The new politics of Olympos : "Kingship in Kallimachos'" hymns

The New Politics of Olympos explores the dynamics of praise, power, and persuasion in Kallimachos' hymns, detailing how they simultaneously substantiate and interrogate the radically new phenomenon of Hellenistic kingship taking shape during Kallimachos' lifetime. Long before the Ptolemies invested vast treasure in establishing Alexandria as the center of Hellenic culture and learning, tyrants such as Peisistratos and Hieron recognized the value of poetry in advancing their political agendas. Plato, too, saw the vast power inherent in poetry, and famously advocated either censoring it ( Republic ) or harnessing it ( Laws ) for the good of the political community. As Xenophon notes in his Hieron and Pindar demonstrates in his politically charged epinikian hymns, wielding poetry's power entails a complex negotiation between the poet, the audience, and political leaders. Kallimachos' poetic medium for engaging in this dynamic, the hymn, had for centuries served as an unparalleled vehicle for negotiating with the super-powerful. The New Politics of Olympos offers the first in-depth analysis of Kallimachos' only fully extant poetry book, the Hymns , by examining its contemporary political setting, engagement with a tradition of political thought stretching back to Homer, and portrayal of the poet as an image-maker for the king. In addition to investigating the political dynamics in the individual hymns, this book details how the poet's six hymns, once juxtaposed within a single bookroll, constitute a macro-narrative on the prerogatives of Ptolemaic kingship. Throughout the collection Kallimachos refigures the infamously factious divine family as a paradigm of stability and good governance in concert with the self-fashioning of the Ptolemaic dynasty. At the same time, the poet defines the characteristics and behaviors worthy of praise, effectively shaping contemporary political ethics. Thus, for a Ptolemaic reader, this poetry book may have served as an education in and inducement to good kingship. "This book is a study of the ways in which Kallimachos used hymns praising the Olympian gods to shape a political discourse on kingship emerging in the Hellenistic world. In it, I investigate how the poet crafts compelling new portrayals of the gods that refigure the politics of the divine family. In the new political order he depicts, Kallimachos virtually eliminates the harmful strife traditionally associated with these figures, reframing the gods as good kings and queens within the idiom of contemporary politics. Not only does Kallimachos depict these gods as pro-dynastic exemplars of good governance, but he also engages his audience in discourses on the nature of power, just rule, reciprocity, transgression and punishment, as well as the roles of kings, queens, and poets. In dialogue with a range of literary texts from the Archaic, Classical, and indeed contemporary periods, Kallimachos renegotiates the political dynamics of the Olympian gods who serve as paradigms for his ideology. I argue that this "new politics of Olympos" constitutes Kallimachos' effort to shape the political discourse emerging within and between the courts of Hellenistic superpowers. His hymns for the gods define what is praiseworthy and set the agenda for a conversation about power at the dawning of a new political phenomenon-Hellenistic kingship. I close the book with a brief overview of Kallimachos' political ideology in the Hymns, the rhetorical strategies he employs, and the inter- and intratextual dynamics that draw readers of the poetry book into a larger discussion on power, authority, and just rule. Finally, I offer some speculations on the persuasive effect of praise on a potential Ptolemaic reader for whom the poetry book might serve as an education in and inducement to good kingship"-- Provided by publisher Title_Pages 1 Dedication 5 Figures 6 Acknowledgments 7 Editions_and_Abbreviations 10 IntroductionKallimachos_and_the_Politics_of_Praise 12 Zeus_as_a_Paradigm_for_Dynastic_Continuity 30 Kallimachos_Hymn_On_Kingship 62 The_Poetics_of_Praise_in_the_Hymn_to_Zeus 99 Apollo_as_a_New_Paradigm_for_Kingship 134 Saviors_Tyrants_and_the_Poetics_of_Empire 169 On_the_Good_Queen 198 ConclusionOn_the_Good_King_According_to_Kallimachos 246 Bibliography 257 Index_Locorum 289 Subject_Index 300 Introduction. Kallimachos and the politics of praise -- Zeus as a paradigm for dynastic continuity -- Kallimachos' hymn "on kingship"--The poetics of praise in the hymn to Zeus -- Apollo as a new paradigm for kingship -- Saviors, tyrants, and the poetics of empire -- On the good queen -- Conclusion. On the good king according to Kallimachos This title details how Kallimachos' hymns individually and collectively examine the nature of power, authority, and good governance by situating these praise poems at the intersection of a literary tradition stretching back to archaic Greek poetry and a contemporary political discourse on kingship emerging in the early Hellenistic world This book details how Kallimachos' hymns individually and collectively examine the nature of power, authority, and good governance by situating these praise poems at the intersection of a literary tradition stretching back to archaic Greek poetry and a contemporary political discourse on kingship emerging in the early Hellenistic world __The New Politics of Olympos____Republic____Laws____The New Politics of Olympos____Hymns__