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The Aesthetics of Dialect in Hellenistic Epigram

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The Aesthetics of Dialect in Hellenistic Epigram The Aesthetics of Dialect in Hellenistic Epigram A dissertation submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Cincinnati in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Classics by Taylor S. Coughlan B.A. Carleton College M.A. University of Wisconsin—Madison March 18, 2016 Committee Chair: Kathryn Gutzwiller, Ph.D. Alex Sens, Ph.D. Lauren Ginsberg, Ph.D. i Abstract This dissertation is a study of dialect choice and dialect mixture in Hellenistic book epigram. The aims of the project are not only linguistic, but also literary; indeed, what motivates the study is an overarching interest in understanding how specific dialect choices can enrich the meaning of the poem in which they appear. Scholars have only recently started to include dialect in their readings of individual epigrams, but no one has systematically studied the entire corpus. In order to more fully understand Hellenistic book epigram and its flourishing during a period of great social, cultural, and literary change, we must confront the genre’s use of dialect or otherwise miss out on an important component in this self-conscious genre’s production of poetic meaning. Following an introduction that sets out the interpretive framework for the dissertation and explores issues of dialect transmission in the manuscript tradition, the study falls into two parts, each comprising three chapters. In the first part, I attempt to situate dialect choice and mixture in its poetic and literary-critical contexts. In the first chapter, I investigate dialect usage in pre- Hellenistic Greek poetry, not including inscribed epigram, arguing that dialect mixture for poetic effect existed in Archaic and Classical poetry. Poets used dialect to comment on the relationship of their work to other poetic traditions and to mark regional identity of characters or speakers, both of which are precursors to Hellenistic usage. In the second chapter, I examine the development of the ancient concept of dialect and attempts to reconstruct some of the literary- critical discourses on the aesthetic propriety of dialect use and dialect mixture. In the third chapter, I treat dialect usage in the tradition of inscribed epigram which is overwhelmingly determined by the regional identity of the deceased or dedicator. Since Hellenistic book epigram borrows heavily from inscribed epigram, I pay particular attention to the the injection of authorial identity into the previously linear relationship between the voice of the inscribed epigram and the identity of the dedicator or deceased. In the second part, I offer analyses of dialect use and dialect mixture as a literary device in Hellenistic book epigram. In the first chapter, I begin with dialect as a marker of identity and place, which has a long history in Archaic and Classical poetry and the tradition of inscribed epigram. I explore the various poetic ends to which Hellenistic book epigrammatists put this strong association between dialect and place. I argue that this association was integral to the use of dialect in Hellenistic book epigram, and so the results of this chapter inform the rest of the analysis in the dissertation. In the second chapter, I treat the erotic epigrams of Asclepiades, one of the earliest and most influential book epigrammatists. I suggest that the unity of these poems’ Ionic dialect serve a dual purpose, both to situate theses epigrams in the tradition of sympotic- erotic poetry dating back to Theognis and to allow an identification between the voice of the anonymous lover and Asclepiades, a native of Ionic-speaking Samos. In the third chapter, I turn to the early reception of dialect in Hellenistic book epigram. Through the examination of imitations by late Hellenistic epigrammatists, such as Antipater of Sidon and Meleager, I demonstrate that these poets inventively used dialect in order to signal their relationship to and reading of model epigrams. By treating this dialectal variety as a dynamic element of the genre and not necessarily evidence of intractable errors in the manuscript tradition, the results of my research demonstrate that dialect choice and mixture contributed meaningfully to the aesthetics, organization, and reception of Hellenistic epigram. ii Copyright Taylor Sebastian Coughlan iii For Chris and Nancy iv Table of Contents Acknowledgements vii Abbreviations viii Sigla ix Note on dialect conventions x Introduction 1 Dialect in the Manuscripts of the Greek Anthology 14 A.P. 7.440=Leonidas G-P 11: A Case-Study in Dialect and Meaning 30 Part 1: Contextualization Chapter 1: Dialect Usage in Pre-Hellenistic Poetry 38 The Problem: Genre-Conditioned Dialect Choice 38 Addressing and Interpreting Dialect Mixture 41 Dialect Admixture as Poetic Commentary 55 Dialect Admixture as a Marker of Ethnic Associations 62 Erinna: A Hellenistic Precedent 78 Conclusions 83 Chapter 2: Literary-Critical Discourses on Dialect 87 The Terminology for Dialect 88 Plato and Aristotle on Poetic Language 94 The Glossographic