You are on page 1of 2

 The Epic Cycle was a collection of Ancient Greek epic poems that related the story of

theTrojan War, which includes the Cypria, the Aethiopis, the so-called Little Iliad,
the Iliupersis, the Nostoi, and the Telegony.

 Aside from the Odyssey and the Iliad, the cyclic epics only survive in fragments, the most
important of which is a detailed summary written by someone named Proclus (not the
same person as the philosopher Proclus Diadochus).

 The epics were composed indactylic hexameter verse.

 It was the distillation in literary form of an oral tradition that had developed during
the Greek Dark Age, which was based in part on localised hero cults.

 The traditional material from which the literary epics were drawn treats
of Mycenaean Bronze Ageculture from the perspective of Iron Age and later Greece.

 In modern scholarship the study of the historical and literary relationship between the
Homeric epics and the rest of the Cycle is called Neoanalysis.

 A longer Epic Cycle, as described by the 9th-century CE scholar and


clergyman Photius in his Bibliotheca, also included theTitanomachy and the Theban
Cycle, which in turn comprised the Oedipodea, the Thebaid, the Epigoni and
the Alcmeonis; however, it is certain that none of the cyclic epics (other than Homer)
survived to Photius' day, and it is likely that Proclus and Photius were not referring to a
canonical collection. Modern scholars do not normally include the Theban Cycle when
referring to the Epic Cycle.

Evidence for the Epic Cycle


 Only the Iliad and the Odyssey survive intact, although fragments of the other epics are
quoted by later authors, and a few lines survive in the tattered remains of ancient papyri.

 Most of our knowledge of the Cyclic epics comes from a broken summary of them which
serves as part of the preface to the famous 10th-century CE Iliad manuscript known
as Venetus A. This preface is damaged, missing the Cypria, and has to be supplemented
by other sources (the Cypria summary is preserved in several other manuscripts, each of
which contains only the Cypria and none of the other epics). The summary is in turn an
excerpt from a longer work.
 This longer work was entitled Chrestomathy, and written by someone named Proclus.
This is known from evidence provided by the later scholar Photius, in his Bibliotheca.
Photius provides sufficient information about Proclus' Chrestomathy to demonstrate that
the Venetus A excerpt is derived from the same work.[1] Little is known about Proclus,
except that he is certainly not the philosopherProclus Diadochus. Some have thought that
it might be the same person as the lesser-known grammarian Eutychius Proclus, who
lived in the 2nd century CE,[2] but it is quite possible that he is simply an otherwise
unknown figure.

Title Length Most common Content


(books) attribution

Cypria 11 Stasinus the events leading up to the Trojan War and the
first nine years of the conflict, especially
the Judgement of Paris

Iliad 24 Homer Achilles' rage against first king Agamemnon and


then the Trojan prince Hector, ending with
Achilles killing Hector in revenge for the death
of Patroclus and Priam coming to Achilles to
ransom Hector's body

Aethiopis 5 Arctinus the arrival of the Trojan


allies, Penthesileia the Amazon and Memnon;
their deaths at Achilles' hands in revenge for the
death ofAntilochus; Achilles' own death

Little Iliad 4 Lesches events after Achilles' death, including the building
of the Trojan Horse

Iliou persis("Sack 2 Arctinus the destruction of Troy by the Greeks


of Troy")

Nostoi ("returns") 5 Agias orEumelus the return home of the Greek force and the
events contingent upon their arrival, concluding
with the returns of Agamemnon andMenelaus

Odyssey 24 Homer the end of Odysseus' voyage home and his


vengeance on his wife Penelope's suitors, who
have devoured his property in his absence

Telegony 2 Eugammon Odysseus' voyage to Thesprotia and return


to Ithaca, and death at the hands of an
illegitimate son Telegonus

You might also like