- Ibycus
Ibycus (Ancient Greek: Polytonic|Ἴβυκος) (6th century BC), of
Rhegium inItaly , was anAncient Greek lyricpoet . He was included in the canonical list ofnine lyric poets by the scholars ofHellenistic Alexandria . The extant fragments of his work contain the earliest-known example of the triadic choral lyric and epinician poetry.Life
Very little is known about his life. He was offered the position oftyrant of Rhegium. When he refused the position, he took up a wandering life before ending up at the Aegean island of Sámos where he worked at the court of thetyrant Polycrates .Death
According to legend Ibycus was on his way to the chariot races and musical competitions held at theIsthmus of Corinth . He was attacked and mortally wounded by a band of robbers. In his dying moments, Ibycus saw a flock of cranes flying over head and swore "Those cranes will avenge me." Shortly afterward one of robbers was sitting in a theatre and saw a flock of cranes flying by. He joked to a friend "there go the avengers of Ibycus." Ironically this was overheard and the robbers were arrested (Plutarch , "De Garrulitate", xiv.) This legend is probably a play on the similarity between the poet's name and the Ancient Greek word for "crane" (ibyx). The phrase "the cranes of Ibycus" became a proverb among the Greeks for the discovery of crime through divine intervention. Centuries later in 1797 a German poetFriedrich Schiller wrote a ballad called "The Cranes of Ibycus" about this legend.Surviving work
Alexandrian scholars in the 3rd or 2nd century BC aseembled his work into seven books or papyrus rolls. Only fragments of these books survive. In modern times fragments papyrus containing poetry attributed to Ibycus were discovered inOxyrhynchus (now al-Bahnasā, Egypt). The surviving fragments his poems consisted mainly of narrative choral lyric andencomia (Greek choral hymns) in the manner ofStesichorus . This similarity sometimes made it hard for ancient scholars to tell their work apart. Although the metre and dialect are Dorian, which is normally not particularly euphonious, the poems have the spirit of Aeolian melic (lyric) poetry.ources
*1911
External links
http://www.csad.ox.ac.uk/POXY/VExhibition/images/1790.jpg
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