#epic and dramatic fragments and long poems

[derangedrhythms]

Anna Akhmatova, The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova: Epic and Dramatic Fragments and Long Poems; from ‘Poem Without a Hero’, tr. Judith Hemschemeyer

[floralpoeticss]

You, who have found your way into my last dream.

- Anna Akhmatova, from The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova: Epic and Dramatic Fragments and Long Poems.

[poemshubs]

What Are the Main Types of Poetry?

Poetry is a diverse and rich form of expression that has evolved over centuries. It encompasses a variety of styles, forms, and techniques, each serving different purposes and appealing to different tastes. Understanding the main types of poetry can deepen your appreciation for this art form and enhance your own writing. This article will explore the major types of poetry, their characteristics, and examples, providing a comprehensive guide to the world of poetry.

1. Narrative Poetry

Narrative poetry tells a story. Unlike other forms of poetry, narrative poetry focuses on a sequence of events, characters, and a plot. This type of poetry often has a clear storyline and characters who take part in the events described.

Characteristics of Narrative Poetry

Storyline: It contains a structured plot, including a beginning, middle, and end.

Characters: Includes characters who drive the narrative.

Setting: Establishes a time and place for the story to unfold.

Dialogue: Often features conversations between characters.

Examples of Narrative Poetry

“The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe: This poem tells the story of a man mourning the loss of his love, Lenore, and his encounter with a mysterious raven.

“The Iliad” by Homer: An ancient epic poem that narrates the events of the Trojan War, focusing on the hero Achilles.

2. Lyric Poetry

Lyric poetry is characterized by its emotional and personal nature. It expresses the poet’s thoughts and feelings, often in a musical or rhythmic way. Unlike narrative poetry, lyric poetry does not tell a story but focuses on a moment of emotional insight or reflection.

Characteristics of Lyric Poetry

Emotional Expression: Centers on personal emotions and thoughts.

Musicality: Often uses rhythm and meter to create a musical effect.

Imagery: Employs vivid imagery and metaphor to convey feelings.

Examples of Lyric Poetry

“Ode to a Nightingale” by John Keats: A reflection on the beauty and fleeting nature of life, expressed through the imagery of a nightingale’s song.

“Sonnet 18″ by William Shakespeare: Celebrates the eternal beauty of the speaker’s beloved through lyrical language and structure.

3. Dramatic Poetry

Dramatic poetry is written in verse and intended to be performed. It includes plays and monologues that express a character’s thoughts and emotions through dialogue and action.

Characteristics of Dramatic Poetry

Dialogue: Characters speak directly to one another or to the audience.

Monologue: A single character’s extended speech or soliloquy.

Action: Includes elements of drama such as conflict and resolution.

Examples of Dramatic Poetry

“Macbeth” by William Shakespeare: A tragedy written in verse, featuring dramatic monologues and dialogues that explore themes of ambition and guilt.

“The Waste Land” by T.S. Eliot: Though primarily a modernist poem, it includes dramatic elements through its use of voices and fragmented narrative.

4. Epic Poetry

Epic poetry is a lengthy narrative poem that often deals with heroic deeds, significant events, or grand themes. It usually involves a hero’s journey and is written in a formal style.

Characteristics of Epic Poetry

Heroic Deeds: Centers around a hero who performs great feats.

Formal Style: Uses elevated language and elaborate descriptions.

Extended Length: Typically long and divided into books or sections.

Examples of Epic Poetry

“The Odyssey” by Homer: Follows the hero Odysseus on his journey home after the Trojan War.

“Paradise Lost” by John Milton: An epic that explores the biblical story of the Fall of Man.

5. Haiku

Haiku is a traditional Japanese form of poetry that captures a moment or scene in nature. It consists of three lines with a specific syllable pattern.

Characteristics of Haiku

Syllable Structure: Follows a 5-7-5 syllable pattern.

Nature Themes: Often focuses on natural scenes or seasonal changes.

Brevity: Emphasizes simplicity and brevity.

Examples of Haiku

“Old Pond” by Matsuo Bashō:

An old silent pond…

A frog jumps into the pond—

Splash! Silence again.

6. Villanelle

Villanelle is a nineteen-line poem with a strict form, featuring a specific rhyme scheme and repeating lines. It is known for its musical quality and complexity.

Characteristics of Villanelle

Rhyme Scheme: ABAB ABA ABA ABA ABA ABAA.

Repetitive Lines: Includes two repeating lines that alternate and conclude the poem.

Structure: Composed of five tercets (three-line stanzas) followed by a quatrain (four-line stanza).

Examples of Villanelle

“Do not go gentle into that good night” by Dylan Thomas: A famous villanelle urging defiance against death.

“The Waste Land” by T.S. Eliot: Features villanelle-like repetition within its modernist structure.

7. Sonnet

Sonnet is a 14-line poem with a specific rhyme scheme and meter, often exploring themes of love, nature, or philosophy. There are two primary types: Shakespearean (English) and Petrarchan (Italian).

