Theognis of Megara (, Théognis ho Megareús) was a Greek lyric poet active in approximately the sixth century BC. The work attributed to him consists of gnomic poetry quite typical of the time, featuring ethical maxims and practical advice about life. He was the first Greek poet known to express concern over the eventual fate and survival of his own workB. M. Knox, 'Theognis', The Cambridge History of Greek Literature:I Greek Literature, Cambridge University Press (1985), P. Easterling and B. Knox (ed.s), pages 138 and, along with Homer, Hesiod and the authors of the Homeric Hymns, he is among the earliest poets whose work has been preserved in a continuous manuscript tradition (the work of other archaic poets is preserved as scattered fragments).Douglas E. Gerber, Greek Elegiac Poetry, Loeb Classical Library (1999), page 8
More than half of the extant elegiac poetry of Greece before the Alexandrian period is included in the approximately 1,400 lines of verse attributed to him,cf. Highbarger, p.170 though several poems traditionally attributed to him were composed by others, e.g. Solon and Euenus.Dorothea Wender; Penguin Classics edition Some of these verses inspired ancient commentators to value him as a moralistB. M. Knox, 'Theognis', The Cambridge History of Greek Literature:I Greek Literature, Cambridge University Press (1985), P. Easterling and B. Knox (ed.s), page 140 yet the entire corpus is valued today for its "warts and all" portrayal of aristocratic life in archaic Greece.David Mulroy, Early Greek Lyric Poetry, The University of Michigan Press (1992), page 171
The verses preserved under Theognis' name are written from the viewpoint of an aristocrat confronted by social and political revolution typical of Greek cities in the archaic period. Part of his work is addressed to Cyrnus, who is presented as his erōmenos. The author of the poems celebrated him in his verse and educated him in the aristocratic values of the time, yet Cyrnus came to symbolize much about his imperfect world that the poet bitterly resented:
In spite of such self-disclosures, almost nothing is known about Theognis the man: little is recorded by ancient sources and modern scholars question the authorship of most of the poems preserved under his name.David A. Campbell, Greek Lyric Poetry, Bristol Classical Press (1982), pages 343–47
Life Ancient commentators, the poems themselves and even modern scholars offer mixed signals about the poet's life. Some of the poems respond in a personal and immediate way to events widely dispersed in time.
Ancient sources record dates in the mid-sixth centuryEusebius dates Theognis in the 58th Olympiad (548–45 BC), Suda the 59th Olympiad (544–41 BC) and Chronicon Paschale the 57th Olympiad (552–49 BC)yet it is not clear whether Suda in this case means a date of birth or some other significant event in the poet's life. Some scholars have argued that the sources could have derived their dates from lines 773–82 under the assumption that these refer to Harpagus’s attack on Ionia in the reign of Cyrus The Great.David A. Campbell, Greek Lyric Poetry, Bristol Classical Press (1982), pages 345–46
Chronological evidence from the poems themselves is hampered by their uncertain authenticity. Lines 29–52, if composed by Theognis, seem to portray the political situation in Megara before the rise of the tyrant Theagenes, about the latter half of the seventh century,Martin L. West, Studies in Greek Elegy and Iambus, Berlin / New York 1974, p. 68; disputed by Hendrik Selle, Theognis und die Theognidea, Berlin / New York 2008, p. 233–4 but lines 891–95 describe a war in Euboea in the second quarter of the sixth century, and lines 773–82 seem to refer to the Persian invasion of mainland Greece in the reign of Xerxes, at the end of the first quarter of the fifth century.Thomas J. Figueira and Gregory Nagy (eds), Theognis of Megara: Poetry and the Polis, The Johns Hopkins University Press (1985), Introduction (online here)
Even some modern scholars have interpreted those lines in that time-frame, deducing a birth date on or just before 600 BC,Thomas Hudson-Williams, The Elegies of Theognis, G. Bell and Sons Ltd (1910), pages 9–10 while others place his birth around 550 BC to fit in with the Persian invasion under either Darius or Xerxes.David A. Campbell, Greek Lyric Poetry, Bristol Classical Press (1982), pages 346
There is confusion also about his place of birth, "Megara", which Plato for example understood to be Megara Hyblaea in Sicily,Plato Laws 1.630a, cited by Douglas E. Gerber, Greek Elegiac Poetry, Loeb Classical Library (1999), page 169 while a scholiast on Plato cites Didymus for the rival theory that the poet was born in a Megara in Attica, and ventures the opinion that Theognis might have later migrated to the Sicilian MegaraScholiast on Laws 1.630a, cited by Douglas E. Gerber, Greek Elegiac Poetry, Loeb Classical Library (1999), page 169 (a similar theory had assigned an Attic birthplace to the Spartan poet Tyrtaeus).
