Genethliakόn – a Religious and Humanistic Poem-Song in Commemoration of Life or Rhetorical Approbation of Poetry?
Genethliakόn – a Religious and Humanistic Poem-Song in Commemoration of Life or Rhetorical Approbation of Poetry?
Author(s): Beata Maria GajPublished by: Fundacja Naukowa Katolików »Eschaton«
Keywords: genethliakόn; Greek and Roman occasional literature; Silesian literature in Latin at the beginning of modernity; history and theory of rhetoric
Summary/Abstract: The main idea of this article is to present the genre called genethliakón from its origins in Antiquity to the modern times. The paper contains an analysis of several works in ancient Greek and Latin, which shows how widespread this literary genre was at that that time. This analysis contradicts the views of some scholars who claim that genethliakón evolved only in the Renaissance and the Baroque period. The motifs of birthday works are repeatedly used through the centuries, and the most important one seems to connect the birth of poetry with the tutelary deity. Modern genethliakón refers to different traditions: the Christian and the Greek of the Hellenistic era.
Journal: Religious and Sacred Poetry: An International Quarterly of Religion, Culture and Education
- Issue Year: 2014
- Issue No: 1
- Page Range: 45-60
- Page Count: 16