Characteristics of Sonnet

Line Count: Always consists of 14 lines.

Rhyme Scheme:

Shakespearean: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG.

Petrarchan: ABBAABBA (octave) and various schemes for the sestet.

Iambic Pentameter: Written in a meter of ten syllables per line with alternating stresses.

Examples of Sonnet

“Sonnet 18” by William Shakespeare: An exploration of beauty and time.

“How Do I Love Thee?” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning: A sonnet expressing deep affection and devotion.

8. Limerick

Limerick is a five-line poem known for its humorous content and distinctive rhythm. It follows a specific rhyme scheme and meter.

Characteristics of Limerick

Rhyme Scheme: AABBA.

Meter: Often follows anapestic meter, with the first, second, and fifth lines having three metrical feet and the third and fourth lines having two.

Humor: Typically humorous or whimsical.

Examples of Limerick

“There was a young man from Peru”:

There was a young man from Peru,

Who dreamed he was eating his shoe.

He awoke with a fright

In the middle of the night

To find that his dream had come true.

9. Free Verse

Free verse is a form of poetry that does not adhere to a specific meter or rhyme scheme. It allows the poet freedom to express ideas and emotions without traditional constraints.

Characteristics of Free Verse

No Fixed Meter: Does not follow a specific rhythmic pattern.

Variable Line Lengths: Lines can vary in length and structure.

Focus on Imagery and Language: Emphasizes language and imagery over form.

Examples of Free Verse

“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T.S. Eliot: Features free verse with varied line lengths and no consistent meter.

“Song of Myself” by Walt Whitman: Uses free verse to explore themes of identity and nature.

10. Acrostic Poetry

Acrostic poetry is a type of poem where the first letter of each line spells out a word or message when read vertically. This form is often used for its visual and thematic impact.

Characteristics of Acrostic Poetry

Vertical Message: The first letters of each line spell out a word or phrase.

Flexibility: Can be written in various styles and formats.

Thematic Focus: Often used to highlight specific themes or subjects.

Examples of Acrostic Poetry

“Autumn”:

A season of change,

Underneath the trees,

The leaves fall gently,

Turning red and gold,

Under the cool breeze,

Memory of summer fades.

11. Ode

Ode is a formal, often lengthy poem that expresses admiration or praise for a particular subject. It is characterized by its elevated style and structured form.

Characteristics of Ode

Formal Tone: Uses elevated language and tone.

Structure: Can vary, but often includes stanzas with a regular pattern.

Subject Matter: Typically focuses on themes of praise or reflection.

Examples of Ode

“Ode to a Nightingale” by John Keats: Reflects on the beauty and transcendence of the nightingale’s song.

“Ode on a Grecian Urn” by John Keats: Explores themes of art and eternity through the imagery of an ancient urn.

Conclusion

The world of poetry is vast and varied, with each type offering unique ways to express ideas, emotions, and stories. From the structured rhythms of sonnets and villanelles to the freedom of free verse and the humor of limericks, each form provides different tools and opportunities for poets. By understanding the main types of poetry and their characteristics, you can better appreciate the diverse expressions of this art form and find inspiration for your own writing. Whether you are drawn to the narrative drive of epic poetry or the emotional depth of lyric poems, there is a form of poetry that can capture and convey the nuances of human experience.

[finishinglinepress]

FLP BOOK OF THE DAY: The Flightless Years by Jamie L. Smith

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The #poems and #essay fragments in The Flightless Years investigate the #relationship between memory, myth, and meaning. When our heroes fail us, and we can’t reconcile our love for someone with their actions, do myths and the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves help or harm? Over the course of The Flightless Years, a beloved friend commits a violent crime, a mother’s mental illness destabilizes the speaker’s childhood, and the speaker’s own addiction wreaks havoc on her relationships. Still, Icarus flew before he fell, and Persephone returned from the underworld. The figures present in these pages, however flawed, find their thrills, and revel in beauties ranging from the crushed glass that glitters like stars on the sidewalk to the greater cosmos and constellations.

Jamie L. Smith holds an MFA from Hunter College (2020) and is a PhD candidate in English Literature & Creative Writing at University of Utah (2024). Her poems, nonfiction, and hybrid works appear in publications including Bellevue Literary Review, Red Noise Collective, Southern Humanities Review, Tusculum Review, The Write Launch, Red Wheelbarrow, and elsewhere. She lives and writes between Salt Lake and New York City.

PRAISE FOR The Flightless Years by Jamie L. Smith

“Mine wasn’t the sort of epic downfall myths are written about,” says the speaker in “Flawed Mythologies,” the lyric essay and psychic spine of this searching debut collection. Without a trace of self-dramatization, refusing easy resolution, preferring question over blame, Jamie Smith’s insightful poems explore loss, absence, addiction, the violence and contradictions that haunt our most intimate relationships. We cannot recover our losses, but we can recover. The Flightless Years is the deeply intelligent, beautifully wrought record of this struggle.

