User:Marge584/Tyrtaeus

Tyrtaeus (/tɜːrˈtiːəs/; Greek: Τυρταῖος Tyrtaios; fl. mid-7th century BC) was a Greek elegiac poet from Sparta. He wrote at a time of two crises affecting the city: a civic unrest threatening the authority of kings and elders, later recalled in a poem named Eunomia ("Law and Order"), where he reminded citizens to respect the divine and constitutional roles of kings, council, and demos; and the Second Messenian War, during which he served as a sort of "state poet", exhorting Spartans to fight to the death for their city. In the 4th century BC, when Tyrtaeus was an established classic, Spartan armies on campaign were made to listen to his poetry, and the Suda states that he wrote martial songs, probably referring to the chants escorting armed dances and processions during some Spartan festivals. copied from Tyrtaeus

First sentence addition to the material already there: "Tyrtaeus was a Greek elegiac poet from Sparta that has works speculated to fill five books. His works survive from quotations and papyri, and include 250 lines or parts of lines."

I want to change the last sentence so that it isn't run-on. "In the 4th century BC, when Tyrtaeus was an established classic, Spartan armies on campaign were made to listen to his poetry. The Suda states that he wrote martial songs; these were important in Spartan festivals and were done through anapaestic and iambic chants that accompanied armed dances and processions."

Tyrtaeus was predominantly an elegiac poet and elegy may be described as "a variation upon the heroic hexameter, in the direction of lyric poetry". copied from Tyrtaeus

I want to turn this into two sentences. "Tyrtaeus was predominantly an elegaic poet. Elegy may be described as "a variation upon the heroic Hexameter, in the direction of Lyric poetry."

Variations on his Athenian origin and deformity are found in numerous ancient sources, including Diogenes Laërtius, who said that the Athenians regarded him as deranged, Porphyry, who labelled him "one-eyed", or Justin, who believed that he was sent to the Spartans by the Athenians as a deliberate insult. Copied from Tyrtaeus

This is a very long run-on sentence that I think needs to be broken up into parts. Especially for those who are reading this and do not know much about Tyrtaeus.

Change it to "Variations on his Athenian origin and deformity are found in numerous ancient sources. This includes philosopher Diogenes Laertius, who said that the Athenians regarded him as deranged. Another philosopher by the name Porphyry (philosopher) labelled him as "one eyed." Finally, historian Justin (historian) believed that he was sent to the Spartans by the Athenians as a deliberate insult."

There are English verse translations by Richard Polwhele (1792) and imitations by the English poet laureate H. J. Pye (1795), and an Italian version by F. Cavallotti, with text, introduction and notes (1898). The fragment that begins with Τεθνάμεναι γὰρ καλόν (fr. 10 West) has been translated by the poet Thomas Campbell. The edition by C. A. Klotz (1827) contains a dissertation on the war-songs of different countries. copied from Tyrtaeus

I am going to turn the first sentence into three.

There are English verse translations by Richard Polwhele (1792). In addition, there is also imitations by the English Poet laureate H. J. Pye (1795). Finally, is also an Italian version by F. Cavallotti, with text, introduction, and notes (1898).

Sources[edit]

Virtually all that is known about the life of Tyrtaeus is found in two entries of the Suda, a Byzantine encyclopedia redacted in the 10th century AD. Traditional accounts of his life were almost entirely deduced from his poetry or were simply fiction, such as the account by Pausanias of his supposed transformation from a lame and stupid school teacher in Athens to the mastermind of Spartan victories against the Messenians. Variations on his Athenian origin and deformity are found in numerous ancient sources, including Diogenes Laërtius, who said that the Athenians regarded him as deranged, Porphyry, who labelled him "one-eyed", or Justin, who believed that he was sent to the Spartans by the Athenians as a deliberate insult.

The first of the entry of the Suda runs as follows:

Tyrtaeus, son of Archembrotus, a Laconian or Milesian elegiac poet and pipe-player. It is said that by means of his songs he urged on the Lacedaemonians in their war with the Messenians and in this way enabled them to get the upper hand. He is very ancient, contemporary with those called the Seven sages, or even earlier. He flourished in the 35th Olympiad (640–637 BC). He wrote a constitution for the Lacedaemonians, precepts in elegiac verse, and war songs, in five books.

The second entry states that the Spartans took him as their general from among the Athenians in response to an oracle.

Tyrtaeus. The Lacedaemonians swore that they would either capture Messene or die, and when the god gave them an oracle to take a general from the Athenians, they took the poet Tyrtaeus, a man who was lame. By exhorting them to valour he captured Messene in the 20th year. They razed it and grouped the prisoners among the helots.

During the 19th and early 20th centuries, the picture of Tyrtaeus' life has been complicated by doubts about the authenticity of many of his verses, dated by various scholars to the 5th or 4th century BC. A theory Tyrtaeus was in fact a 5th-century Athenian was even posited by Eduard Schwartz in 1899. According to Douglas E. Gerber (1997), however, "that skepticism has now largely disappeared". Disagreements among scholars now essentially revolve around the version of fragment 4 that should be accepted as genuine (Plutarch's or Diodorus' version, or a combination of the two), and some doubts remain about the dating of fragment 12, which some critics have assigned to the time of Xenophanes (c. 570 – c. 475 BC) or shortly before 498 BC. copied from Tyrtaeus

I am going to be rearranging sections within the Wikipedia article, including the "Sources" section. I will be placing this after the section entitled "Birth and place of origin" because I feel it makes a better flow to explaining Tyrtaeus' life.

Adding to: "Poetry" subtitled "Theme: Military Ideology"

Here, I will be adding/contributing to the section on his poetry. Specifically I will be adding the theme of military ideology that is very prominent in Tyrtaeus' works. It will be entitled "Theme: Military Ideology" and I am placing it at the end after "poetic style."

There are many instances in Tyrtaeus' poetry that show the influences he had towards Spartan society. One such theme involves military Ideology and how it helped shape in Sparta.

First, Tyrtaeus' poems exemplifies an ancient Greek thought and Homeric concept called Arete. This concept involves the idea of what it means to be excellent. Tyrtaeus is able to show in his work this ideal in both the singular and in the group environment of Sparta. In poem 9, he shows that in order to achieve true and the best arete, it involves being in a cohesive group that exemplifies this concept together. The reasoning for writing around the concept of arete is through the Spartan ideology of what makes the Spartan warrior the most courageous and patriotic fighter. One can speculate that his poems help push this ideology along by constantly promoting how a Spartan becomes their most powerful self. Although he writes around this concept, he never accepts this as his way of thinking he is instilling. Instead, he writes specifically about a "fierce fighting spirit."

Another subject within military ideology that is clearly shown in Tyrtaeus, 9 is the idea of solidarity amongst a group. In order to perform one's singular arete in a Phalanx, one must remain in the forefront with those he is fighting with. This requires a Spartan man to have the duty to be one with his group.

Finally, Tyrtaeus makes a style choice to not include names of anyone in his poems. This further drives in the idea that a warrior must be selfless in their contributions to the welfare of the state. This can further show that Tyrtaeus' use of military ideology in his poems influenced Spartan warriors to live a certain way for their state including being courageous and knowing they will be honored in death or in victory over battle.