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Gnomic poetry

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334: 160:, and this was probably the custom of the rest; it is improbable that there ever existed a species of poetry made up entirely of successive gnomes. But the title gnomic came to be given to all poetry which dealt in a sententious way with questions of ethics. It was, unquestionably, the source from which 155:
have been preserved, in a very confused state, from having been written, for purposes of comparison, on the margins of the manuscripts of Theognis, whence they have often slipped into the text of that poet. Theognis enshrines his moral precepts in his
113:. With the exception of Theognis, whose gnomes were fortunately preserved by some schoolmaster about 300 BC, only fragments of the gnomic poets have come down to us. There is at least one known woman gnomic poet, 171:
Gnomes, in their literary sense, belong to the dawn of literature, in their naiveté and their simplicity and moralizing. Many of the ethical reflections of the great dramatists, and in particular of
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The gnomic poets of Greece, who flourished in the 6th century BC, were those who arranged series of sententious maxims in verse. These were collected in the 4th century, by
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as "a saying pertaining to the manners and common practices of men, which declareth, with an apt brevity, what in this our life ought to be done, or not done".
64:, which expresses general truths about the world. Topics range over the divine and secular, from moral aphorisms to hierarchical social relationships. 295: 245: 73: 458: 358: 244:
from the 12th to the 16th centuries, belonged to the true gnomic class, and was cultivated with particular success by
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These gnomes or maxims were extended and put into literary shape by the poets. Fragments of Solon, Euenus, and
421:, cf. Chapter 5, "Elegy and Iambus", p. 117 and onwards, for a treatment of Theognis, Solon, and others. 183:
expanded. The ancient Greek gnomes are not all solemn; some are voluptuous and some chivalrous. Those of
490: 480: 54: 485: 233: 287:; they were composed in deliberate imitation of the Greek gnomic writers of the 6th century BC. 190: 431:, New York: D. Appleton and company, 1897. Cf. p. 85 and onwards regarding Gnomic Poetry 137: 339:
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
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The gnomic spirit has occasionally been displayed by poets of a homely philosophy, such as
98: 124:, long supposed to be a masterpiece of the school, is now known to have been written by a 8: 265: 33:
consists of meaningful sayings put into verse to aid the memory. They were known by the
226: 184: 102: 414: 406: 145: 61: 402: 161: 272: 236:. Comparable with the Anglo-Saxon examples are the Early Welsh gnomic poems. The 467:. Princeton/Stanford Working Papers in Classics, May 2005, Stanford University. 424: 133: 132:. Of the gnomic movement typified by the moral works of the poets named above, 78: 38: 34: 136:
has remarked that it receives its special expression in the conception of the
474: 362:. Vol. 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 151–152. 353: 340: 291: 290:
With the gnomic writings of Pibrac it was long customary to bind up those of
276: 441: 345: 141: 148:" were popularly attributed, and whose names differed in different lists. 283:
of the latter, published in 1574, enjoyed an immense success throughout
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was directly developed, and theorists upon life and infinity, such as
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and Xenophanes, seem to have begun their career as gnomic poets.
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Gnomes are frequently to be found in the ancient literatures of
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is considered to be one of the earliest works of this genre.
240:, a brief, sententious kind of poem, which was in favor in 76:, an orator, but his collection has disappeared. Hesiod's 464:
Gnomes in Poems: Wisdom Performance on the Athenian Stage
252:, in the 15th century. Gnomic literature, including 193:
writes that the gnomic poets mark a transition from
