Corinna

Corinna of Tanagra by Frederic Leighton (c. 1893).

Corinna, or Korinna (Ancient Greek: Κόρινναcode: grc is deprecated  Korinnacode: grc is deprecated ; c. 500–401 BCE), was an ancient Greek poet from Tanagra in Boeotia. She may have been a contemporary and rival of the Greek poet Pindar. Corinna's poetry survives only in pieces and focuses on local Boeotian myths.

Biography

Corinna was from Tanagra in Boeotia (central Greece). The Suda, a tenth-century Byzantine encyclopedia, says she was the daughter of Acheloodorus and Procratia, and was nicknamed "Myia" (Μυῖα, "the fly"). She was said to have lived during the fifth century BC. She was maybe a contemporary of Pindar, either having taught him, or having been a fellow student of Myrtis of Anthedon with him. Corinna was said to have defeated Pindar in either one poetry competition or five poetry competitions.

Poetry

Corinna wrote five books of poetry according to the Suda. But her poetry survives in roughly forty pieces. Corinna uses simple and clear language in her poetry. She uses basic metrical schemes, and focuses on mythical stories. The tone of Corinna's poetry is ironic or humorous.

Corinna was respected by the people of her hometown, Tanagra. Pausanias says that there was a monument to her in the streets of the town and a painting of her in the gymnasium. Tatian writes in his Address to the Greeks that Silanion had sculpted her. Corinna's poetry was popular in the Roman Empire. She is mentioned by the first-century BC Greek poet Antipater of Thessalonica who lists her as one of nine "mortal muses". Ovid gives his lover the pseudonym "Corinna" in his Amores. She is also named by Propertius as a model for Cynthia, and by Statius along with Callimachus, Lycophron, and Sophron. Alexander Polyhistor wrote comments about her work.

Gallery

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  Corinna was a student of Myrtis of Anthedon, according to ancient tradition, with whom she sits in this 1897 painting by Ernst Stückelberg.

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  Corinna: The Lyric Muse by William Brodie (c. 1855).

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  Papyrus showing Corinna's poems on the "Contest of Helicon and Cithaeron" and the "Daughters of Asopus" (P.Berol. 13284).

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  Ancient marble sculpture of Corinna, maybe a copy of Silanion's bronze mentioned by Tatian.

Sources

• Allen, Archibald. A Date for Corinna. The Classical Journal 68 (1) (1972). p. 26–30.
• Balmer, Josephine. Classical Women Poets (1996). Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Bloodaxe Books. ISBN 1-85224-342-2.
• Campbell, D. A.. Greek Lyric Poetry: A Selection (1967). New York: Macmillan Publishers.
• Larmour, David H.J.. Women Poets in Ancient Greece and Rome (2005). Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. p. 25–58. ISBN 0-8061-3664-2.
• Heath, John. Corinna's 'Old Wives' Tales'. Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 109 (2017). p. 83–130.
• Heath, John. Why Corinna?. Hermes 141 (2) (2013). p. 155–170. doi:10.25162/hermes-2013-0015.
• Page, Denys L.. Corinna (1963). London: The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies.
• Plant, Ian M.. Women Writers of Ancient Greece and Rome: An Anthology (2004). Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0-8061-3621-9.
• Rayor, Diane. Korinna: Gender and the Narrative Tradition. Arethusa 26 (3) (1993). p. 219–231.
• Skinner, Marilyn B.. Corinna of Tanagra and her Audience. Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature 2 (1) (1983). p. 9–20. doi:10.2307/464203.
• Snyder, Jane McIntosh. The Woman and the Lyre: Women Writers in Classical Greece and Rome (1991). Carbondale: SIU Press. ISBN 978-0-8093-1706-6.
• Thorsen, Thea S.. Divine Corinna': Pre-Twentieth Century Receptions of an Artistic Authority. EuGeStA 10' (2020). p. 1–29. Retrieved 2024-05-28.
• Vergados, Athanassios. Hellenistic Poetry: A Selection (2017). Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. p. 243–263. ISBN 978-0-472-05313-1.
• West, Martin L.. Dating Corinna. The Classical Quarterly 40 (2) (1990). p. 553–557. doi:10.1017/S0009838800043172.

Further reading

• Berman, Daniel W.. The Language and Landscape of Korinna. Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 50 (1) (2010). p. 41–62.
• Campbell, D. A.. Greek Lyric Poetry IV: Bacchylides, Corinna, and Others (1992). Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-99508-6.
• Collins, Derek. Corinna and Mythological Innovation. The Classical Quarterly 56 (1) (2006). p. 19–32. doi:10.1017/S0009838806000036.
• Debrosse, Anne. La réception des poétesses grecques, ou les affabulations de "l'imagination combleuse". Anabases 21 (21) (2015). p. 253–262. doi:10.4000/anabases.5371.
• Henderson, W. J.. Corinna of Tanagra on Poetry. Acta Classica 38 (1995). p. 29–41.
• Klinck, Anne L.. Women's Songs in Ancient Greece (2008). Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press. ISBN 978-0-7735-3448-3.
• Kousoulini, Vasiliki. Panhellenic and Epichoric Elements in Corinna's Catalogues. Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 56 (1) (2016). p. 82–110.
• Larson, Jennifer. Corinna and the Daughters of Asopus. Syllecta Classica 13 (2002). p. 47–62. doi:10.1353/syl.2002.0006.
• Lobel, Edgar. Corinna. Hermes 65 (3) (1930). p. 356–365.
• McPhee, Brian D.. Mythological Innovations in Corinna's Asopides Poem (fr.654.ii–iv PMG). Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 58 (2) (2018). p. 198–222.
• Smyth, Herbert Weir. Greek Melic Poets (1963). New York: Biblo and Tannen. ISBN 978-0-8196-0120-9.
• West, Martin L.. Corinna. The Classical Quarterly 20 (2) (1970). p. 277–287. doi:10.1017/S0009838800036235.

Other websites

• Korinna 1 (PMG 655). Diotíma. Retrieved 13 February 2022.