–Donna Masini

Moving between fact and fantasy, the personal and mythological, childhood and adulthood, the poems in The Flightless Years attempt to reconcile what is lost with the act of remembering itself. Whether it’s in long elegiac lyrics like “Flooring” or her “Flawed Mythologies” series, Smith focuses on tangible, fragmentary details of the past that should make memories easier to recapture and reconcile. And yet these same memories evade adult comprehension, thus the collection gestures to the impossibility of catharsis, becoming less about narrative reclamation and more about continued metamorphosis and destruction. When faced with the difficulty of healing the past, how can we not turn lost friends, parents, and lovers—even ourselves—into “flawed myths” of love? Jamie Smith is a writer asking the hard—maybe even unanswerable—questions about identity and change, a writer who understands that each of us is a strange, hybrid creature of myth and memory.

–Paisley Rekdal

“[Flawed Mythologies] is a deftly choreographed and deeply felt essay. The essayist uses a tripartite structure and a combination of tones and dictions to fully exploit the possibilities of the essay—to create a moving exploration of how ideas and experience intertwine, how thinking about the past is an obsessive activity, thinly concealed by the forms of intellection and apparent arrangement, which may help us move towards what is difficult to consider, but will not, in the words of James Agee, ‘tell me who I am.’ Still, the attempt, which in this case is considered, offered with both the risk of revelation and the efforts of discretion. The result is a poetic acceleration at the end which is moving and earned.”

–David Lazar

Please share/please repost #flpauthor #preorder #AwesomeCoverArt #poetrybook #read #poems #essay

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[oldwinesoul]

"You, who have found your way into my last dream.”

—Anna Akhmatova, The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova: Epic and Dramatic Fragments and Long Poems

[quotationsworld]

You alone were my fate, I would have done anything for you.

— Anna Akhmatova, The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova: Epic and Dramatic Fragments and Long Poems; from ‘Prologue’, tr. Judith Hemschemeyer

[mokeyfraggleirl]

A Full, De-Abridged Recitation of Mokey Fraggle's "White Birds and Death" Poem by Zovi First, if you would prefer to listen to this performed, as it is intended, you may do so here, as I have recorded it (approximately 28 minutes long): soundcloud.com/zovi/a-full-de-abridged-recitation-of-mokey-fraggles-white-birds-and-death-poem I will go over the process here first, and then the full text of my completed poem will follow underneath. (This is very long, so I’ll put a read-more break here for the sake of scrolling.)

"Oh, how DARE they call my White Birds and Death poem boring! Well–-it HAS to be long! To give the birds time to migrate..." - Mokey Fraggle, "Mokey's Funeral"

