Early Greek elegy, symposium and public festival

Abstract

This paper is chiefly concerned with the circumstances in which early Greek elegy was performed. Section II argues that for our extant shorter poems only performance at symposia is securely attested. Section III examines the related questions of the meaning of elegos and the performance of elegies at funerals. Finally (IV) I try to establish the existence of longer elegiac poems intended for performance at public festivals.