeing from Troy, while preparing to come back the following night (108-234). The following morning the Trojans discover the disappearance of the Achaean army, inspect their camp and admire the Wooden Horse (235-57).
Sinon In Greek mythology, Sinon (Ancient Greek: Σίνων, from the verb "σίνομαι"—''sinomai'', "to harm, to hurt") or Sinopos was a Greek warrior during the Trojan War. He is not mentioned by Homer, but his story is given in the ''Aene ...
appears before them covered in blood and convinces Priam to take the horse into their citadel to win Athena's attention and avoid her helping the Greeks to return (258-303). The Trojans transport the horse and break the otherwise indestructible walls of Troy to bring it into their citadel (304-57).
Cassandra Cassandra or Kassandra (; , , sometimes referred to as Alexandra; ) in Greek mythology was a Trojan priestess dedicated to the god Apollo and fated by him to utter true prophecy, prophecies but never to be believed. In modern usage her name is e ...
tries to make them come into their senses but Priam orders to lock her up (358-443). While they are celebrating the end of the war, Aphrodite tells Helen to join Menelaus (who is hiding in the horse). Helen goes to the temple of Athena where the horse is kept and calls the names of the wives of the hidden heroes, so as to tempt them to come out. One of them, Anticlus, is about to give in forcing Odysseus to strangle him, while Athena orders Helen to go to her room and light a torch to call the Greek fleet back to Troy for the final battle (454-98a). While the Trojans are overcome by a deep slumber, the gods abandon Troy and Helen and Sinon light torches to guide the return of the Greek fleet (498b-521). The fleet arrives and the hidden warriors leave the horse, giving start to a long night of fighting, full of dramatic episodes (506-663). The poet then decides to put a stop to the narrative and conclude (664-7). The poem finishes with the a brief description of how at the beginning of the new day, the victors check for survivors and booty, set Troy on fire, sacrifice Polyxena to appease the spirit of Achilles, distribute the booty and leave for good (668-91). The ''Sack of Troy'' can be considered part of a late antique vogue for mythological epic, which includes the ''Posthomerica'' by Quintus of Smyrna (third century AD), the ''Dionysiaca'' by Nonnus of Panopolis (mid fifth c. AD), the ''Rape of Helen'' (by Colluthus) and the ''Description of the Statues in the Terms of Zeuxippus'' by Christodorus (early sixth century, transmitted as book 2 of the '' Palatine Anthology''). In this poem Triphiodorus shows a deep understanding of Homer and the grammatical tradition of interpretation of the Homeric poems (e.g. in lines 60-1 he shows that he knows about the editorial tradition of Homer ''Iliad'' 5.62-4). He quotes Hesiod (especially Triph. 136–8, after Hes. Op. 57–8) and Pindar (Triph. 643, after Pi. N. 7.42), Hellenistic poetry (e.g. Triph. 318–35, after AR 1.362-90). His portrayal of Cassandra is reminiscent of
Aeschylus Aeschylus (, ; ; /524 – /455 BC) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek Greek tragedy, tragedian often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek tragedy is large ...
in his '' Agamemnon'' and
Euripides Euripides () was a Greek tragedy, tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to ...
in '' Trojan Women''. Regarding a possible influence of
Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...
''Aeneid'' 2, there are some glaring differences between the two accounts of the end of Troy: Virgil develops the character of Laocoön (A. 2.40-56, 199–231), and only mentions Cassandra (246-7), while Triphiodorus focuses on Cassandra (358-443) and does not mention Laocoön. On the contrary, Virgil and Triphiodorus are particularly close in the treatment of the figure of Sinon, in particular in their speeches (compare ''Aeneid'' 2.76-96, 103–4, 189–94, and Triph. 265–82, 292–303).


Other works

Besides ''The Sack of Troy'', the entries of the Suda (T 1111 and 1112) attribute to Triphiodorus two more poems: ''Marathoniaca'' ('), probably narrating how Theseus defeated the bull of Marathon; a ''Story of Hippodamea'' ('), on one of the females of this name (e.g. the daughter of King Oenomaus, who killed all her suitors in a chariot race until Pelops defeated him). The Suda also mentions two grammatical works: the ''
Lipogram A lipogram (from , ''leipográmmatos'', "leaving out a letter" is a kind of constrained writing or word game consisting of writing paragraphs or longer works in which a particular letter or group of letters is avoided.McArthur, Tom (1992). ''The ...
matic Odyssey'' (probably a re-writing of the ''Odyssey'' suppressing a letter in each of the books: α in book 1, β in book 2 and so on) and a ''Paraphrase of Homer’s Comparisons'' ('), a study of the long comparisons in the Homeric poems (since is a long simile).


Impact and contribution

The influence of Triphiodorus has been detected in the ''Dionysiaca'' of Nonnus of Panopolis (e.g. Nonn. D. 25.306, after Triph. 14), Coluthus’ ''Rape of Helen'' (e.g. Colut. 195–8, after Triph. 56–61), Musaeus’ ''Hero and Leander'' (e.g. Musae. 140, after Triph. 32) and Paul the Silentiary (e.g. Descr. Soph. 283, after Triph. 631).L. Miguélez-Cavero (2013), ''Triphiodorus, The Sack of Troy: A General Introduction and a Commentary'', Berlin, pp. 91-92


Bibliography

Bibliographical record updated to july 2012: https://sites.google.com/site/hellenisticbibliography/empire/triphiodorus * Mair, W. A. transl., ''Oppian, Colluthus, Tryphiodorus'' (
Loeb Classical Library The Loeb Classical Library (LCL; named after James Loeb; , ) is a monographic series of books originally published by Heinemann and since 1934 by Harvard University Press. It has bilingual editions of ancient Greek and Latin literature, ...
Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1958) * Giuseppe Giangrande, ''Review: Tryphiodorus'' (The Classical Review, The New Series, Vol. 15, No. 3 Dec., 1965), pp. 282–283 * Smith, William, ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' (Walton & Maberly, 1859), pp. 1177–1178 * Knight, J.F.W., ''Iliupersides'' (The Classical Journal, Vol. 26, No. 3/4 Jul. - Oct., 1932), pp. 178–189 * Jones, W. J. Jr., ''Trojan Legend: Who is Sinon?'' (The Classical Journal, Vol. 61, No.3 Dec., 1965), pp. 122–128 * M. Campbell (1985), Lexicon in Triphiodorum, Hildesheim * F. J. Cuartero Iborra (1988), Trifiodor, La Presa de Troia, Barcelona * U. Dubielzig (1996), Triphiodor, Die Einnahme Ilions, Tübingen * B. Gerlaud (1982), Triphiodore, La Prise d’Ilion, Paris * Enrico Livrea (1982), Triphiodorus, Ilii excidium, Leipzig * Laura Miguélez Cavero (2013), Triphiodorus, The Sack of Troy: A General Introduction and a Commentary, Berlin


Notes


External links


''The Taking of Ilios''
in English
Greek text with English translation (with Oppian's ''Cynegetica'' and ''Halieutica'' and Colluthus' ''Rape of Helen'')
ed. Mair, 1928
Greek text (critical edition)
ed. Weinberger, 1896 {{Authority control Writers of late antiquity Year of birth missing Year of death unknown Roman-era Egyptians 3rd-century poets 4th-century Roman poets 4th-century Greek poets