You know that poem Mokey wrote in the Fraggle Rock episode "Mokey's Funeral" that everyone thought was boring? WELL...I am pleased to announce that I have completed it, based on the little we've heard of it! Join Mokey on her epic poem that is known to bore the hell out of Red. Personally, I think this is a crowning achievement of my career as a poet. I started the process for this by listing out what is known about White Birds and Death, Mokey's masterpiece: 1. It is an epic, dramatic poem, that takes an extended period of time to perform correctly. 2. It requires at least two actors including Mokey (in an unknown role, but likely some manner of narrator) and "The Gravedigger" (played by Boober, who can be assumed to not have lines). 3. The fragment of the poem performed at the end of "Mokey's Funeral" is set in a boat rowed by the Gravedigger, perhaps sailing away to death, which may mean it is nearer to the end of the poem (or at least deep within it, I can't imagine this would be in the beginning). 4. It is boring to most Fraggles, which likely means it is cyclical and meandering like what you'd expect from Mokey feeling like she should write something this long (this is convenient for extrapolation because we can use repetition to get us to the target of four hours runtime as Red said--wait, no, see next point). 5. It was Red who said it was something like four hours long, but Red was likely exaggerating. It was still likely very long, though, so approximately half an hour would feel like four hours to Red in all likelihood. AND SO, THE BOUNDS OF COMPLETION: 1. The poem shall be written in Mokey's long-winded style for White Birds and Death. 2. The poem shall be GOOD, but boring to the average Fraggle. 3. The poem shall make sense, at least enough to be plausibly a good try at it. 4. The poem shall be approximately half an hour long when performed. And of course, it must include the known canon lines. The lines heard in "Mokey's Funeral" are the beginning of Act III. Additionally, the dour variation from "The Secret Society of Poohbahs" is included further into Act III. And now, one interpretation of: White Birds and Death by Mokey Fraggle I. Darkness, Darkness... Thy journey begins in Darkness For morning has not yet come Yea, mourning morning has not yet come Nay, mourning, mourning is still to come For all there is Is silent hum... It is dark, through idle clay And nothing lost, not yet For loss is far, far away From us so far, not a threat For there is nothing yet: Nothing, nothing, nothing to mend Nothing, nothing, nothing to reap For no thing has yet caused an end To the peace in this perfect sleep This sleep within itself persists Through time from time, though time insists To wind, wind its way, oh, Through caves without end So that time, time may sow The seeds that may rend Rend it all All, within what we know not For Darkness keeps us blind Blind to... What? O Darkness! The Darkness The idle clay So very still So still and gray No sight, no sound No poem or song Doth reach the ears Those shadowy, shadowy ears That know no right from wrong As the darkness itself wanes From its pervasive throng Emptying the caves of years Of its own non-song As it recoils in pains Pains that shatter time itself Into the moments that we share In health, in health, what health? O Health! Ah! Lo, see! Look, look! See to see to see! To the eastern sky Look more east, And further, try Until you see See! The light pours in your eyes Your eyes, so new, so new to light So bright, so bright, the purest white Over horizon, and under sky The white, white birds doth fly Fly from darkness, darkness to light The flight, the flight, before the plight Doth come before and after light The Sun's young light, how young, O Light! The birds do soar in arcs so wide So wide, circling under the light The light of Sun, conquest of night By morning light, no mourning flight Not yet, not yet, for all is right This morning's light, this morning's light Let us lose Lose our way to night Lose our way in flight Like the white birds reflecting light Circling above Brighter than a mourning dove We find peace, Peace and laughter, Peace and song, Peace and love, Love in song, In this sky, This bright, bright sky, We find love Through morning doves In the light, in their flight As they fly slowly Through the day O, birds, we pray, Fly slower still So we may take Take our fill Of your long flight Within the light O light, O loves O leisure, doves: Meander, stall, and do not fall From your place above us all As we continue to gaze Gaze up and admire You, full of life You, birds so pure You, those on wing so sure So sure of what propels you: The magic that silently tells you How to stay afloat Like a boat upon a pond But up, up, in that beyond Where you glide to and fro Though always more "to": To the west So far away from your nest Horizon-perched at recent rest Fulfilled by you, o white birds Fulfilled by life brought forth: To wander south and wander north But always west Then and henceforth-- But let us not darken our days Halcyon in countless ways Let us not count, it is not time But always time, but always time Finds its way to make its chime Heard by all under its spell Under its sky, under its light For time itself chases these birds These white, white birds who fly so high So high above our rock and cave And pond and garden And we ask why But get no answer in reply Just white, white birds who fly So, o majestic creatures nigh Truly, nigh, despite so high, We ask you this, for all you'll try: Fly, white birds, fly. And take your time. Take your time. II. And so the birds The white, white birds Continue to fly On winding path Invisible to eye O, is there a path I cannot see? Or do they fly free? I may never know Until aftermath But lo, In the interim of the day We live to say: We live, we live, And the white, white birds Continue to fly Their winding path Through that bright sky And we learn to sing And we find our voice And the white, white birds Continue to fly Their winding path Through that bright sky And we sing our songs And we dance, we dance, we dance And we find ourselves in the movements And the white, white birds Continue to fly Their winding path Through that bright sky And we nourish our selves With what the world provides Always giving, always giving And we receive, recede, precede And the white, white birds Continue to fly Their winding path Through that bright sky And we gather together like spiderflies Weaving our webs, weaving, waning Waxing lyrical of more and more As more and more reveals itself Revels within itself, we revel, we are revealed And the white, white birds Continue to fly Their winding path Through that bright sky And still we move toward the west, Shunned from our