Biographies of the Epigrammatists

From J. W. Mackail

Finally, forming the transition between this and the great Athenian period, comes Aeschylus, B.C. 525-456. That Aeschylus wrote elegiac verse, including a poem on the dead at Marathon, is certain; fragments are preserved by Plutarch and Theophrastus, and there is a well- supported tradition that he competed with Simonides on that occasion. As to the authorship of the two epigrams extant under his name there is much difference of opinion. Bergk does not come to any definite conclusion. Perhaps all that can be said is that they do not seem unworthy of him, and that they certainly have the style and tone of the best period. It was not till the decline of literature that the epoch of forgeries began. It is, however, suspicious that a poet of his great eminence should not be mentioned in the "Garland" of Meleager; for we can hardly suppose these epigrams, if genuine, either unknown to Meleager or intentionally omitted by him.

Next Greek Literature From the Period of the Ascendancy of Athens

Select Epigrams from The Greek Anthology

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• Greek Literature From the Earliest Period to the Persian Wars
• Mimnermus of Smyrna
• Erinna of Rhodes
• Theognis of Megara
• Anacreon of Teos
• Simonides of Ceos
• Bacchylides of Iulis
• Aeschylus

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