An Anthology of Hellenistic Epigrams

"Greek "literary" epigrams constitute one of the most versatile and dynamic poetic forms in the Hellenistic period. Originally modeled on the anonymous epitaphs and dedications inscribed on monuments throughout antiquity, these short poems came to include a variety of subtypes and served as a vehicle for Hellenistic poets to experiment with themes and motifs from other genres. Epigram thrived into the Imperial and Byzantine periods and exerted a great influence on Latin poetry; its afterlife in other literatures continues to the present day. The modern study of Hellenistic epigram is built on the philological foundations of A. S. F. Gow and D. L. Page's edition of epigrams which seem to have been collected in antiquity in the anthologies of Meleager (HE) and Philip (GPh). Since the publication of those works, new scholarly attitudes and approaches have helped transform our understanding of the form and its literary and cultural context, as have papyrological discoveries; epigrams are better appreciated as works of literature, as are the ancient collections in which they were assembled. Readers approaching the form for the first time in Greek, however, still have relatively few resources for accessing a range of poems by multiple early writers"--