The Kypria (Greek: Latin: Cypria) is a lost epic of ancient Greek literature. It was one of the Trojan War cycle, that is, the "Trojan" cycle, which told the entire history of the Trojan War in epic verse. The story of the Kypria comes chronologically at the beginning of the Epic Cycle, and is followed by that of the Iliad. The poem comprised eleven books of verse in dactylic hexameter.

Date and authorship

The Kypria, in the written form in which it was known in classical Greece, was probably composed in the later sixth century BCE, but there is much uncertainty. The stories contained in the Kypria are much earlier than that, and the same problems of dating oral traditions associated with the Homeric epics also apply to the Kypria. Many or all of the stories in the Kypria were known to the composer(s) of the Iliad and Odyssey.

The Kypria was said in one ancient tradition to have been given by Homer as a dowry to his son-in-law Stasinos of Cyprus; there was apparently an allusion to this in a lost poem by Pindar. Some later writers repeated the story. It did at least serve to explain why the Kypria was attributed by some authorities to Homer and by others to Stasinos. Others, however, ascribed the poem to Hegesias (or Hegesinos) of Salamis or to Kyprias of Halikarnasos (see Cyclic poets).

Content

In current critical editions only about fifty lines survive of the Kypria's original text. Most of our knowledge of the Kypria comes from a summary included in Proclus' Chrestomathy, itself known only in the form of an outline in Photius' Myrobiblion. It is unknown whether this Proclus is the Neoplatonic philosopher, in which case the summary dates to the 5th century AD, or whether he is the lesser-known grammarian of the 2nd century AD. Many other references give further indications of the poem's storyline.

The poem narrates the origins of the Trojan War and the first nine years of the war. It begins with the judgement of Paris between the goddesses Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite: Paris awards the prize for beauty to Aphrodite, and as a prize Aphrodite awards Helen, wife of Menelaos, to him. This leads to Paris' rape of Helen: he takes her and her dowry, either willingly or unwillingly, back to his home of Troy.

When Helen had married, an oath was taken by all her suitors to defend the rights of whichever one won her hand: Menelaos, the victor in this contest, now calls upon his brother Agamemnon to enforce this oath. The Greek army is gathered and sails for Troy from the harbour of Aulis, though with mishaps: the prophet Kalchas warns the Greeks that the war will last ten years, and Agamemnon is forced to make a sacrifice of his daughter Iphigeneia to appease the goddess Artemis and obtain safe passage for the ships after he offends her by killing a deer and boasting that he is a better archer even thant the goddess of the hunt.

After many episodes, including the story of Telephos, and the marooning of Philoktetes, the fleet leaves Aulis and lands at Troy. When the Greeks land, the Trojans' greatest warrior, Hector, kills Protesilaos, and the Greeks' greatest warrior, Achilleus, kills Kyknos. The Greeks demand the return of Helen and her dowry, but the Trojans refuse. The Greeks besiege the city, and the first nine years of the siege are narrated comparatively briefly.

Reception

The Kypria was considered to be a lesser work than Homer's two masterpieces: Aristotle criticised it for its lack of narrative cohesion and focus. It was rather a catalogue of events than a unified story.

Editions

• Online editions (English translation):
  • Fragments of the Kypria translated by H.G. Evelyn-White, 1914 (public domain)
  • Fragments of complete Epic Cycle translated by H.G. Evelyn-White, 1914; Project Gutenberg edition

• Print editions (Greek):
  • A. Bernabé 1987, Poetarum epicorum Graecorum testimonia et fragmenta pt. 1 (Leipzig: Teubner)
  • M. Davies 1988, Epicorum Graecorum fragmenta (Göttingen: Vandenhoek & Ruprecht)
• Print editions (Greek with English translation):
  • M.L. West 2003, Greek Epic Fragments (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press)

See also

• Eris
• Kallisti

Ancient Greek poems | Epics | Greek mythology | Lost works | Trojan War | Les Chants cypriens