A commentary on the fragments of the iambic poet Hipponax

The thesis fills a surprising gap in Classical scholarship by providing the first philological and literary commentary in English on the most substantial fragments of the 6th century BCE iambic poet Hipponax. The project is a timely contribution to the recent developments in the field of study of iambos and Greek Lyric more generally, as well as the study of fragmentary poetry and literature. The text and apparatus provided are based on West’s edition of the fragments (Iambi et Elegi Graeci ante Alexandrum Cantati, 2nd edition, vol.1 (1989-92)) with divergences indicated. The fragments treated are drawn both from secondary sources (frr. 5-10, 12-17, 26-26a, 28-30, 32-39, 128 W) as well as papyri (frr. 69-70, 72, 73, 74-77, 78, 79, 84, 92, 102-103, 104, 115, 117 W). The commentary covers most features of the text (textual issues, syntax, style) and its interpretation and pays particular attention to the reconstruction of the fragments with a narrative component. The detailed introduction brings together a range of key issues of Hipponactean iambography (emerging from the commentary), such as the varied nature of the corpus and its transmission, Hipponax’s style and narrative technique, the subject matter, the sociology of the poems, the language and dialect, register and tone, as well as performance aspects and the use of Homeric intertext and particularly the Odyssey and Odysseus. It also addresses larger literary-historical questions, such as the nature of the genre and of Hipponactean iambos and its audience in particular and the poet’s impact on the iambic tradition