sanias himself, was erased by the Lacedaemonians, | His
sepulchre
is said by Suidas (s.
William Smith - 1844 - Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities - c
Bacchylides as tous uádovtas, as if they had been
In advanced life, he enjoyed the personal friend poets merely by instruction, and not by inspiration.
ship of Themistocles and Pausanias, and celebrated (See further, Schneidewin, pp. vi. —viii. )
their exploits ; and in his extreme old age, he From his native island Simonides proceeded to
found an honoured retreat at the court of Syracuse. Athens, probably on the invitation of Hipparchus,
His life extended from about the first usurpation who attached him to his society by great rewards
of Peisistratus to the end of the Persian wars, from (Plat. Hipparch. p. 228, c. ; Aelian, V. H. viii. 2).
Ol. 56, 1, to Ol. 78. 1, B. c. 556—467. The chief The reign of Hipparchus was from B. c. 528 to
authorities for his life, besides the ancient writers, 514, so that Simonides probably spent the best
and the historians of Greek literature (Müller, Ulrici, years of his life at the tyrant's court. Anacreon
Bode, Bernhardy, &c. ) are the two works of Schnei- lived at the court of Hipparchus at the same time,
dewin (Simonidis Cei Carminis Reliquiae, Brunsv. but we have no evidence of any intimate relations
1835, 8vo. ) and Richter (Simonides der aelt. von between the two poets, except an epitaph upon
Keos, nach seinem Leben beschrieben und in seinem Anacreon, which is ascribed to Simonides (Fr. 171,
poetischen Ueberresten übersetzt, Schleusingen, 1836, Schn. ; Brunck, Anal. vol. i. p. 136, No. 49. s.
4to), in which the ancient authorities are so fully 55). Another of the great poets then at the court
collected and discussed, that it is unnecessary to of Hipparchus was the dithyrambic poet Lasus,
refer to any except the most important of them. Pindar's teacher, who engaged in poetical contests
Simonides was born at Julis, in the island of with Simonides ; and the rivalry between them
Ceos, in OL. 56. ), B. C. 556, as we learn from one appears to bave been carried on in no friendly
of his own epigrams (No. 203*), in which he cele spirit (Aristoph. Vesp. 1410, c. Schol. )
brates a victory which he gained at Athens, at the We have no positive information respecting the
age of 80 years, in the archonship of Adeimantus, poet's life between the murder of Hipparchus and
that is, in Ol. 75. 4, B. C. 476 ; and this date is the battle of Marathon. It appears not improbable
confirmed by other authorities, and by the date of that he remained at Athens after the expulsion of
his death, which took place at the age of 89 (Suid. ) Hippias, of whom he speaks as
or 90 (Mar. Ρar. ), in OL 78. 1, Β. C. 467; Lucian | Ανδρός αριστεύσαντος εν Ελλάδι των εφ' εαυτού,
(Macrob. 26) extends his life beyond 90 years.
(Schn. pp. iii. iv. ; Clinton, F. H. S. aa. 556, 476, in his epitaph on the tyrant's daughter Archedice
467. )
(No. 170), which bears, however, internal evidence
His father was named Leoprepes, and his grand-(vv. 3, 4) of having been writted after the ex
father Hyllichus; but this must have been his pulsion of the Peisistratide. But the favours he
had received from the Peisistratids, and especially
The numbers of the fragments quoted in this from Hipparchus, did not prevent him from speak
Article are those of Schneidewin's edition.
ing of the death of his patron as “ a great light
VOL. III.
Зн
## p. 834 (#850) ############################################
834
SIMONIDES.
SIMONIDES.
arising upon the Athenians,” in an epigram (No. | vailing sentiment, that the poet was the beloved
187), which we may suppose to have been in- servant of the gods, who would interpose to pre-
acribed upon the base of the statues set up to Har- serve him from injury, or to avenge his wrongs ; as
modius and Aristogeiton after the expulsion of in the cases of Arion, saved by the dolphin, and
Hippias, B. c. 510. (Paus. i. 8. § 5. )
Ibycus, avenged by the cranes. That some over-
It was probably the next period of his life which whelming and general calamity, amounting to an
Simonides spent in Thessaly, under the patronage almost total extinction, befell the family of the
of the Aleuads and Scopads, whose names, accord- Scopads about this time, is evident from the threne
ing to Theocritus (Id. xvi. 34) were only preserved composed for them by Simonides (No. 46), and
from oblivion by the beautiful poems in which the from the absence of any mention of them in those
great Ceian bard celebrated the victories gained by events connected with the Persian invasion, in
their swift horses in the sacred games. Of these which the Aleuads took so prominent a part
poems we still possess a considerable portion of the (Herod. vii. 6); not to mention the testimony of
celebrated Epinician Ode, on the victory of Scopas Phavorinus (ap. Stob. Serm. c. cv. 62) and other
with the four-horsed chariot (No. 13), which is writers, which is perhaps derived only from the
preserved and commented upon by Plato in the threne itself (Schn. p. xiii. ). Schneidewin suggests
Protagoras ; and fragments of the Threnes on the an ingenious explanation of the story, but con-
general destruction of the Scopads (No. 46), and ceived in too rationalistic a spirit to be hastily ad-
on the Aleuad Antiochus (No. 48); and it is mitted ; namely, that Scopas, whose tyrannical
not improbable that the magnificent Lament of character is shown, both by the story itself and by
Danaë (No. 50) was a Threne composed for one the apologetic tone in which Simonides speaks of
of the Aleunds. If we may believe Plutarch, the him in his Ode, was so odious to the people, that
poet was obliged to confess that the charms of his they plotted his destruction by undermining the
song failed to humanise the rugged spirits of the building in which he was about to hold the festival
Thessalians, 'Amaléotepot gáp cioiv, H ws um' é uoù in commemoration of his victory at the games ; but
étanta@odai (Plut. de Aud. Poet. p. 15, c. ). Even that they saved Simonides, by a timely warning,
the tyrants whom he celebrated are said to have on account of his sacred character as a poet.
