Further Hellenistic Acrostics
Aratus and Others
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9331629 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Danielewicz Danielewicz (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2005 |
| Volume | 58 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 321-334 |
| Publication date | 2005-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Mnemosyne (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0026-7074 • E-ISSN: 1568-525X |
| Publisher | Brill (PUBLISHER • NL) |
| DOI | 10.1163/1568525054796845 |
| OpenAlex | W1978685109 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 13 |
| References cited | 1 |
The author, after a short review of the research to date and the criteria with which to approach the topic, discusses a number of acrostics to be found in Aratus' Phaenomena, Callimachus' Hymns, and Apollonius Rhodius' Argonautica, all of them recently detected by himself. It turns out that Aratus was particularly fond of inserting syllabic 'gamma-type' acrostics, which should not always be taken as examples of mere art for art's sake since they may allude to, or are supported by, the immediate context. Special attention, nevertheless, is given to the interpretation of a 'regular' acrostic (EΠAΘE, Phaen. 220-4), in which the poet's empathy with nature is emphasised. The examples from Callimachus (h. 1.60-2; 5.116-9) and Apollonius Rhodius (1.180-4; 2.421-3; 3.1008-11; 4.1489-92) show that the interrelation between the acrostic and its context may have a ludic character when, for instance, the acrostic serves as a kind of humorous authorial comment. It is interesting to observe that the acrostics in Callimachus and Apollonius Rhodius seem to be mostly connected with important moments in narration.The author also analyses, by way of comparison, a hitherto unnoticed Latin acrostic from Virgil's Ecl. 8.42-7: inanis (viz. Love)
Art · Character (mathematics · Context (archaeology · Interpretation (philosophy · Linguistics · Literature · Narrative · Reflexive pronoun · Syllabic verse · Classical Antiquity Studies · Classical Philosophy and Thought · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies · History · Mathematics · Philosophy
Letters in the Sky
Acrostics in Calpurnius Siculus? Some initial suggestions
The Shadow of the Bellum Perusinum in the Ending of Vergil’s Eclogues
Orpheus, Euridice, and the classical tradition in Christian Bök’s Xenotext
Seeing the light, Part II
Acrostic shit (Ecl. IV 47-52)
An Acrostic in Aeneid 11.902–6
Solving Problems With Acrostics
Cicero Belts Aratus
Daedala Imago and the Image of the World in Lucretius’ Proem (1.5–8)
Catullus 60
One Sign After Another
The Pun and the Moon in the Sky
| Unique citing works | 13 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0.93 |
| Citation span | 2012 - 2025 (14) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 13 |