view, as we take up oars Oars that float with hours and yours Following currents that meander Into dilated depths, a blur Always moving from abjection 'Round and round to lose direction: "My friend, sailor, Ferryman! Be West! Be East now, be East for me! I hold hands with North and South Such that you may be so, so be!" So be, so be! And the white, white birds Continue to fly Their winding path So above wrath that we deny: O West, O West, ghost out of reach! Each song brings us closer and closer still And the white, white birds Continue to fly Upon the wing so far, so far, so far, Ah, the hunger, the increasing hunger The hunger of a bird on the wing Transmitted by white light to everything And the white, white birds Continue to fly Yes, yes, they continue to fly And all we can do is sing in time And the white, white birds Continue to fly And all we can do is be, and become And the white, white birds Continue to fly And all we can do is laugh and cry And the white, white birds Continue to fly And all we can do is gasp and sigh And the white, white birds Continue to fly And all we can do is give and go And the white, white birds Continue to fly And all we can do is stay and know And the white, white birds Continue to fly And all we can do is be below And the white, white birds Continue to fly And all we can do is wet our toes And the white, white birds Continue to fly And all we can say is "ah, but though" And the white, white birds Continue to fly And all we can see is silhouettes And all we can be is what they let us be So see, oh, see! What am I to me? What are we to we? Underneath, underneath We find our center and breathe A breath: a sharp inhale: lo, a stalactite. And breathing out: lo, a stalagmite. The hourglass, O hours! Hours, ours! And the white, white birds Continue to fly Their winding path Through that bright sky And as they fly Yea, as the white, bright birds Make their way through pre-gloom (The hopeful rays of late-afternoon) The Ferryman raises his oars His long, long oars To glide through waters of murk and mire Transformed, just then, to shovels dire Transformed in body and in soul Transformed from limestone into coal No longer just a Ferryman is he: The Gravedigger cometh! O Fate, come see, For the white, white birds Will not wait for thee. III. Lo, as the fiery sun Doth wend its way Towards westward rest Then do the birds The white, white birds Fly to the sky Fly up, fly on On to yonder and beyond And we reach out So far away So far under the setting sun From a song just begun Just begun, our song of sun Within the shade, The dark, dark shade, A solemn song for everyone A song to ward this all away A song to live another day A song for love, a song for peace A longing for all to never cease And yet the birds, The white, slight birds, Meander onward to that west So very far from whence they came From eastern nest To find their rest And so the song will find its rest For song itself Must surpass itself In time, Out of time, Stepping into the void of silence Where only the oars The wide, wide oars Turned into trowels Deep within the bowels Deeper, deeper, deeper still Cutting into stone and dirt The dirt so long left in despondence Now seeping through to the surface The stone so long left from our conscience Now steepening so that we may slip Slip, slip into the crevasse The crevasse of truth Truth of the darkness Truth of the soil Truth of the stone Truth of the cave Truth of the tunnel Truth of the water Truth of the depths Truth of the void Truth of the darkness Truth of the cycle Truth of the Ferryman Turned truth of the Gravedigger Turned truth of the grave O, the grave, how grave How grave we find the end As we sail along, around each bend Hath this tunnel no end? Branching endlessly ahead Now the roots, nourished, fed With the dead, O the dead! The leaves wilt and fall The call, they hear the call They see the light They see the flight And look to the sky Where the birds doth fly O birds, white birds What birds, we cry! We cry, we cry To the birds in the sky To birds in sky, we cry We weep, no more sleep For birds soon will take where we lie And sleep themselves Within their right For what approaches? Hark and heed the darkest night The night that still is yet to come But dusk doth approach Dawn a memory long since broached Dirt for neither, dirt from both Finds the soul at stagnant growth And songs find ends And dances slow And all is known in undertow And eyes look up to see Beyond the void of ceiling, free Free of the world of joy and pain Free of the sorrow and the slain The rain has fallen Now, no more rain We shall not feel that again Only the white, white birds remain Look up, look out Look further, look farther See the winged creatures' solemn departure Reaching the horizon The wide, wide horizon And the birds of twilight white Doth thin in number as if blight Hath withered them to smoke and cloud Under the dusk's encroaching shroud O Dusk, O Night! Merely one bird now left in flight! O solitary flight Barely a speck in waning light: And as the fiery sun Doth finally sets Toward its ultimate rest of rests Then did the bird, The dull gray bird, Sink down and down Beyond to despond And so, too, we sink in our pond Our dark, dark pond Never to be heard Never to be found Never to make another sound O Silence O Darkness O Dirt and Stone Together we find ourselves alone As all goes dark And all goes quiet In the void of time. IV Darkness, Darkness... Thy journey ends in Darkness And mourning has come Mourning, mourning will always come For all there is Is silence... But what doth make a sound? Silent mourning, bereft of sound Do we hear thee, singing rounds? Do we see thee in the dark? Do we feel thee? Hark! Not mourning, but morning sings a song! O white birds gone, once gone, twice gone How many times is this song sung? How many times is death undone? How do we tell what bells are rung? O, toll, do tell, all or none? What song is sung, what's sung is song We sing it strong, we sing it long We sing it through the void and stream We sing it through the dirt and dream We sing it through the wide, wide sky We sing it through, we sing it through So we are too busy to die O, we find life anew within our love Where birth and rebirth eastward lie We move east least for east we are-- The easternmost heart! Hold my hand, O Ferryman No more graves, now dredge, now flood Driest dirt turns to mud The water flows, it flows and flows And we flow too, meandering As bright, bright birds O, we glow too, we glow, we fly As white, white birds In stream and sky In cave and cloud Forever fly We spread our wings We lose our way To find ourselves To find that song Up there, up in That wide, wide sky So we may see What may lie Beyond, Beyond, Beyond, Beyond.