grudged him his just reward. (Sozom. H. E. p. 4. ) | Schneidewin quotes, in confirmation of this view
Respecting these relations of the poet to the ty of the case, the testimony of Phanias of Eresos
rants of Thessaly, a most interesting story is told (ap. Ath. x. p. 438, e. ), who placed the death of
by several of the ancient writers. The best form of Scopas under the head of the Destruction of Ty-
it is probably that which Cicero gives, on the autho- rants through Revenge. (Schn. p. xv. )
rity of Callimachus (de Orat. ii. 86). At a banquet Whether in consequence of this calamity, or on
given by Scopas, when Simonides had sung a poem account of the impending Persian invasion, or for
which he had composed in honour of his patron, some other reason, Simonides returned to Athens,
and in which, according to the custom of the poets and soon had the noblest opportunity of employing
(in their Epinician Odes), he had adorned his com- his poetic powers in the celebration of the great
position by devoting a great part of it to the events of the Persian wars. At the request of
praises of Castor and Pollux, the tyrant had the Miltiades, he composed an epigram for the statue
meanness to say that he would give the poet only of Pan, which the Athenians dedicated after the
half of the stipulated payment for his Ode, and battle of Marathon (No. 188). In the following
that he might apply for the remainder, if he chose, year, in the archonship of Aristeides, B. C. 489, he
to his Tyndarids, to whom he had given an equal conquered Aeschylus in the contest for the prize
share of the praise. It was not long before a which the Athenians offered for an elegy on those
message was brought to Simonides, that two young who fell at Marathon (Fr. 58, Epig. 149). Ten
men were standing at the door, and earnestly de- years later, he composed, at the request of the
manding to see him. He rose from his seat, went Amphictyons, the epigrams which were inscribed
out, and found no one ; but, during his absence, the upon the tomb of the Spartans who fell at There
building he had just left fell down upon the ban- mopylae, as well as an encomium on the same
queters, and crushed to death Scopas and all his heroes (Epig. 150–155, Fr. 9); and he also cele-
friends, whom we may suppose to have laughed brated the battles of Artemisium and Salamis, and
heartily at his barbarous jest. And so the Dioscuri the great men who commanded in them (Fr. 2—8,
paid the poet their half of the reward for the Ode. Epig. 157-160, 190—194). He lived upon in-
Callimachus, in a fragment which we still possess, timate terms with Themistocles, and a good story
puts into the poet's mouth some beautiful elegiac is told of the skill with which the statesman re-
verses in celebration of the event (Fr. 71, Bentley). buked the immoderate demands of the poet (Plut,
It is not worth while to discuss the variations Them. 5 ; Praecept. Polit. p. 807, 2. ; Reg. et Imp.
upon the story as related by other writers, and Apophth. p. 185, c. ; for another story see Cic. Fin.
p
especially by Quintilian (xi. 2. § 11; comp. Val. ii. 32). One of his epigrams (No. 197) was written
Max. i. 8 ; Aristeid. Orat. iv. p. 584 ; Phaed. Fab. on the occasion of the restoration of the sanctuary
iv. 24; Ovid. Ib. 513, 514, &c. ; see Schneidewin, of the Lycomidae by Themistocles. Respecting
pp. xi. foll. ). It appears that the Ode believed to the enmity between Simonides and the poet Timo-
have been sung on this occasion was that same creon of Rhodes, see Schneidewin, p. xviii.
p.
Epinician Ode to which allusion has been already The battle of Plataeae (B. C. 479) furnished
made, and of which we possess the half relating to Simonides with another subject for an elegy (Fr.
Scopas himself, though we have lost the other half, 59; comp. Epig. 199), and gave occasion for the
which referred to the Dioscuri.
celebrated epigram (No. 198), which he composed
That the story is altogether fabulous can by no for Pausanias, who inscribed it on the tripod dedi-
means be maintained ; although, in the form in cated by the Greeks at Delphi out of the Persian
which it has now come down to us, it must be spoils ; but which, on account of its arrogant
classed with those legends which embodied the pre-ascription of all the honour of the victory to Puu-
;
## p. 835 (#851) ############################################
SIMONIDES.
