Anacreon of Teos, ancient Greek lyric poet
Amid the rapid political developments that followed the collapse of the Lydian state (546 BC) and the expansion of the Persian empire into the then Ionian world, Anacreon from Teos, following the example of Ibycus, unfolds his poetic charisma at the court of the powerful man of Samos, Polycrates. Athens and the environment of Hipparchus and the circles of the Thessalian aristocracy are subsequently recorded as places of expression of Anacreontic creation.
Continuing the tradition of the lesbian monody intended for individual performance in a specific symphonic context, Anacreon marks its reorientation. In the new courtly demands for refinement, the poetic temperament diverges as the serious tone of the Aeolian monody gives way to the playful mood or even to the detached ironic treatment of themes on the part of the poet who exudes an intense dramatic irony, sometimes again to his cool and witty cheerfulness.
In Anacreon’s poetry, written in pure Ionian dialect, the themes of love and his love for wine dominate; it is no coincidence that Cicero wrote: Anacreontisquidem tota poesis est amatoria = “all the poetry of Anacreon is erotic”. “Anacreon loved pleasures and sang of them without hypocrisy; he cared little for war, as well as for politics” (Bowra, 96). The Alexandrians classified his work into five books of lyric poems, elegies and iambics. Of these, unfortunately, very little survives.
In a companion song (frag. 301P) the poet addresses a prayer to Dionysus, the god of wine, vital impulse and pleasures. The scenography and direction are spring-like, the god is flanked by Eros, Aphrodite, the nymphs and together they indulge in a graceful game on the high mountains. The simple but careful language is clearly reflected in the use of adjectives: no stereotypical adjectives; everything is essential and is awarded in the new lyrical context.
With the subtle art of courtly flirtation, love is depicted as the game between a young girl and an old but skillful man (excerpt 302P: “love of an elder”, excerpt 335P). With a playful, feignedly serious mood, the lyrics are full of grace and self-restraint: the desire and the flame are visible, but at the same time controlled by the mature lover (excerpt 340P). This mature irony combines the calm maturity of someone who can relax without loss and the necessary mental detachment and distance from the subject and himself – something that “saved him and his art” (Bowra, 96) but which Archilochus deeply abhorred. “He always hints that he does not take these amusements too seriously, that he knows their limits and appreciates their true value” (Bowra, 96). The pretense of psychological embarrassment is inventive and lends the style tenderness and spirituality (excerpt 304P), the same that emerges when the poet decides to give love advice on approaching a new woman (excerpt 327P). On the other hand, there is also the serious face of love that emerges as a violent and impetuous emotion (excerpts 325P, 331P).
Even more enjoyable are the poems of Anacreon that concern individual aspects of the sympathic process. At times he proposes a methokop without limits as a genuine follower of Bacchus (excerpt 300aP) and at other times he changes his mood, seeking a more decent and Greek-like behavior when drinking wine (excerpt 300bP).
The clear syntactic structure is reinforced by well-chosen and wisely placed adjectives. The chromatic adjectives renounce their conventional nature and, with their increasing syllabic volume, compose a three-step scale; deliberately selected epic echoes of adjectives aim at modest submission. The rhythm of the speech is ascending and results in a diffuse sense of unity and integration. The archaic redundancy with the systematic and repeated return to the same point has now been definitively overcome, as according to the rules of classical composition each individual idea appears only once, in its own organic place within the overall plan.