Simonides

One of the nine canonical lyric poets, Simonides of Ceos flourished in the fifth century BC. A colourful character, he was widely revered as one of the wisest of men, ridiculed for being a greedy miser and celebrated as an inventor of a system of mnemonics and four letters of the Greek alphabet. He was the first poet of Western literature to connect his art directly with the making of money and acquiring wealth. Though his works survive only in fragments, they reveal a master of poetic expression, relying on straightforward statement, with a tolerant, humanistic outlook on life. Simonides was the perfecter of elegy and epigram and a feared rival of Pindar and Aeschylus. Delphi’s Ancient Classics series provides eReaders with the wisdom of the Classical world, offering both English translations and the original Greek texts. This eBook presents Simonides’ fragments, with illustrations, informative introductions and the usual Delphi bonus material. (Version 1)