835
SIMONIDES.
sanias himself, was erased by the Lacedaemonians, | His sepulchre is said by Suidas (s. c. ) to have been
who substituted for it the names of the states ruthlessly destroyed by Phoenix, a general of the
which had taken part in the battle (Thuc. i. 132 ; | Agrigentines, who used its materials for the con-
Paus. iii. 8. & 1). Various stories are told respect struction of a tower, when he was besieging
ing the poet's intimacy with Pausanias ; and, Syracuse.
among them, that, the king having called upon the Little space is left to describe the personal and
poet for some wise saying, Simonides replied, poetical character of Simonides, and this has al-
“ Remember that thou art a man. ” Pausanias ready been done so well by Ottfried Müller, that
made light of the warning, until he was shut up it is hardly necessary to say very much. (Ilist. Lil.
in the brazen house, when he was heard to ex- Anc. Greece, vol. i. pp. 208, foll. ) Belonging to a
claim, 'n téve Keie, uéya ti åpa xpñua th ó nógos people eminent for their orderly and virtuous cha-
cou, dyo sè Úr' avoias ougèv avtov vuny elval racier (Pat. Protag. p. 34), c. , see Sullbaum's
(Plutarch, Consol. ad Apollon. p. 105, a ; Aelian, note), Simonides himself became proverbial for that
V. 11. ix. 41). The story certainly bears a very virtue which the Greeks called owopooúvn, tem-
suspicious likeness to the well-known tale of perance, order, and self command in one's own
Croesus and Solon.
conduct, and moderation in one's opinions and
Simonides had completed his eightieth year, when desires and views of human life ; and this spirit
his long poetical carcer at Athens was crowned by breathes through all his poetry. (Schn. p. xxxiii. )
the victory which he gained with the dithy- His reverence for religion is shown in his treat-
rambic chorus, in the archonship of Adeimantus, ment of the ancient myths. His political and
two years later than the battle of Plataeae (Ol. moral wisdom has already been referred to ; it often
75. , B. C. 477), being the fifty-sixth prize which assumed a polemic character ; and he appears to
he had carried off (Epig. 203, 204).
have been especially anxious to emulate the fame
It must have been shortly after this that he was of the Seven Wise Men, both for their wisdom
invited to Syracuse by Hiero, at whose court he itself, and for their brief sententious form of ex-
lived till his death in B. C. 467. On his way to pressing it ; and some ancient writers even reckoned
Sicily he appears to have visited Magna Graecia, him in the number of those sages. (Plat. Protag.
and at Tarentum he is said to have been a second p. 343, c. ; comp. Schn. p. xxxvi. foll. ) The leading
time miraculously preserved from destruction as principle of his philosophy appears to have been
the reward of his piety (Liban. vol. iv. p. 1101, the calm enjoyment of the pleasures of the present
Reiske ; Epig. 183, 184). He served Hiero by life, both intellectual and material, the making as
his wisdom as well as by his art, for, immediately light as possible of its cares, patience in bearing its
after his arrival in Sicily, he became the mediator evils, and moderation in the standard by which
of a peace between Hiero and Theron of Agrigen- human character should be judged. He appears
tum (Schol. ad Pind. O. ii. 29).
There are to have taken no pleasure in the higher regions of
several allusions to the wise discourses of the poet speculative philosophy: (See especially, Plat. l. c.
at the court of the tyrant (Plat. Epist. ii. ); and and foll. ; Schn. pp. xxxiv. xxxv. ) Of the nume-
Xenophon has put his Dialogue on the Evils and rous witty sayings ascribed to him, the following .
Excellencies of Tyranny (the Hiero) into the may serve as an example: to a person who pre
mouths of Hiero and Simonides. The celebrated served a dead silence during a banquet, he said,
evasion of the question respecting the nature of " My friend, if you are a fool
, you are doing a
God is ascribed by Cicero (de Nat. Deor. i. 22) to wise thing ; but if you are wise, a foolish one. ”
Simonides, as an answer to Hiero. He lived on (Plutarch, Conv. iii. Prooem. )
similar terms of philosophic intercourse with the Though he was moderate and indulgent in his
wife of Hiero.
views of human life, yet the moral sentiments em-
Of all the poets whom Hiero attracted to his bodied in his poems were so generally sound, that,
court, among whom were Pindar, Bacchylides, and in his own age, he obtained the approval of the
Aeschylus, Simonides appears to have been his race of men who fought at Marathon and Salamis,
favourite. He provided so munificently for his and in the succeeding period of moral and poetical
wants, that the poet, who always displayed a decline bis gnomic poetry was extolled by the ad-
strong taste for substantial rewards, was able to mirers of that earlier age, in contrast to the licen-
sell a large portion of the daily supplies sent him tious strains of Gnesippus, and his scolia still conti-
by the king ; and, upon being reproached for nued to be sung at banquets, though the
young
trading in his patron's bounty, he assigned as his generation” affected to despise them. (Aristoph.
motive the desire to display at once the munifi- Nub. 1355—1362; Ath. xiv. p. 638, e. ; Schol.