Modern scholars in general opt for a birthplace in mainland Greek Megara though a suitable context for the poems could be found just about anywhere in archaic GreeceB. M. Knox, "Theognis", The Cambridge History of Greek Literature:I Greek Literature, Cambridge University Press (1985), P. Easterling and B. Knox (ed.s), page 138 and there are options for mix-and-match, such as a birth in mainland Megara and then migration to Sicilian Megara (lines 1197–1201 mention dispossession/exile and lines 783–88 journeys to Sicily, Euboea and Sparta).David A. Campbell, Greek Lyric Poetry, Bristol Classical Press (1982), pages 345
The elegiac verses attributed to Theognis present him as a complex character and an exponent of traditional Greek morality. Thus for example Isocrates includes him among "the best advisers for human life", although all consider words of advice both in poetry and in prose to be most useful, they certainly do not derive the greatest pleasure from listening to them, but their attitude towards them is the same as their attitude towards those who admonish: for although they praise the latter, they prefer to associate with those who share in their follies and not with those who seek to dissuade them.Plato, Meno 95, contrasting verses 33–6 with 434–38 (online version: Perseus Digital Library)
As proof, one could cite the poetry of Hesiod, Theognis and Phocylides; for people say that they have been the best advisers for human life, but while saying this they prefer to occupy themselves with one another's follies than with the precepts of those poets."Isocrates, To Nicocles 42–4, cited and translated by Douglas E. Gerber, Greek Elegiac Poetry, Loeb Classical Library (1999), page 171–3. In the Meno, Plato's Socrates cites some Theognidean verses to dismiss the poet as a confused and self-contradictory sophist whose teachings are not to be trusted.Plato, Meno 95, contrasting verses 33–6 with 434–38 (online version: Perseus Digital Library) In 1982, historian David A. Campbell excuses self-contradictions as typical of a lifelong poet writing over many years and at the whim of inspiration.David A. Campbell, Greek Lyric Poetry, Bristol Classical Press (1982), p. 345
The Theognidea might in fact be a collection of elegiac poems by different authors (see Modern scholarship below) and the "life" that emerges from them depends on which poems editors consider authentic.
Two modern authorities have drawn these portraits of Theognis, based on their own selections of his work:
Work
Transmission It was probably his reputation as a moralist, significant enough to deserve comment by Aristotle and Plato, that guaranteed the survival of his work through the Byzantine period.B. M. Knox, 'Theognis', The Cambridge History of Greek Literature:I Greek Literature, Cambridge University Press (1985), P. Easterling and B. Knox (ed.s), page 158 However, it is clear that we do not possess his total output. The Byzantine Suda, for example, mentions 2800 lines of elegiacs, twice the number preserved in medieval manuscripts. Different scholars have different theories about the transmission of the text to account for the discrepancy.David A. Campbell, Greek Lyric Poetry, Bristol Classical Press (1982), page 346 The surviving manuscripts of Theognis preserve an anthology of ancient elegy, including selections from other elegists such as Tyrtaeus; scholars disagree over which parts were written by Theognis.Douglas E. Gerber, Greek Elegiac Poetry, Loeb Classical Library (1999), page 7 The collection is preserved in more than forty manuscripts, comprising a continuous series of elegiac couplets that modern editors now separate into some 300 to 400 "poems", according to personal preferences.
The best of these manuscripts, dated to the early 10th century, includes an end section titled "Book 2" (sometimes referred to as Musa Paedica), which features some hundred additional couplets and which "harps on the same theme throughout—boy love."B. M. Knox, 'Theognis', The Cambridge History of Greek Literature:I Greek Literature, Cambridge University Press (1985), P. Easterling and B. Knox (ed.s), page 137 The quality of the verse in the end section is radically diverse, ranging from "exquisite and simple beauty" to "the worst specimens of the bungler's art", and many scholars have rejected it as a spurious addition,Thomas Hudson-Williams, The Elegies of Theognis, G. Bell and Sons Ltd (1910), pages 55–57 including the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (see Nietzsche and Theognis below).
However, many modern scholars consider the verses of Book 2 an integral part of the collection.Lear, Andrew, "The Pederastic Elegies and the Authorship of the Theognidea", Classical Quarterly 61 (2011), pages 378-93. The rest of the work also raises issues about authenticity, since some couplets look like lines attributed by ancient sources to other poets (Solon, Euenus, Mimnermus and Tyrtaeus).Solon (lines 315–18, 585–90), Euenus (lines 467–96, 667–82, 1341–50), Mimnermus (lines 795–56, 1020–22) and Tyrtaeus (lines 1003–6), and other couplets are repeated with few or no changes elsewhere in the text.Repeated lines: 87–90≈1082cf, 116≈644, 39–42≈1081–82b, 209–10≈332ab, 509–10≈211–12, 853–54≈1038ab, 877–78≈1070ab, 415–18≈1164eh, and including Book Two 1151–52≈1238ab. Ironically, Theognis mentions to his friend Cyrnus precautions that he has taken to ensure the fidelity of his legacy:
The nature of this seal and its effectiveness in preserving his work is much disputed by scholars (see Modern scholarship below).
Subject matter All the poetry attributed to Theognis deals with subjects typically discussed at aristocratic symposiadrinking parties that had symbolic and practical significance for the participants: