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Bion of Smyrna

Bion(Βίων/ˈbaɪɒn/) was an ancient Greek bucolic poet fromSmyrna,probably active at the end of the second or beginning of the first century BC. He is named in theSudaas one of three canonical bucolic poets alongsideTheocritusandMoschus.One long poem aboutAdonisand seventeen shorter fragments of his poetry survive.

Life

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According to theSudaBion was from Phlossa, which is not otherwise known but may have been one of the villages whichmade up Smyrna.[1]Ancient sources do not record Bion's dates or any details about his life,[2]but he likely was active in the late second or early first century BC.[3]An epitaph to Bion says that he was poisoned and implies that he died young.[1]

Poetry

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Bion's longest surviving poem is a lament forAdonis,whose death is depicted in this painting byPeter Paul Rubens.

TheSudaand the scholiast on thePalatine Anthologyname Bion alongsideTheocritusandMoschusas abucolicpoet; he also wrote erotic poetry.[2]His surviving work comprises the "Lament to Adonis" and seventeen shorter fragments. All his surviving poetry is composed indactylic hexameterand in aDoricdialect, which is typical of ancient bucolic poetry.[4]The "Lament to Adonis" is 98 lines long; the other fragments are shorter, ranging from a single line to eighteen lines long,[2]and totalling around another 100 lines.[5]One of these fragments, about a bird hunter's attempt to huntEros,is probably a complete poem.[6]The remaining fragments seem to come from at least four further poems; no two fragments are certainly from the same poem.[7]The "Lament for Adonis" is influenced traditional Greek lament and specifically references Theocritus' "Lament for Daphnis".[8]

Bion's work continued to be read until the sixth century AD,[9]and was alluded to by ancient poets includingMeleager of Gadara,[10]Ovid,Catullus,[11]andNonnus.[12]The Greek novelistsAchilles Tatius,Longus,andHeliodorusalso reference Bion.[13]Pseudo-Moschus' "Epitaph for Bion" references Bion's works, particularly the "Lament for Adonis".[14]

Bion's longest poem, the "Lament to Adonis", is preserved on two medieval manuscripts.[15]It was transmitted anonymously, with one source attributing it to Theocritus.[2]It was first attributed to Bion byJoachim Camerariusin 1530,[16]and has generally been attributed to Bion since, based on the "Epitaph for Bion" 's apparent references and metrical similarities with Bion's fragments.[17][2]The first sixteen fragments were preserved byJohannes Stobaeus;[18]the seventeenth fragment was preserved byOrion of Thebes.[19]

Another poem, anepithalamiumfor Achilles and Deidameia, is also transmitted anonymously in the manuscript tradition but has been attributed to Bion; however there is no strong evidence for this attribution.[20][2][21]

References

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  1. ^abReed 1997,p. 1.
  2. ^abcdefFantuzzi 2006.
  3. ^Reed 1997,p. 2.
  4. ^Reed 1997,p. 3.
  5. ^Griffiths 2012.
  6. ^Reed 1997,p. 11.
  7. ^Reed 1997,p. 14.
  8. ^Gramps 2021,p. 59.
  9. ^Reed 1997,p. 57.
  10. ^Reed 1997,p. 58.
  11. ^Reed 1997,pp. 60–61.
  12. ^Reed 1997,p. 62.
  13. ^Reed 1997,p. 62, n.112.
  14. ^Gramps 2021,p. 59, n. 80.
  15. ^Reed 1997,p. 71.
  16. ^Reed 1997,p. 15.
  17. ^Holden 1974,p. 23.
  18. ^Reed 1997,pp. 78–79.
  19. ^Reed 1997,p. 81.
  20. ^Reed 1997,p. 29.
  21. ^Landfester 2011.

Works cited

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  • Fantuzzi, Marco (2006). "Bion [2]".Brill's New Pauly.doi:10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e217640.
  • Gramps, Adrian (2021).The Fiction of Occasion in Hellenistic and Roman Poetry.de Gruyter.ISBN9783110731606.
  • Griffiths, Alan H. (2012)."Bion [2]".Oxford Classical Dictionary.
  • Holden, Anthony (1974).Greek Pastoral Poetry: Theocritus, Bion, Moschus, the Pattern Poems.Penguin.
  • Landfester, Manfred (2011). "Bion of Smyrna".Brill's New Pauly Supplements I Online – Volume 2.doi:10.1163/2214-8647_bnps2_COM_0050.
  • Reed, J.D. (1997).Bion of Smyrna: The Fragments and the Adonis.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.ISBN0-521-57316-5.

Further reading

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  • Fantuzzi, Marco (1985).Bionis Smyrnaei Adonidis Epitaphium.Liverpool: Francis Cairns.
  • Hopkinson, Neil (2015).Theocritus, Moschus, Bion.Cambridge Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
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