cence of Hiero and his own moderation. He still ad Aristoph. Vesp. 1217. ) Even the philosophers
continued, when at Syracuse, to employ his muse were indebted to Simonides and the other guomic
occasionally in the service of other Grecian states. poets for their most admired conceptions ; thus
Thus, as Cicero remarks (Cat. Maj. 7), he con- Prodicus, in his celebrated Choice of Hercules,
tinued his poetical activity to extreme old age; followed an Epinician Ode of Simonides, which
and Jerome mentions him among those swan-like again was a paraphrase of the well-known lines
poets, who sang more sweetly at the approach of of Hesiod (Op. et Di. 265), Tſis dpetas idpôro, &c.
death (Epist. 34). His remains were honoured (See Schn. p. xxxix. and Fr. 32. )
with a splendid funeral, and the following epitaph, Simonides is said to have been the inventor of
probably of his own composition, was inscribed the mnemonic art and of the long vowels and
upon his tomb (Tzetz. Chil. i. 24):
double letters in the Greek alphabet. The latter
statement cannot be accepted literally, but this is
“Εξ επί πεντήκοντα, Σιμωνίδη, ήρας νίκας
not the place to discuss it.
Και τρίποδας: θνήσκεις δ' εν Σικελό πεδίο.
The other side of the picture may be described
Κείω δε μνήμην λείπεις, “Έλλησι δ' έπαινον
almost in one word : Simonides made literature a
Εύξυνέτoν ψυχής σης επιγεινομένοις.
profession, and sought for its pecuniary rewards in
>
1
3 112
## p. 836 (#852) ############################################
P. 36
SIMONIDES.
SIMONIDES.
a spirit somewhat inconsistent with his proverbial | Melicerles) and elaborate finish, combined with the
moderation. He is said to have been the first truest poetic conception and perfect power of ex.
who took money for his poems; and the reproach pression ; though in originality and fervour he was
of avarice is too often brought against him by his far inferior, not only to the early lyric poetics,
contemporary and rival, Pindar, as well as by such as Sappho and Alcaeus, but also to his con-
subsequent writers, to be altogether discredited. temporary Pindar. He was probably both the
(Schn. pp. xxiv. -xxxii. ) The feelings of the poet most prolific and the most generally popular of all
himself upon the subject can be gathered from bis the Grecian lyric poets. The following is a list of
own expressions, if we may believe the stories re- those of his compositions of which we posses either
lated of him. His sense of the emptiness of inere the titles or fragments : - 1. A Poem, the precise
fame, his conviction that he deserved all he ob- forin of which is unknown, on “ The Empire of
tained, mingled with the bitter consciousness to Cambyses and Dareius” (“ Kauburov Kal Sapelou
which he sarcastically gave utterance, that mind Barreia). 2, 3. Elegies on the battles of Ar-
was at the command of money, may be illustrated temisium and Salamis (v év 'Apteuiglw vavuaxla.
by the following anecdotes. In the height of his dv Salquivı vavuaxia). 4. Eulogistic Poems
prosperity, he used to say that he had two coffers, in various metres (fyuuia). 5. Epinician Odes
the one for thanks, the other for money ; the former (frivikoi qôai). 6. Hynins or Prayers (@uvou,
always empty, and the latter always full. (Plut. Kateryal). 7. Paeans (Tarāves). 8. Dithyrambs
de Ser. Num. Vind. p. 555, f. ; Schol. ad Aristoph. (Subúpa ubui, also called Tpayqdidi, see Schmidt,
Pac. 681 ; the latter writer tells the story with a Diatribe in Dithyramb. p. 131). 9. Drinking
prudent reserve as to its truth. ) On one occasion songs (oródia). 10. Parthenia (Tapéévia). 11. Hy-
(if the details of the story be correct, it must have porchemes (utopxňuara). 12. Laments (pnvoi).
been near the commencement of his career), he had | 13. Elegies (èneyeial). 14. Epigrams (émiypáu-
wandered about in Asía, seeking to relieve his uata, átor xediáouata). The most remarkable of
poverty by his art, and had collected a considerable these poems were his Epinician Odes and Threnes,
sum, with which he was returning home, when the respecting the character of which see Müller (pp.
ship was wrecked on the coast of Asia Minor. 211, 212). The fragment of his Lament of Danaë
Simonides remained unconcerned, while all his is one of the finest remains of Greek lyric poetry
fellow-voyagers were collecting their goods, and, that we possess.
being asked the reason, he replied, “ I carry all my The general character of the dialect of Simonides
property about me. " When the ship broke up, is, like that of Pindar, the Epic, mirgled with
many, encumbered with their burthens, perished in Doric and Aeolic forms. Respecting the minute
the waves, the rest were plundered by robbers as peculiarities of his language and of his metres, see
soon as they reached the shore, and had to go
Schneidewin, pp.
xlvi. liii.
a-begging ; while the poet at once obtained shelter, Of the ancient commentaries on his life and
clothing, and money, in the neighbouring city of writings, by far the most important was that of
Clazomenae (Phaedr. Fab. iv. ). On being asked, Chamaeleon, notices from which are preserved by
by the wife of Hiero, which was the more powerful, | Athenaeus (x. p. 456, C. , xiii. p. 611, a, xiv.
the wealthy or the wise man, he replied, “ The p. 656, c. ). The Egyptian or Athenian gramma-
wealthy; for the wise may always be seen hanging | rian Palaephatus wrote υποθέσεις είς Σιμωνίδην.
about the doors of the rich. " (Aristot.
