Corinna in the context of "Greek lyric"

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⭐ Core Definition: Corinna

Corinna or Korinna (Ancient Greek: Κόριννα, romanizedKorinna) was an ancient Greek lyric poet from Tanagra in Boeotia. Although ancient sources portray her as a contemporary of Pindar (born c. 518 BC), not all modern scholars accept the accuracy of this tradition. When she lived has been the subject of much debate since the early twentieth century, proposed dates ranging from the beginning of the fifth century to the late third century BC.

Corinna's works survive only in fragments: three substantial sections of poems are preserved on second-century AD papyri from Egypt; several shorter pieces survive in quotations by ancient grammarians. They focus on local Boeotian legends, and are distinctive for their mythological innovations. Corinna's poetry often reworks well-known myths to include details not known from any other sources. Though respected in her hometown, Tanagra, and popular in ancient Rome, modern critics have often regarded her as parochial and dull; her poetry is nonetheless of interest as she is one of the few female poets from ancient Greece whose work survives.

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Corinna in the context of Aeolians

The Aeolians (/ˈliənz/; Greek: Αἰολεῖς, Aioleis) were one of the four major tribes into which Greeks divided themselves in the ancient period (along with the Achaeans, Dorians and Ionians). They originated in the eastern parts of the Greek mainland, notably in Thessaly and Boeotia. By c. 1100 BC, the Aeolians began their early settlements on the west coast of Anatolia, known as Aeolis, comprising the territory between Troas and Ionia, as well as on the Aegean islands of Lesbos and Tenedos. A second round of Aeolian settlements took place during the 7th century. They spoke Aeolic, a dialect of Ancient Greek most famously known for its use by poets like Sappho and Alcaeus from Lesbos, and Corinna from Boeotia.

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Corinna in the context of Silanion

Silanion (Ancient Greek: Σιλανίων, gen. Σιλανίωνος) was the best-known of the Greek portrait-sculptors working during the fourth century BC. Pliny gives his floruit as the 113th Olympiad, that is, around 328–325 BCE (Natural History, 34.51), and records he had no famous teacher. His idealized portrait head of Plato was commissioned by Mithridates of Persia for the Academy of Athens, c. 370 BC. Later copies of it and of an idealized portrait head of Sappho survive. Both are of simple ideal type, the Sappho not strictly a portrait, since Sappho (sixth century BC) lived before the age of portraiture. The best copy of Plato is in the Glyptothek of Munich (illustration).

Silanion also produced a "portrait" of the poet Corinna. Other "portrait" heads by Silanion evoked mythic and legendary heroes. An Achilles mentioned by Pliny was later adapted to represent Ares, and an equally idealized Theseus is mentioned by Plutarch.

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