Simonides of Keos was one of the most important praise-poets of the early fifth century BCE, ranking alongside Pindar and Bacchylides. In Simonides Lyricus, a group of leading international experts revisit familiar questions about his lyric poetry, and pose new ones. Themes discussed include textual criticism and attribution of fragments; poetic genre and the place of the poet’s melic fragments in his larger oeuvre; the historical, cultural and political background of the poems; and Simonides’ afterlife in the biographical and anecdotal traditions that formed around his name. The volume makes a substantial contribution to modern discussions of Simonides’ place in Greek literary and cultural history and to the understanding of this poet’s often fragmentary and difficult texts.

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Content
• List of Contributors
• List of Illustrations
• List of Abbreviations
• Introduction
  • Simonides Lyricus: A Proem : Peter Agócs and Lucia Prauscello
• Part I. Simonides’ Songs: Transmission and Authorship
  • 1. More Simonides among the fragmenta lyrica adespota? A Survey of the Fragments and a Case Study: P.Strass. inv. 1406–9 : Giuseppe Ucciardello
  • 2. Dancing with the Dogs: Mimetic Dance and the Hyporcheme (on Pindar fr. *107 M = Simonides 255 Poltera) : Giambattista D’Alessio
• Part II. Genres and Contexts of Performance, Patronage and Reception
  • 3. Simonides: A Kind of Janus? Biographical Tradition and Poetical Reality : Orlando Poltera
  • 4. Simonides lyricus elegiacus epigrammaticus : David Sider
  • 5. Maestius lacrimis Simonideis: The thrēnoi of Simonides : Chris Carey
  • 6. Simonides, Anius and Athens: PMG 537 = 301 Poltera (Kateukhai) : Ian Rutherford
  • 7. Kings and Generals: Simonides and the Diplomacy of Victory : Kathryn Morgan
• Part III. Simonides σοφòς: The Early Reception and the Creation of a Poet-Philosopher?
  • 8. The Wisdom of Simonides: σοφòς καὶ θεῖος ἀνήρ : Andrew Ford
  • 9. ‘Clever about Verses?’ Plato and the ‘Scopas Ode’ (PMG 542 = 260 Poltera) : Richard Hunter
  • 10. Simonides in Athens: Memories of Choral Agonistic Excellence in Plato’s Protagoras, Xenophon’s Hieron and the ‘Simonidean’ Epigrams XXVII and XXVIII FGE : Lucia Athanassaki
• Bibliography