[flores-et-dracones]

Could I get some recommendations on classic literature? I absolutely love to read and would like more books to add to my reading list.

Of course! Here are some of my favourites:

Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey - epic poems recounting episodes from the Trojan War. The Iliad tells the story of Achilles’ quarrel with Agamemnon and it’s consequences, while the Odyssey tells the story of the Greek hero Odysseus and his ten year journey home after the war. They were first recited orally around 750/700 BC, and were later written down. They had a profound influence on all later literature. The earliest surviving written sources from ancient Greece. Must reads for anyone with an interest in Greek mythology. Both poems are available in prose and verse translations. For prose, I’d recommend Martin Hammond’s penguin classics edition of the Iliad, and E. V. Rieu’s penguin classics edition of the Odyssey. Both are very accurate to the Greek and very readable. Hammond in particular has excellent introductory notes and critical summaries, that are very useful for a first time reader. For verse translations, I’d recommend Robert Fagles for both. Bernard Knox’s introductory essays for Fagles’ translations are works of art in themselves. Emily Wilson has also recently published a verse translation of the Odyssey. I haven’t read it in full myself yet, but it seems very easy to read and her introductory notes are excellent.

Virgil’s Aeneid - Rome’s answer to Homer, written 700 years after the Iliad and Odyssey. An epic poem recounting the story of the Trojan hero Aeneas and his quest to find a new home for the survivors of the Trojan War. A foundation story for Rome, patronized by the Emperor Augustus himself. The only epic in which we actually see the wooden horse and the sack of Troy (the Iliad ends with the death of Hector, long before the city falls; the Odyssey takes up the story long after the war has ended. Aeneas recounts the fall of Troy in book 2 of the Aeneid). For prose, I’d recommend David West’s penguin classics translation, and for verse, I’d recommend Robert Fagles again. A quicker read than either the Iliad or Odyssey, as it is only half their length.

Ovid’s Metamorphoses - another must read for anyone with an interest in myth. Often considered a mock-epic because of its humor and irreverence, Metamorphoses presents a kaleidoscopic sequence of Greek and Roman myths, from the origins of the universe down to the deification of Julius Caesar during the reign of Augustus (Ovid’s contemporary era). The unifying theme is - you’ve guessed it - metamorphoses, change and transformation. No other ancient text (except perhaps Apollodorus’ Library of Greek Mythology) gathers together so many myths. It was the primary source of classical myth for Shakespeare and the Elizabethan poets, who would have read William Golding’s translation. 

The poetry of Sappho - one of the very few female authors whose work survives from antiquity. She lived on the Greek island of Lesbos in the 7th century BC. She was a lyric poet - her poems were accompanied by music, typically the lyre. Her genius was highly respected in antiquity, but today most of her work survives only in fragments. I’d recommend Anne Carson’s translation If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho. Carson is a poet in her own right, and the format in which she presents Sappho’s work makes for a unique and beautiful reading experience.

Greek Tragedy - one of my favourite genres, and a great place to start if you are new to classics, because they are quite short, usually easy to read, and always intensely gripping. 32 plays survive in full, so there’s plenty to choose from, but I’d recommend Euripides’ Medea, Sophocles’ Oedipus Tyrannos, Sophocles’ Antigone, Aeschylus’ Oresteia, and Euripides’ Electra (make sure you read the Oresteia before Electra - you’ll appreciate it more that way). Also Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound and Euripides’ Trojan Women, which deals with the fate of the women after the destruction of Troy.

Greek Comedy - I’d recommend Aristophanes’ Lysistrata, Assembly Women, Frogs and Birds in particular. Absolutely absurd. 

Seneca’s Medea - a Roman tragedy. Very interesting to compare to Euripides’ play. He wrote other tragedies too, if you develop a taste. This is the famous Seneca, the stoic philosopher, the one who tried to curb the emperor Nero’s megalomania and was eventually ordered to commit suicide by him. 

The poetry of Catullus - a Roman poet, living during the reign of Julius Caesar. His poetry ranges from the hilarious to the heart-breaking, and is noted for being full of ‘obscenity and abuse’ (which makes it very fun to read). I’d recommend Guy Lee’s oxford world’s classics translation.

Tristia and the Black Sea Letters - the poems and letters Ovid wrote from exile. He wrote them in Tomis in modern day Romania on the coast of the black sea, and sent them back to Rome, where he intended them to circulate amongst a broad audience, despite their ostensibly private nature. They were essentially a propaganda campaign, designed to build sympathy for him and pressurize Augustus into recalling him to Rome. My favourite of his works, I think. I’d recommend Peter Green’s translations. 

Longus’ Daphnis and Chloe - a charming little Greek novel, telling a story of first love between two shepherds, set in an idyllic, pastoral setting. A very quick read and available as a penguin little black classic.

Seutonius’ Lives of the Caesars - to brush up on your Roman history. Covers the lives of 12 Roman emperors, controversially including Julius Caesar as the first. Includes some of the most notorious figures from Roman history, such as Caligula and Nero. Scandalous and dramatic, not exactly objective, but an entertaining read.

I think that’s probably enough to be getting on with!

[awesomelizziethewriter-blog]

Essay on Achilles

In this essay I will talk about Achilles  in mythology and literature. Throughout this essay I will use and reference Pantelis Michelakis' book Achilles in Greek Tragedy, Bain's book The Prologues of Euripides' Iphigenia in Aulis', Barchiesi's book Simonides and Horace on the death of Achilles, Sofocles's book entitled Philoctetes, Homer's book Iliad, Aeschylus’s books Myrmidons, Nereids, and Phrygians.