Tradition 97 Callimachus Iambus 13: Two Opposing Strands of Critical Thought on Dialect Mixture 103 The Third Strand: The Euphonists 112 Conclusions 122 Chapter 3: Written in Stone: Dialect in Inscribed Epigram 125 Dialect and Identity in the Inscribed Epigrammatic Tradition 127 The Emergence of the Poet: Ion of Samos 144 Conclusions 150 Part 2: Hellenistic Book Epigram Chapter 4: Place and Identity 153 Putting Dialect in its Place 158 The Voice from Beyond the Grave 179 Epitaphs on Poets 195 Beyond Dedications and Epitaphs 221 Conclusions 246 v Chapter 5: The Erotics of Dialect in Asclepiades of Samos 250 Asclepiades’ Erotic Dialect 254 Asclepiades’ Poetic Persona and Dialect Choice 260 Dialect and Archaic Elegiac Discourse 270 Conclusions 290 Chapter 6: Dialect and Imitation in Late Hellenistic Epigram 292 Reading Third-Century Epigrams with Antipater of Sidon 293 Coming After I: Archias 310 Coming After II: Amyntas and Archias on Prexo 319 Poetic and Editorial Reception of Dialect in Meleager 330 Conclusions 345 Afterword 347 Appendix: Dialect in the Manuscripts of the Greek Anthology 359 Works Cited 372 vi Acknowledgements In the course of conducting the research for this dissertation, I have accrued numerous personal, intellectual, and professional debts. The Department of Classics at the University of Cincinnati generously offered me a Louise Taft Semple fellowship, which provided the primary monetary support for my seven years in Cincinnati. To all the faculty in the Department of Classics, both past and present, I am grateful for the education they have provided in and out of the classroom. I have particularly benefited from the collective learning and mentorship of my dissertation committee. Kathryn Gutzwiller, who first suggested I examine dialect in Hellenistic epigram, served as the director of the dissertation, and through the writing and discussion of successive versions of the dissertation always challenged me to think more deeply and to strive for clarity of expression. Kathryn’s philological sensibilities and dedication to graduate mentorship serve as an example of scholarly and professional excellence, and I was very fortunate to have had the opportunity to learn at her side. Lauren Ginsberg read with her accustomed care earlier drafts of the study and offered detailed and lucid comments, which have made the argumentation and style of the final product immeasurably stronger. In academia time is perhaps the most precious of commodities, and Alex Sens gave freely of his own to an aspiring Hellenist he did not know from Adam, commenting on chapters, challenging me on points of interpretation, and kindly offering up his own detailed knowledge of Hellenistic poetry through correspondence. The incomparable staff and resources of the John Miller Burnam Classics Library significantly facilitated the research for this dissertation, and I owe a great debt of gratitude to Jacquie Riley, Mike Braunlin, Cade Stevens, and the student workers for their dedication and goodwill. The process of writing a dissertation can be isolating. Accordingly, I owe a great deal of thanks to my friends, both in Cincinnati and elsewhere, for making the hours and days I spent outside the walls of Blegen (and sometimes in it) pleasurable and worthwhile. I want to acknowledge, in particular: Mohammed Bhatti, Mitch Brown, Dana Clark, Andrew Connor, Heather Greybehl, Kyle Helms, Jennifer Kahn, CJ Miller, Meghan Murphy, Emilia Oddo, David Peckrill, David Schwei, and Bill Weir. I want to thank Katie Forster, who has provided encouragement and a great deal of happiness in this busy and stressful final year of writing. I reserve, however, my deepest and most sincere thanks for my parents, Chris and Nancy. It is to them that I dedicate this dissertation, for without their love, support, and resolute belief in my abilities, I would never have begun let alone completed the project. vii Abbreviations: AB Austin, C. and G. Bastianini. eds. 2002. Posidippi Pellaei quae supersunt omnia. Milan: Edizioni Universitarie di Lettere Economia Diritto. A.P. Palatine Anthology APl Planudean Anthology Beckby Beckby, H. ed. 1957. Anthologia Graeca. 4 vols. Munich: Ernst Heimeran Verlag. CEG Hansen, P. A. ed. 1983-89. Carmina epigraphica Graeca. 2 vols. Berlin: De Gruyter. FGE Page, D. L. ed. 1981. Further Greek Epigrams. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. GP Gow, A. and D. L. Page. eds. 1968. The Greek Anthology: The Garland of Philip and Some Contemporary Epigrams, 2 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. G-P Gow, A. and D. L. Page. eds. 1965. The Greek Anthology: Hellenistic Epigrams, 2 vol. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Jacobs Jacobs, C. F. W. ed. 1794-1814. Anthologia Graeca sive Poetarum Graecorum lusus ex Recensione Brunckii. Leipzig: In Bibliopolio Dyckio. Pfeiffer Pfeiffer, R. ed. 1949-51. Callimachus. 2 vols. Oxford: Clarendon Press. PMG Page, D. L. ed. 1962. Poetae melici Graeci, Oxford: Clarendon Press. RE Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. eds. 1893-1978. Realencylopädie der klassischen Alterumswissenschaft. Stuttgart: J. B. Metzler.
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