12 Facts About Stesichorus

Stesichorus exercised an important influence on the representation of myth in 6th century art, and on the development of Athenian dramatic poetry.

Stesichorus was born in Metauros in Calabria, Southern Italy c 630 BC and died in Katane (modern Catania) in Sicily in 555 BC.

Stesichorus was called Stesichorus because he was the first to establish a chorus of singers to the cithara; his name was originally Tisias.

Specific dates given by the Suda for Stesichorus have been dismissed by one modern scholar as "specious precision" — its dates for the floruit of Alcman, the life of Stesichorus (37th–56th Olympiads) and the birth of Simonides (the 56th Olympiad) virtually lay these three poets end-to-end, a coincidence that seems to underscore a convenient division between old and new styles of poetry.

Suda's claim that Hesiod was the father of Stesichorus can be dismissed as "fantasy" yet it is mentioned by Tzetzes and the Hesiodic scholiast Proclus.

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Stesichorus's poetry included a description of the river Himera as well as praise for the town named after it, and his poem Geryoneis included a description of Pallantium in Arcadia.

Many modern scholars don't accept the Suda's claim that Stesichorus was named for his innovations in choral poetry — there are good reasons to believe that his lyrical narratives were composed for solo performance.

The Suda in yet another entry refers to the fact, now verified by Papyrus fragments, that Stesichorus composed verses in units of three stanzas, a format later followed by poets such as Bacchylides and Pindar.

Greatness of Stesichorus' genius is shown among other things by his subject-matter: he sings of the most important wars and the most famous commanders and sustains on his lyre the weight of epic poetry.

Possibly Stesichorus was even more Homeric than ancient commentators realized – they had assumed that he composed verses for performance by choirs but a poem such as the Geryoneis included some 1500 lines and it probably required about four hours to perform – longer than a chorus might reasonably be expected to dance.

Homeric qualities of Stesichorus' poetry are demonstrated in a fragment of his poem Geryoneis describing the death of the monster Geryon.

Stesichorus adapted the simile to restore Death's ugliness while still retaining the poignancy of the moment:.