Ancient Greek epic poems composed in dactylic hexameter formed a collection known as the Epic Cycle. This group included works such as the Cypria, the Aethiopis, and the Little Iliad alongside the Telegony. Scholars sometimes include Homer's Iliad and Odyssey within this circle of poems. However, modern usage typically reserves the term for non-Homeric epics to distinguish them from the Homeric masterpieces. The traditional material draws upon Mycenaean Bronze Age culture but views it through the lens of Iron Age Greece. Localized hero cults likely fueled the oral tradition that developed during the Greek Dark Age.
Lost Poems And Surviving Fragments
The cyclic epics survive only in fragments and summaries dating back to Late Antiquity and the Byzantine period. Most knowledge comes from a broken summary found in the preface to the 10th century Venetus A manuscript of the Iliad. This preface is damaged and missing the section on the Cypria. Scholars must supplement these gaps using other manuscripts that preserve individual summaries like the Cypria alone. The surviving text serves as an excerpt from a longer work called Chrestomathy written by a figure named Proclus. Evidence provided by the 9th-century scholar Photius confirms the Venetus A excerpt derives from this same source. Proclus remains an otherwise unknown figure distinct from the philosopher Proclus Diadochus.Plot Summaries Of Individual Epics
The Cypria covered events leading up to the Trojan War and the first nine years of conflict including the Judgement of Paris. Five books of the Aethiopis described the arrival of Penthesileia the Amazon and Memnon before their deaths at Achilles' hands. The Little Iliad narrated events after Achilles' death such as the building of the Trojan Horse and the Awarding of the Arms to Odysseus. Two books of the Iliupersis detailed the destruction of Troy by the Greeks. Five books of the Nostoi chronicled the return home of the Greek force concluding with Agamemnon and Menelaus. Eugammon's Telegony followed Odysseus' voyage to Thesprotia and his demise at the hands of his illegitimate son Telegonus.Scholarly Debates On Composition
Neoanalysis theories analyze whether Homer or cyclic poets influenced one another chronologically. Some Neoanalyst scholars operate on the premise that Homeric epics were later than cyclic ones and drew on them extensively. Other Neoanalysts make the milder claim that Homeric epics draw on legendary material which later crystallized into the Epic Cycle. Proclus suggests plots of non-Homeric epics look designed to integrate with Homer without overlaps. Contradictions exist between epics regarding who killed Hector's son Astyanax in the fall of Troy. Neoptolemus is named in the Little Iliad while Odysseus appears in the Iliou persis. Editing or stitching likely occurred to combine these eight epics into a single collection during the Hellenistic period.