In advanced life, he enjoyed the personal friend poets merely by instruction, and not by inspiration.
ship of Themistocles and Pausanias, and celebrated (See further, Schneidewin, pp. vi. —viii. )
their exploits ; and in his extreme old age, he From his native island Simonides proceeded to
found an honoured retreat at the court of Syracuse. Athens, probably on the invitation of Hipparchus,
His life extended from about the first usurpation who attached him to his society by great rewards
of Peisistratus to the end of the Persian wars, from (Plat. Hipparch. p. 228, c. ; Aelian, V. H. viii. 2).
Ol. 56, 1, to Ol. 78. 1, B. c. 556—467. The chief The reign of Hipparchus was from B. c. 528 to
authorities for his life, besides the ancient writers, 514, so that Simonides probably spent the best
and the historians of Greek literature (Müller, Ulrici, years of his life at the tyrant's court. Anacreon
Bode, Bernhardy, &c. ) are the two works of Schnei- lived at the court of Hipparchus at the same time,
dewin (Simonidis Cei Carminis Reliquiae, Brunsv. but we have no evidence of any intimate relations
1835, 8vo. ) and Richter (Simonides der aelt. von between the two poets, except an epitaph upon
Keos, nach seinem Leben beschrieben und in seinem Anacreon, which is ascribed to Simonides (Fr. 171,
poetischen Ueberresten übersetzt, Schleusingen, 1836, Schn. ; Brunck, Anal. vol. i. p. 136, No. 49. s.
4to), in which the ancient authorities are so fully 55). Another of the great poets then at the court
collected and discussed, that it is unnecessary to of Hipparchus was the dithyrambic poet Lasus,
refer to any except the most important of them. Pindar's teacher, who engaged in poetical contests
Simonides was born at Julis, in the island of with Simonides ; and the rivalry between them
Ceos, in OL. 56. ), B. C. 556, as we learn from one appears to bave been carried on in no friendly
of his own epigrams (No. 203*), in which he cele spirit (Aristoph. Vesp. 1410, c. Schol. )
brates a victory which he gained at Athens, at the We have no positive information respecting the
age of 80 years, in the archonship of Adeimantus, poet's life between the murder of Hipparchus and
that is, in Ol. 75. 4, B. C. 476 ; and this date is the battle of Marathon. It appears not improbable
confirmed by other authorities, and by the date of that he remained at Athens after the expulsion of
his death, which took place at the age of 89 (Suid. ) Hippias, of whom he speaks as
or 90 (Mar. Ρar. ), in OL 78. 1, Β. C. 467; Lucian | Ανδρός αριστεύσαντος εν Ελλάδι των εφ' εαυτού,
(Macrob. 26) extends his life beyond 90 years.
(Schn. pp. iii. iv. ; Clinton, F. H. S. aa. 556, 476, in his epitaph on the tyrant's daughter Archedice
467. )
(No. 170), which bears, however, internal evidence
His father was named Leoprepes, and his grand-(vv. 3, 4) of having been writted after the ex
father Hyllichus; but this must have been his pulsion of the Peisistratide. But the favours he
had received from the Peisistratids, and especially
The numbers of the fragments quoted in this from Hipparchus, did not prevent him from speak
Article are those of Schneidewin's edition.
ing of the death of his patron as “ a great light
VOL. III.
Зн
## p. 834 (#850) ############################################
834
SIMONIDES.
SIMONIDES.
arising upon the Athenians,” in an epigram (No. | vailing sentiment, that the poet was the beloved
187), which we may suppose to have been in- servant of the gods, who would interpose to pre-
acribed upon the base of the statues set up to Har- serve him from injury, or to avenge his wrongs ; as
modius and Aristogeiton after the expulsion of in the cases of Arion, saved by the dolphin, and
Hippias, B. c. 510. (Paus. i. 8. § 5. )
Ibycus, avenged by the cranes. That some over-
It was probably the next period of his life which whelming and general calamity, amounting to an
Simonides spent in Thessaly, under the patronage almost total extinction, befell the family of the
of the Aleuads and Scopads, whose names, accord- Scopads about this time, is evident from the threne
ing to Theocritus (Id. xvi. 34) were only preserved composed for them by Simonides (No. 46), and
from oblivion by the beautiful poems in which the from the absence of any mention of them in those
great Ceian bard celebrated the victories gained by events connected with the Persian invasion, in
their swift horses in the sacred games. Of these which the Aleuads took so prominent a part
poems we still possess a considerable portion of the (Herod. vii. 6); not to mention the testimony of
celebrated Epinician Ode, on the victory of Scopas Phavorinus (ap. Stob. Serm. c. cv. 62) and other
with the four-horsed chariot (No. 13), which is writers, which is perhaps derived only from the
preserved and commented upon by Plato in the threne itself (Schn. p. xiii. ). Schneidewin suggests
Protagoras ; and fragments of the Threnes on the an ingenious explanation of the story, but con-
general destruction of the Scopads (No. 46), and ceived in too rationalistic a spirit to be hastily ad-
on the Aleuad Antiochus (No. 48); and it is mitted ; namely, that Scopas, whose tyrannical
not improbable that the magnificent Lament of character is shown, both by the story itself and by
Danaë (No. 50) was a Threne composed for one the apologetic tone in which Simonides speaks of
of the Aleunds. If we may believe Plutarch, the him in his Ode, was so odious to the people, that
poet was obliged to confess that the charms of his they plotted his destruction by undermining the
song failed to humanise the rugged spirits of the building in which he was about to hold the festival
Thessalians, 'Amaléotepot gáp cioiv, H ws um' é uoù in commemoration of his victory at the games ; but
étanta@odai (Plut. de Aud. Poet. p. 15, c. ). Even that they saved Simonides, by a timely warning,
the tyrants whom he celebrated are said to have on account of his sacred character as a poet.
