Everything about Arctinus totally explained
Arctinus of Miletus or
Arctinus Milesius (Ἀρκτῖνος Μιλήσιος) was a
Greek epic poet whose reputation is purely legendary, as none of his works survive. Traditionally dated between
775 BC and
741 BC, he was said to have been a pupil of
Homer.
Phaenias of Eresus placed him in the
7th century BC and claimed that he was defeated by
Lesches of Pyrrha in competition. One of the "
cyclic poets", Arctinus composed the epics
Aethiopis and
Sack of Troy, which were contributions to the
Trojan War cycle, and possibly
Naupactia.
These poems are lost, but an idea of the first two can be obtained from the
Chrestomathy ascribed (probably wrongly) to
Proclus the
Neo-Platonist of the
5th century AD.
The
Aethiopis (Αἰθιοπίς), in five books, is so called from the Aethiopian
Memnon, who became the ally of the
Trojans after the death of
Hector. According to Proclus, the poem took up the narrative from the close of the
Iliad:
» "The Amazon
Penthesilea arrives to aid the Trojans in war. She is the daughter of Ares and a Thracian by birth.
Achilles kills her while she's fighting at her best, and the Trojans bury her. Achilles kills
Thersites, who railed at him and reproached him for loving Penthesileia.”
The
Aethiopis concluded with the death and burial of
Achilles and the dispute between
Ajax and
Odysseus for his arms.
The Sack of Troy (
Iliou Persis) told the stories of the
Trojan Horse,
Sinon, and
Laocoon, the capture of the city, and the departure of the Greeks pursued by the anger of
Athena at the
rape of
Cassandra by
Ajax the Lesser. The
Little Iliad, usually ascribed to
Lesches, bridged the gap in the story-line between
Aethiopis and the
Sack of Troy.
Sources
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