Thestorides of Phocaea
Thestorides of Phocaea was a legendary or semi-legendary early Greek poet, one of those to whom the epic Little Iliad was ascribed. Modern scholar Martin Litchfield West suggested that the tradition might preserve a memory of a real poet or rhapsode. Thestorides figures as a major character in Life of Homer, a largely fictional ancient biography falsely attributed to Herodotus.
Thestorides of Phocaea
- Born
- 800
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Thestorides of Phocaea was a legendary or semi-legendary early Greek poet, one of those to whom the epic Little Iliad was ascribed. Modern scholar Martin Litchfield West suggested that the tradition might preserve a memory of a real poet or rhapsode. Thestorides figures as a major character in Life of Homer, a largely fictional ancient biography falsely attributed to Herodotus.
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Biography
According to the narrative, Thestorides was a schoolteacher in Phocaea who offered to support the impoverished Homer if he allowed Thestorides to write down his poems. While living with him, Homer supposedly composed the Little Iliad and the Phocais. Thestorides recorded the poems from Homer's dictation and then left Phocaea with the texts. This episode is unusual among ancient accounts of Homer because it explicitly depicts his poetry being taken down in writing from oral dictation. The Life continues that Thestorides moved to Chios, founded a school and performed Homer's poems as his own, gaining praise and money. After hearing reports of this, Homer travelled to Chios. When Thestorides learned that Homer had arrived, he hastily left the island.
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These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.West, M. L. Greek Epic Fragments: From the Seventh to the Fifth Centuries BC. Harvard University Press. 497. 129. 2003. 978-0-674-99605-2.
- 2.West, M. L. The Epic Cycle: A Commentary on the Lost Troy Epics. Oxford University Press. 37. 2013. 978-0-19-966225-8.
- 3.Lefkowitz, Mary R. The Lives of the Greek Poets. Johns Hopkins University Press. 24–25. 2012. 978-1-4214-0464-6.
- 4.Pseudo-Herodotus. Homeric Hymns. Homeric Apocrypha. Lives of Homer. Harvard University Press. 496. 2003. 978-0-674-99606-9.
- 5.Dalby, Andrew. Rediscovering Homer: Inside the Origins of the Epic. W. W. Norton. 29. 2006. 978-0-393-05788-1.
Bibliography printed in the source article · 2
- Norton. Rediscovering Homer. 2006. 0-393-05788-7.
- Duckworth. The lives of the Greek poets. 1981. 0-7156-1590-4.
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