grudged him his just reward. (Sozom. H. E. p. 4. ) | Schneidewin quotes, in confirmation of this view
Respecting these relations of the poet to the ty of the case, the testimony of Phanias of Eresos
rants of Thessaly, a most interesting story is told (ap. Ath. x. p. 438, e. ), who placed the death of
by several of the ancient writers. The best form of Scopas under the head of the Destruction of Ty-
it is probably that which Cicero gives, on the autho- rants through Revenge. (Schn. p. xv. )
rity of Callimachus (de Orat. ii. 86). At a banquet Whether in consequence of this calamity, or on
given by Scopas, when Simonides had sung a poem account of the impending Persian invasion, or for
which he had composed in honour of his patron, some other reason, Simonides returned to Athens,
and in which, according to the custom of the poets and soon had the noblest opportunity of employing
(in their Epinician Odes), he had adorned his com- his poetic powers in the celebration of the great
position by devoting a great part of it to the events of the Persian wars. At the request of
praises of Castor and Pollux, the tyrant had the Miltiades, he composed an epigram for the statue
meanness to say that he would give the poet only of Pan, which the Athenians dedicated after the
half of the stipulated payment for his Ode, and battle of Marathon (No. 188). In the following
that he might apply for the remainder, if he chose, year, in the archonship of Aristeides, B. C. 489, he
to his Tyndarids, to whom he had given an equal conquered Aeschylus in the contest for the prize
share of the praise. It was not long before a which the Athenians offered for an elegy on those
message was brought to Simonides, that two young who fell at Marathon (Fr. 58, Epig. 149). Ten
men were standing at the door, and earnestly de- years later, he composed, at the request of the
manding to see him. He rose from his seat, went Amphictyons, the epigrams which were inscribed
out, and found no one ; but, during his absence, the upon the tomb of the Spartans who fell at There
building he had just left fell down upon the ban- mopylae, as well as an encomium on the same
queters, and crushed to death Scopas and all his heroes (Epig. 150–155, Fr. 9); and he also cele-
friends, whom we may suppose to have laughed brated the battles of Artemisium and Salamis, and
heartily at his barbarous jest. And so the Dioscuri the great men who commanded in them (Fr. 2—8,
paid the poet their half of the reward for the Ode. Epig. 157-160, 190—194). He lived upon in-
Callimachus, in a fragment which we still possess, timate terms with Themistocles, and a good story
puts into the poet's mouth some beautiful elegiac is told of the skill with which the statesman re-
verses in celebration of the event (Fr. 71, Bentley). buked the immoderate demands of the poet (Plut,
It is not worth while to discuss the variations Them. 5 ; Praecept. Polit. p. 807, 2. ; Reg. et Imp.
upon the story as related by other writers, and Apophth. p. 185, c. ; for another story see Cic. Fin.
p
especially by Quintilian (xi. 2. § 11; comp. Val. ii. 32). One of his epigrams (No. 197) was written
Max. i. 8 ; Aristeid. Orat. iv. p. 584 ; Phaed. Fab. on the occasion of the restoration of the sanctuary
iv. 24; Ovid. Ib. 513, 514, &c. ; see Schneidewin, of the Lycomidae by Themistocles. Respecting
pp. xi. foll. ). It appears that the Ode believed to the enmity between Simonides and the poet Timo-
have been sung on this occasion was that same creon of Rhodes, see Schneidewin, p. xviii.
p.
Epinician Ode to which allusion has been already The battle of Plataeae (B. C. 479) furnished
made, and of which we possess the half relating to Simonides with another subject for an elegy (Fr.
Scopas himself, though we have lost the other half, 59; comp. Epig. 199), and gave occasion for the
which referred to the Dioscuri.
celebrated epigram (No. 198), which he composed
That the story is altogether fabulous can by no for Pausanias, who inscribed it on the tripod dedi-
means be maintained ; although, in the form in cated by the Greeks at Delphi out of the Persian
which it has now come down to us, it must be spoils ; but which, on account of its arrogant
classed with those legends which embodied the pre-ascription of all the honour of the victory to Puu-
;
## p. 835 (#851) ############################################
SIMONIDES.
