Ibycus

Ibycus
/ib"i keuhs/, n.
fl. c540 B.C., Greek poet.

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▪ Greek poet
flourished 6th century BC, Rhegium [now Reggio, Italy]

      Greek lyric poet, one of the nine lyric poets in the official list, or canon, drawn up by the scholars of Alexandria in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC, who edited his work in seven books, or papyrus rolls.

      Ibycus left Magna Graecia (southern Italy and Sicily) for the Aegean island of Samos, where the tyrant Polycrates became his patron. Ancient authorities found it hard to distinguish his early work from that of Stesichorus because both poets composed choral lyrics devoted to mythical narratives. Even in the few surviving fragments of Ibycus's lyrics, however, there are signs of marked individuality. The longest fragment, from a papyrus discovered in Oxyrhynchus (now al-Bahnasā, Egypt) in the early 20th century, is an anonymous poem attributed by modern scholars to Ibycus. In it the poet lists deeds and personages of the Trojan War while declaring that he does not want to treat that story. He then compares the beauty of Cyanippus, Zeuxippus, and Troilus, heroes of the Trojan War, to that of the young Polycrates (who is probably the future tyrant of Samos or, less likely, the tyrant's son). Ibycus ends with the affirmation that, thanks to his poem, Polycrates' good looks will be eternally famous.

      Ibycus's best-known fragments describe the charms of handsome youths and reveal the narrator's fear of falling in love. The Roman orator and statesman Cicero (Cicero, Marcus Tullius) characterized Ibycus as being devoted to love poetry to a greater extent than were Alcaeus and Anacreon. Some papyrus fragments, attributed to Ibycus by modern scholars, seem to preserve the earliest evidence of epinician (epinicion) poetry.

      A late legend relates that Ibycus called a flock of cranes passing overhead to witness his murder by robbers near Corinth. One of the robbers later saw the cranes over Corinth and sarcastically referred to them as the avengers of Ibycus, a remark that led to the unmasking of the murderers. (The legend plays on the resemblance between the poet's name and the Greek word for crane, ibyx.)

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  • Ibycus — (Ancient Greek: Polytonic|Ἴβυκος) (6th century BC), of Rhegium in Italy, was an Ancient Greek lyric poet. He was included in the canonical list of nine lyric poets by the scholars of Hellenistic Alexandria. The extant fragments of his work… …   Wikipedia

  • IBYCUS — I. IBYCUS Lyricus poeta, cuius fragmenta Henr. Steph. collegit. Hunc maxime omnium amore flagrâsse, ex ipsius seriptis constare, scribit Cir. Tusc. Qu. l. 4. Inde proverb. Ibyci grues, quoties sceleribus novo quodam et improviso casu proditis… …   Hofmann J. Lexicon universale

  • Ibycus — Ibykos (bl. um 530 v. Chr., lat. Ibycus, dt. auch Ibykus) war ein griechischer Dichter aus Rhegion in Unteritalien und wurde später zum Kanon der neun Lyriker gezählt. Er führte ein Wanderleben und hielt sich längere Zeit auch auf Samos am Hof… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Ibycus — Ibycos Ibycos ou Ibycus (en grec ancien Ἴβυκος / Ibukos) est un poète lyrique grec né à Rhégium colonie eolo dorienne, sur le détroit de Messine, en Grande Grèce, (aujourd’hui Reggio de Calabre en Italie du sud), au début du VIe siècle av. J …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Ibycus (genre) — Cet article concerne le genre de limaces exotiques. Pour le poète grec, voir Ibycus …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Ibycus rachelae — Ibycus rachelae …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Ibycus — noun An Ancient Greek name, particularly borne by a 6th century Ancient Greek lyric poet from Rhegium in Italy …   Wiktionary

  • IBYCUS —    a Greek lyric poet, who was murdered by robbers, and who appealed to a flock of cranes that flew past before he died to avenge his death, and that proved the means of the discovery of the murderers …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia

  • Ibycus — /ib i keuhs/, n. fl. c540 B.C., Greek poet …   Useful english dictionary

  • Papiro 7Q5 — Fragmento 7Q5. El 7Q5 es la manera como se codifica uno de los restos de papiro bajo el número 5 de la séptima cueva de Qumram. Fue uno de los múltiples restos de papiro descubiertos entre 1947 y 1955. El papiro está escrito en griego por un sólo …   Wikipedia Español

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