According to Pantelis Michelakis, in ancient Greco-Roman times, Achilles enjoyed a long history as a mythological figure that extended beyond the Iliad. The Tragedy appropriated Achilles to address concerns regarding his Era such as heroism, education, and even individualism. Achilles is dramatized as both a model and a problem, and has been honored as a cult hero in many parts of the Greek world. As such ,cult associations and religious associations made to Achilles in relation to individual areas had a political dimension, the traces of which can be detected in some references to Achilles in literature and art. In the late seventh century, the Mytileneans began a long war against the Athenians for the possession of the Troad. The Mytileneans used as base of operations a fort called Achilleion, because for them Achilles was a hero of great importance and his sanctuary served as central in both the literal and the figurative sense. Achilles was also honored as a cult hero in Magna Graecia. Another literary representation of Achilles is that of Simonides' poem , where Simonides describes Achilles as a cult hero through religious discourse and the panhellenic narratives of Homeric poetry. In so doing, Simonides used Achilles to blur the distinctions between poetic and cult immortalization, and thus facilitate the heroization of the war dead through different and complementary modes of commemoration.There is a paradox in the Achilles-related traditions: As a literary figure, he had enormous panhellenic significance, but his cults were associated with places on the periphery of the Greek world, and not with any of the city-states in the center.As a literary figure, Achilles appears in many epic narratives. The Iliad covers a limited period of time and provides a complex portrait of the hero engaging with different mythological episodes, themes, and traditions. In the Iliad, Achilles is the son of a goddess, yet he is a mortal. He fights the Scamander River and competes with the god Apollo, but his short, sad life is a condition for his central role in the poem. It is invaluable to the Achaeans, but it is also their biggest problem. Its centrality in the poem is marked by its physical ability, but also by its absence on the battlefield and its reasoning and strong emotions.He is a simple and admirable speaker and a bloodthirsty warrior, but he is also a symbol of humanity. He has Briseis as a gift of honor, but he loves her as if she were his wife.No matter how complex the portrait of Achilles provided by the Iliad, there are many mythological episodes and character traits of Achilles that the poem does not include: his upbringing by Chiron, his fatherhood of Neoptolemus, his duel with Telephus in Mysia, and many others. .One of the most striking features of these episodes is the persistent exploration of Achilles as a warrior and lover. In the poems of the Cycle, Achilles encounters many enemies, including the son of a god, an unarmed teenager, and an amazon. If the Iliad promotes a solemn vision of its short protagonist, the cyclical poems seem to affirm the importance of the hero through successive episodes of glory and triumph.

In the classical Athens, the only reference to Achilles as a cult hero comes from Euripides. In contrast to epic heroes whose cults in the Greek tragedy were linked to issues of ethnic identity, Achilles never became a suitable vehicle for Athenian self-identification as a collective group.Achilles' popularity as a mythological figure in classical Athens is also witnessed by the hero's representations in art. Its popularity with the dramatists of classical Athens persisted from Aeschylus's Achilleis trilogy to the tragic and comic poets of the fourth century. Sophocles dramatized episodes of Achilles' biography in plays such as Ajax and Philoctetes. Achilles appeared on the Athenian stage in about twenty-five pieces and was mentioned in another fifty, but nevertheless, of the pieces named after Achilles, only a few fragments of Sophocles's “Achilles lovers” survived. Among Achilles' dramatic depictions, only Achilleis of Aeschylus seems to have had a major impact on classical Athens. After Aeschylus, the playwrights did not seem to deal directly with the Homeric Achilles, but rather sought to redefine Homer's exemplary character by turning his attention to episodes of the mythological biography of Achilles that precedes the episodes dealt with in the Iliad.According to Pantelis Michelakis, when we look at the epic origins of the Athenian tragedy, the reasons for absence and death are fundamental to the Odyssey, but they also inform the Iliad narrative. The absence of Achilles becomes the subject of a series of tragic plays. Achilles' potential for heroism is explored in a group of tragedies and satirical plays that focus on his childhood and adolescence.The Aeschylus Myrmidons is the first piece of a lost trilogy about Achilles. The Myrmidons show Aeschylus' confident research into the tensions and ambiguities between a powerful individual and his society. Aeschylus reshapes the protagonist of the Iliad as a former fifth-century aristocrat who exposes his self-destructive power before the collective audiences of the Achaeans and the Athenians , and the Nereids with the new Achilles armor, as well as the Achilles armament and his departure to the battlefield to avenge his dead comrade. From being a silent and motionless object in the middle of the stage in the Myrmidons, Achilles becomes a formidable warrior on his way out onto the battlefield.The Phrygians show Priam's visit to Achilles and the recovery of Hector's corpse. At the beginning of the Phrygians, Achilles appears as a silent figure, yet he is now in a state of mourning, not anger.Despite their expectations, and those of the dramatic characters, the Euripidean Achilles is unable to impose his will on the play's plot, and to behave like the powerful Achilles of the Iliad .The young Achilles of Iphigenia At Aulis is not a hero. Although the heroic attributes of his mythological origin are evoked throughout the play, they are confined only to unsuccessful plans of action, or projected into the distant future of the glory of Achilles in Troy.Choosing a mythological episode that precedes the peak of Achilles 'career in Troy , Euripides focuses attention on Achilles' failure to assume the heroic traits of his mythological character and explores the implication of that failure for the play's dramatic world and the world inhabited by spectators.In the play Philoctetes, Neoptolemus son of Achilles, comes to Lemnos to steal the arch of Heracles from Philoctetes, because Troy cannot be taken without it. Neoptolemus undertakes to deceive Philoctetes, but in the end he is the victim of his own cunningness and agrees to bring Philoctetes back to Greece, thus abandoning the Achaean army in Troy and giving up his claim to fame. It is only with Heracles's intervention that the myth is saved and Neoptolemus and Philoctetes return to Troy to join the Achaeans. In this play, Achilles serves as a model, as a set of moral values ​​and standards against which his child's behavior is evaluated. In the play's narrative, the role of Achilles is played by Philoctetes, and the armor of Achilles is replaced by the bow of Heracles.