835
SIMONIDES.
sanias himself, was erased by the Lacedaemonians, | His sepulchre is said by Suidas (s. c. ) to have been
who substituted for it the names of the states ruthlessly destroyed by Phoenix, a general of the
which had taken part in the battle (Thuc. i. 132 ; | Agrigentines, who used its materials for the con-
Paus. iii. 8. & 1). Various stories are told respect struction of a tower, when he was besieging
ing the poet's intimacy with Pausanias ; and, Syracuse.
among them, that, the king having called upon the Little space is left to describe the personal and
poet for some wise saying, Simonides replied, poetical character of Simonides, and this has al-
“ Remember that thou art a man. ” Pausanias ready been done so well by Ottfried Müller, that
made light of the warning, until he was shut up it is hardly necessary to say very much. (Ilist. Lil.
in the brazen house, when he was heard to ex- Anc. Greece, vol. i. pp. 208, foll. ) Belonging to a
claim, 'n téve Keie, uéya ti åpa xpñua th ó nógos people eminent for their orderly and virtuous cha-
cou, dyo sè Úr' avoias ougèv avtov vuny elval racier (Pat. Protag. p. 34), c. , see Sullbaum's
(Plutarch, Consol. ad Apollon. p. 105, a ; Aelian, note), Simonides himself became proverbial for that
V. 11. ix. 41). The story certainly bears a very virtue which the Greeks called owopooúvn, tem-
suspicious likeness to the well-known tale of perance, order, and self command in one's own
Croesus and Solon.
conduct, and moderation in one's opinions and
Simonides had completed his eightieth year, when desires and views of human life ; and this spirit
his long poetical carcer at Athens was crowned by breathes through all his poetry. (Schn. p. xxxiii. )
the victory which he gained with the dithy- His reverence for religion is shown in his treat-
rambic chorus, in the archonship of Adeimantus, ment of the ancient myths. His political and
two years later than the battle of Plataeae (Ol. moral wisdom has already been referred to ; it often
75. , B. C. 477), being the fifty-sixth prize which assumed a polemic character ; and he appears to
he had carried off (Epig. 203, 204).
have been especially anxious to emulate the fame
It must have been shortly after this that he was of the Seven Wise Men, both for their wisdom
invited to Syracuse by Hiero, at whose court he itself, and for their brief sententious form of ex-
lived till his death in B. C. 467. On his way to pressing it ; and some ancient writers even reckoned
Sicily he appears to have visited Magna Graecia, him in the number of those sages. (Plat. Protag.
and at Tarentum he is said to have been a second p. 343, c. ; comp. Schn. p. xxxvi. foll. ) The leading
time miraculously preserved from destruction as principle of his philosophy appears to have been
the reward of his piety (Liban. vol. iv. p. 1101, the calm enjoyment of the pleasures of the present
Reiske ; Epig. 183, 184). He served Hiero by life, both intellectual and material, the making as
his wisdom as well as by his art, for, immediately light as possible of its cares, patience in bearing its
after his arrival in Sicily, he became the mediator evils, and moderation in the standard by which
of a peace between Hiero and Theron of Agrigen- human character should be judged. He appears
tum (Schol. ad Pind. O. ii. 29).
There are to have taken no pleasure in the higher regions of
several allusions to the wise discourses of the poet speculative philosophy: (See especially, Plat. l. c.
at the court of the tyrant (Plat. Epist. ii. ); and and foll. ; Schn. pp. xxxiv. xxxv. ) Of the nume-
Xenophon has put his Dialogue on the Evils and rous witty sayings ascribed to him, the following .
Excellencies of Tyranny (the Hiero) into the may serve as an example: to a person who pre
mouths of Hiero and Simonides. The celebrated served a dead silence during a banquet, he said,
evasion of the question respecting the nature of " My friend, if you are a fool
, you are doing a
God is ascribed by Cicero (de Nat. Deor. i. 22) to wise thing ; but if you are wise, a foolish one. ”
Simonides, as an answer to Hiero. He lived on (Plutarch, Conv. iii. Prooem. )
similar terms of philosophic intercourse with the Though he was moderate and indulgent in his
wife of Hiero.
views of human life, yet the moral sentiments em-
Of all the poets whom Hiero attracted to his bodied in his poems were so generally sound, that,
court, among whom were Pindar, Bacchylides, and in his own age, he obtained the approval of the
Aeschylus, Simonides appears to have been his race of men who fought at Marathon and Salamis,
favourite. He provided so munificently for his and in the succeeding period of moral and poetical
wants, that the poet, who always displayed a decline bis gnomic poetry was extolled by the ad-
strong taste for substantial rewards, was able to mirers of that earlier age, in contrast to the licen-
sell a large portion of the daily supplies sent him tious strains of Gnesippus, and his scolia still conti-
by the king ; and, upon being reproached for nued to be sung at banquets, though the
young
trading in his patron's bounty, he assigned as his generation” affected to despise them. (Aristoph.
motive the desire to display at once the munifi- Nub. 1355—1362; Ath. xiv. p. 638, e. ; Schol.
cence of Hiero and his own moderation. He still ad Aristoph. Vesp. 1217. ) Even the philosophers
continued, when at Syracuse, to employ his muse were indebted to Simonides and the other guomic
occasionally in the service of other Grecian states. poets for their most admired conceptions ; thus
Thus, as Cicero remarks (Cat. Maj. 7), he con- Prodicus, in his celebrated Choice of Hercules,
tinued his poetical activity to extreme old age; followed an Epinician Ode of Simonides, which
and Jerome mentions him among those swan-like again was a paraphrase of the well-known lines
poets, who sang more sweetly at the approach of of Hesiod (Op. et Di. 265), Tſis dpetas idpôro, &c.
