Forms of aretḗ
courage in Tyrtaeus’ Fr 12 W and Plato’s Laws
Keywords:
Plato, Tyrtaeus, virtue, courage, ancient moral philosophyAbstract
This paper aims to establish the connection between the receptive links concerned with two Ancient Greek authors: Tyrtaeus and Plato, briefly mentioning Homer and the epic tradition. One theme that connects these three poets is virtue, or arete, which in Homer is treated as individual excellences; in Tyrtaeus, the courage is praised as the most relevant virtue; and, for Plato, the complete virtue is formed by justice, temperance, wisdom and courage. This paper intends to show how the epic poetic tradition and its military images are important influences to the construction of the warrior ethos praised in Tyrtaeus’ Fr. 12 W; poem which is, by its turn, cited twice in the Laws, one of Plato’s late dialogues. In Lg. I, 629a3-b4, the Athenian Stranger takes the poem as a paradigm of Sparta’s military constitution, criticizing it for praising only the courageous virtue instead of the complete one. On the other hand, in Lg. II, 660d11-661d4, the protagonist rewrites and corrects the elegy, considering Plato’s late thought itself. Thus, this paper will analyze how the same subject (virtue) is treated by three different perspectives, by means of direct or indirect references, critical attitudes, and appropriation to specific goals.
References
ADKINS, Arthur. Merit and Responsibility: A Study in Greek Values. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1975.
BOWIE, Ewen. Early Greek Elegy, Symposium and Public Festival. In: The Journal of Hellenic Studies, v. 106, p. 13-35, 1986. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/629640.
BOWIE, Ewen. Wandering Poets, archaic style. In: HUNTER, Richard; RUTHERFORD, Ian. (eds). Wandering Poets in Ancient Greek Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 105-136, 2009. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511576133.005.
BOWRA, Cecil Maurice. Early Greek Elegists. Cambridge / Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1938.
BRUNHARA, Rafael. As Elegias de Tirteu: poesia e performance na Grécia Arcaica. São Paulo: Humanitas, 2014.
FARAONE, Chistopher A. The Stanzaic Architecture of Early Greek Elegy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.
FOWLER, Robert L. The Nature of Early Greek Lyric: Three preliminary studies. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1987.
GERBER, Douglas. Elegy. In: GERBER (ed). A Companion to the Greek Lyric Poets. Mnemosyne: bibliotheca classica Batava. Supplementum. Leiden; New York; Köln: Brill, 1997, p. 89-132.
HARDWICK, Lorna. Reception Studies. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003.
HAVELOCK, Erick A. Preface to Plato. 1ª edição. EUA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1963.
HOMERO. Ilíada. Tradução de Christian Werner. São Paulo: Ubu Editora / SESI-SP Editora, 2018.
JAEGER, Werner. Five Essays. Translated by Adele Fiske. Montreal: Mario Cassalini Ltd., 1966.
JAEGER, Werner. Paideia: A formação do Homem Grego. 6ª edição. São Paulo: WMF Martins Fontes, 2013.
LOPES, Daniel R. N. Ensaio Introdutório. In: PLATÃO. Górgias. São Paulo: Perspectiva, 2020. 1ª edição revista.
LUGINBILL, Robert. Tyrtaeus 12 West: Come Join the Spartan Army. The Classical Quarterly, New Series, v. 52, n. 2, p. 405-414, 2002. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/cq/52.2.405.
MARTINDALE, Charles. Reception. In: KALLENDORF, Craig. A Companion to the Classical Tradition. EUA: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2007, p. 297-311.
MEYER, Susan Sauvé. Plato’s Laws 1 and 2. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015.
MORROW, Glenn R. Plato’s Cretan City: a historical interpretation of the Laws. 2ª edição. EUA: Princeton University Press, 1993.
NIGHTINGALE, Andrea W. Genres in Dialogue: Plato and the Construct of Philosophy. 1st edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995.
NÜNLIST, René. The Ancient Critic at Work. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009.
PLATÃO. República. Tradução de Anna Lia Amaral de Almeida Prado. São Paulo: WMF Marins fontes Ltda, 2006.
PLATO. Laws. Em: Platonis Opera, ed. John Burnet. Oxford University Press. 1903.
PLATO. Laws, Volume I – II. Coleção Loeb Classical Library. Tradução de R. G. Bury. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1926 (1ª edição).
RAGUSA, Giuliana; BRUNHARA, Rafael. Elegia Grega Arcaica: uma Antologia. 1ª edição. Cotia: Ateliê Editorial; Araçoiba da Serra: Editora Mnema, 2021.
RAGUSA, Giuliana. Hino a Afrodite e outros poemas: Safo de Lesbos. 2ª edição. São Paulo: Editora Hedra, 2021.
SILVA, Rafael. Lendo a Citação (Críton, 43d1–44b5): “Vou-me embora pra fértil Phthía…”. Nuntius Antiquus, Belo Horizonte, v. 11, n. 1, p. 173-194, 2015. Disponível em: https://periodicos.ufmg.br/index.php/nuntius_antiquus/article/view/17172. Acesso em: 21 out. 2024.
SILVA, Rafael. Treslendo a citação (República): de Platão a Homero. Nuntius Antiquus, Belo Horizonte, v. 13, n. 1, p. 205-226, 2017. Disponível em: https://periodicos.ufmg.br/index.php/nuntius_antiquus/article/view/17124. Acesso em: 21 out. 2024.
SMYTH, Herbert. Greek Grammar. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1956.
SWIFT, Laura. Lyric Visions of Epic Combat: the spectacle of war in archaic personal song. In: Bakogianni, A. and Hope, V. (eds). War as Spectacle: Ancient and Modern Perspectives on the Display of Armed Conflict; London: Bloomsbury Academic, pp. 93-109, 2015. Disponível me: https://oro.open.ac.uk/44124/. Acesso em: 19 dez. 2023
WEST, Martin. Iambi et Elegi Graeci. Ante Alexandrum Cantati. Vol. 2: Callinus, Mimnermus, Semonides, Solon, Tyrtaeus, Minora Adespota. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989.
ZANFRA, Marcelo. 2022. Comicidade, estilística e projeto retórico: faces e efeitos intertextuais da recepção de Terêncio na obra de São Jerônimo. Tese (Doutorado) – Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas da Universidade de São Paulo. São Paulo, 2022.
ZICHI, Claudia. 2013, Tyrtaeus in Plato: A Case of Poetry at the Service of Philosophy. Dissertação (Mestrado). Lund: Lund University Publications, 2013.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Ana Clara Meneguzzi (Autor)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