27:
Meaningful opinions put into verse to aid the memory
448:, 1660; 17th-century collection of gnomic sayings. 67: 472: 389:. University of Wales Press, Cardiff. 1935. 279:(1529–1584) in France. The once-celebrated 209:Medieval and early modern gnomic literature 438:, London: Smith, Elder, & co, 1873–76. 411:Cambridge History of Classical Literature 327: 325: 323: 321: 319: 317: 315: 313: 311: 14: 473: 53:was defined by the Elizabethan critic 429:A History of Ancient Greek Literature 344: 308: 117:; nearly 789 of her verses survive. 201:to the dramatists and moralists of 187:had the reputation of being droll. 24: 452: 60:It belongs to the broad family of 25: 502: 434:Symonds, J. A. (John Addington), 45:) "appertaining to an opinion or 332: 413:, v.I, Greek Literature, 1985. 68:Ancient Greek gnomic literature 379: 366: 294:(or Favre) (1557–1624) and of 13: 1: 396: 120:The moral poem attributed to 140:, to whom such proverbs as " 85:The chief gnomic poets were 7: 275:(1592–1644) in England and 248:, the lyrical goldsmith of 10: 507: 436:Studies of the Greek Poets 374:Studies of the Greek Poets 387:Early Welsh Gnomic Poems 301: 359:Encyclopædia Britannica 350:Gnome and Gnomic Poetry 446:Lexicon Tetraglotton 128:of Jewish origin in 99:Simonides of Amorgos 41:adjective γνωμικός ( 37:as gnomes (c.f. the 266:Medieval Literature 459:Martin, Richard P. 385:Jackson, Kenneth, 227:Anglo-Saxon poetry 185:Demodocus of Leros 491:Wisdom literature 407:Bernard M.W. Knox 405:(series editor), 146:Nothing in excess 62:wisdom literature 16:(Redirected from 498: 481:Genres of poetry 403:Easterling, P.E. 390: 383: 377: 370: 364: 363: 338: 336: 335: 329: 162:moral philosophy 21: 18:Gnome (rhetoric) 506: 505: 501: 500: 499: 497: 496: 495: 486:Medieval poetry 471: 470: 455: 453:Further reading 425:Murray, Gilbert 399: 394: 393: 384: 380: 372:Symonds, J.A., 371: 367: 333: 331: 330: 309: 304: 273:Francis Quarles 211: 70: 28: 23: 22: 15: 12: 11: 5: 504: 494: 493: 488: 483: 469: 468: 454: 451: 450: 449: 439: 432: 422: 398: 395: 392: 391: 378: 365: 354:Chisholm, Hugh 306: 305: 303: 300: 296:Pierre Mathieu 246:Hans Rosenblut 210: 207: 138:Seven Wise Men 134:Gilbert Murray 79:Works and Days 74:Lobon of Argos 69: 66: 26: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 503: 492: 489: 487: 484: 482: 479: 478: 476: 466: 465: 460: 457: 456: 447: 443: 440: 437: 433: 430: 426: 423: 420: 419:0-521-21042-9 416: 412: 408: 404: 401: 400: 388: 382: 375: 369: 361: 360: 355: 351: 347: 346:Gosse, Edmund 342: 341:public domain 328: 326: 324: 322: 320: 318: 316: 314: 312: 307: 299: 298:(1563–1621). 297: 293: 292:Antoine Faber 288: 286: 282: 278: 277:Gui de Pibrac 274: 269: 267: 263: 259: 255: 251: 247: 243: 239: 235: 232: 228: 224: 220: 216: 206: 204: 200: 196: 192: 191:J. A. Symonds 188: 186: 182: 179:, are gnomic 178: 174: 169: 167: 163: 159: 154: 149: 147: 143: 139: 135: 131: 127: 123: 118: 116: 112: 108: 104: 100: 96: 92: 88: 83: 81: 80: 75: 65: 63: 58: 56: 55:Henry Peacham 52: 48: 44: 40: 36: 32: 31:Gnomic poetry 19: 463: 445: 442:James Howell 435: 428: 410: 386: 381: 373: 368: 357: 289: 280: 270: 268:in England. 257: 253: 212: 189: 170: 150: 142:Know thyself 119: 84: 77: 71: 59: 50: 42: 30: 29: 229:and in the 475:Categories 409:(editor), 397:References 166:Pythagoras 130:Alexandria 122:Phocylides 107:Xenophanes 95:Phocylides 376:, p. 256. 348:(1911). " 281:Quatrains 258:Maxims II 250:Nuremberg 231:Icelandic 181:distiches 177:Euripides 173:Sophocles 153:Mimnermus 126:Christian 103:Demodocus 254:Maxims I 87:Theognis 47:aphorism 43:gnomikos 356:(ed.). 343::  260:, is a 242:Germany 238:priamel 158:elegies 144:" and " 417:  352:". In 337:  285:Europe 234:staves 219:Persia 215:Arabia 203:Attica 199:Hesiod 115:Kassia 111:Euenus 49:"). A 35:Greeks 302:Notes 262:genre 225:, in 223:India 195:Homer 91:Solon 51:gnome 39:Greek 415:ISBN 256:and 221:and 197:and 175:and 109:and 264:of 477:: 461:, 444:, 427:, 310:^ 217:, 205:. 105:, 101:, 97:, 93:, 89:, 20:)

Index

Gnome (rhetoric)
Greeks
Greek
aphorism
Henry Peacham
wisdom literature
Lobon of Argos
Works and Days
Theognis
Solon
Phocylides
Simonides of Amorgos
Demodocus
Xenophanes
Euenus
Kassia
Phocylides
Christian
Alexandria
Gilbert Murray
Seven Wise Men
Know thyself
Nothing in excess
Mimnermus
elegies
moral philosophy
Pythagoras
Sophocles
Euripides
distiches

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