💯 The Ancient Writing Alcman Tyrtaeus Explained in Detail

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A Lyric poet: Alcman lived in the 7th century B.C. His origins are obscure. Some believe he came from Sardis in Lydia. Others thought that he was a freed slave or that he was Spartan. Alcman’s poetry is not about history or war. It is about very early Sparta, which was culturally sophisticated and had citizens intensely interested in love and beauty. His poems were written for choirs of youths and maidens to sing at the Spartan festivals. The Poems are thought to have dated from the second Messenian war.

He was a keen observer and lover of nature. He wrote in the local Dorian dialect. He wrote legends and stories from Homer. “Now sleep the mountain peaks and the ravines, ridges and torrent streams, all creeping things that black night nourishes, wild upland beasts and the face of bees and monsters in the gulfs of the dark gleaming sea; now sleep the tribes of long-winged birds.” Greek Lyric Poet. He wrote in Sparta. He wrote at the time of the second Messenian war. This is about the 7th century B.C. Tyrtaeus is known especially for military and political poems.

They encouraged Spartans to support the state and fight against the Messenians. His verses mark an important point in Spartan history. The time they turned from arts, crafts and lighter poets such as Alcman to more military austerity. Some say Tyrtaeus helped Sparta transition to a more militaristic society. Others disagree. Some don’t even believe the parts of his writings that survive are authentic. They think it may date to 4th century B.C. Athens. Tyrtaeus was mostly an elegiac poet. In literature, an elergy is a mournful, melancholic or plaintive poem, especially a funeral poem or lament for the dead.

[dertli]

Thank you for the introduction to Alcman and that beautiful poem.