Physically absent, Achilles does not belong to the dramatic world of the play, but to the fictional world of Neoptolemus. The ending of the play offers a new understanding of the concept of heroism, quite different from that assumed by Neoptolemus in the prologue, where the father figure of Achilles was the only one to represent the nobility of the inexperienced young man.The popularity of the themes of the death of Achilles and his youth shows how the dramatists of classical Athens directed attention to heroism as absence, and how they explored the different contexts within which the absence of heroism is idealized and problematized.Ancient Greek literature constantly plays with the double nature of mythological figures, which oscillate between the paradigmatic and the exceptional. Mythological heroes can be benevolent and morally suited to being copied and reproduced. However, they can also be transgressive, ambiguous and problematic. Achilles' representations of tragedy show how a literary figure functions as an imaginary receptacle for conflicting definitions of their own: celebratory or critical, personal or collective, projected on the past, present, or future of the mythic world.

In conclusion, Achilles is popular because it is good to think in connection with the individual and his relationship with his social environment. Achilles demonstrates the concern of Athenian culture with the individual as a starting point and agent of human action. It also shows how the existence and behavior of the individual became the product rather than the source of social relationships and systems of meaning. The different expectations and uses made of Achilles in each of the plays demonstrates some of the various ways in which the individual is imagined in fifth-century Athens : idealized and problematized. It also illustrates the different sets of values ​​and norms of behavior that promote Achilles's appropriation, negotiation, and reinvention.

Bibliography

-Michelakis, Pantelis. (2002) "Achiles in Greek Tragedy", Cambridge classical studies.

-Bain, D. (1977) “The Prologues of Euripides Iphigenia in Aulis”, CQ

-Barchiesi, A. (1996) “Simonides and Horace on the Death of Achilles”, Arethusa

-Sophocles. Philoctetes

-Edwards, A.T. (1985) Achilles in the Odyssey, Konigstein

-Homer “Iliad”

-aeschylus “Myrmidons”

-aeschylus. Nereids

-aeschylus. “Phrygians”

[finita-la-commedia]

Release me if just for a minute, Just for fun or just because, So I won't think I'm the prey of an octopus In the midnight seaside darkness.

Anna Akhmatova, from ”Epic & Dramatic Fragments & Long Poems”, translated by Judith Hemschemeyer   

[derangedrhythms]

Anna Akhmatova, The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova: Epic and Dramatic Fragments and Long Poems; from ‘The Way of All the Earth’, tr. Judith Hemschemeyer

[derangedrhythms]

But I drank your jealousy like a magic potion,

Anna Akhmatova, The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova: Epic and Dramatic Fragments and Long Poems; from ‘Prologue’, tr. Judith Hemschemeyer

[derangedrhythms]

You, who have found your way into my last dream.

Anna Akhmatova, The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova: Epic and Dramatic Fragments and Long Poems; from ‘Prologue’, tr. Judith Hemschemeyer

[derangedrhythms]

It’s better not to think about what is in the mirrors.

Anna Akhmatova, The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova: Epic and Dramatic Fragments and Long Poems; from ‘Poem Without a Hero’, tr. Judith Hemschemeyer

[derangedrhythms]

So much gloominess in your love,

Anna Akhmatova, The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova: Epic and Dramatic Fragments and Long Poems; from ‘Poem Without a Hero’, tr. Judith Hemschemeyer

[derangedrhythms]

I am going to meet an apparition, I am struggling with my own shade—

Anna Akhmatova, The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova: Epic and Dramatic Fragments and Long Poems; from ‘Poem Without a Hero’, tr. Judith Hemschemeyer