death (Epist. 34). His remains were honoured (See Schn. p. xxxix. and Fr. 32. )
with a splendid funeral, and the following epitaph, Simonides is said to have been the inventor of
probably of his own composition, was inscribed the mnemonic art and of the long vowels and
upon his tomb (Tzetz. Chil. i. 24):
double letters in the Greek alphabet. The latter
statement cannot be accepted literally, but this is
“Εξ επί πεντήκοντα, Σιμωνίδη, ήρας νίκας
not the place to discuss it.
Και τρίποδας: θνήσκεις δ' εν Σικελό πεδίο.
The other side of the picture may be described
Κείω δε μνήμην λείπεις, “Έλλησι δ' έπαινον
almost in one word : Simonides made literature a
Εύξυνέτoν ψυχής σης επιγεινομένοις.
profession, and sought for its pecuniary rewards in
>
1
3 112
## p. 836 (#852) ############################################
P. 36
SIMONIDES.
SIMONIDES.
a spirit somewhat inconsistent with his proverbial | Melicerles) and elaborate finish, combined with the
moderation. He is said to have been the first truest poetic conception and perfect power of ex.
who took money for his poems; and the reproach pression ; though in originality and fervour he was
of avarice is too often brought against him by his far inferior, not only to the early lyric poetics,
contemporary and rival, Pindar, as well as by such as Sappho and Alcaeus, but also to his con-
subsequent writers, to be altogether discredited. temporary Pindar. He was probably both the
(Schn. pp. xxiv. -xxxii. ) The feelings of the poet most prolific and the most generally popular of all
himself upon the subject can be gathered from bis the Grecian lyric poets. The following is a list of
own expressions, if we may believe the stories re- those of his compositions of which we posses either
lated of him. His sense of the emptiness of inere the titles or fragments : - 1. A Poem, the precise
fame, his conviction that he deserved all he ob- forin of which is unknown, on “ The Empire of
tained, mingled with the bitter consciousness to Cambyses and Dareius” (“ Kauburov Kal Sapelou
which he sarcastically gave utterance, that mind Barreia). 2, 3. Elegies on the battles of Ar-
was at the command of money, may be illustrated temisium and Salamis (v év 'Apteuiglw vavuaxla.
by the following anecdotes. In the height of his dv Salquivı vavuaxia). 4. Eulogistic Poems
prosperity, he used to say that he had two coffers, in various metres (fyuuia). 5. Epinician Odes
the one for thanks, the other for money ; the former (frivikoi qôai). 6. Hynins or Prayers (@uvou,
always empty, and the latter always full. (Plut. Kateryal). 7. Paeans (Tarāves). 8. Dithyrambs
de Ser. Num. Vind. p. 555, f. ; Schol. ad Aristoph. (Subúpa ubui, also called Tpayqdidi, see Schmidt,
Pac. 681 ; the latter writer tells the story with a Diatribe in Dithyramb. p. 131). 9. Drinking
prudent reserve as to its truth. ) On one occasion songs (oródia). 10. Parthenia (Tapéévia). 11. Hy-
(if the details of the story be correct, it must have porchemes (utopxňuara). 12. Laments (pnvoi).
been near the commencement of his career), he had | 13. Elegies (èneyeial). 14. Epigrams (émiypáu-
wandered about in Asía, seeking to relieve his uata, átor xediáouata). The most remarkable of
poverty by his art, and had collected a considerable these poems were his Epinician Odes and Threnes,
sum, with which he was returning home, when the respecting the character of which see Müller (pp.
ship was wrecked on the coast of Asia Minor. 211, 212). The fragment of his Lament of Danaë
Simonides remained unconcerned, while all his is one of the finest remains of Greek lyric poetry
fellow-voyagers were collecting their goods, and, that we possess.
being asked the reason, he replied, “ I carry all my The general character of the dialect of Simonides
property about me. " When the ship broke up, is, like that of Pindar, the Epic, mirgled with
many, encumbered with their burthens, perished in Doric and Aeolic forms. Respecting the minute
the waves, the rest were plundered by robbers as peculiarities of his language and of his metres, see
soon as they reached the shore, and had to go
Schneidewin, pp.
xlvi. liii.
a-begging ; while the poet at once obtained shelter, Of the ancient commentaries on his life and
clothing, and money, in the neighbouring city of writings, by far the most important was that of
Clazomenae (Phaedr. Fab. iv. ). On being asked, Chamaeleon, notices from which are preserved by
by the wife of Hiero, which was the more powerful, | Athenaeus (x. p. 456, C. , xiii. p. 611, a, xiv.
the wealthy or the wise man, he replied, “ The p. 656, c. ). The Egyptian or Athenian gramma-
wealthy; for the wise may always be seen hanging | rian Palaephatus wrote υποθέσεις είς Σιμωνίδην.
about the doors of the rich. " (Aristot.
