Stesichorus (/stəˈsɪkərəs/;
Greek: Στησίχορος, Stēsichoros; c. 630 – 555 BC) was a Greek
lyric poet native of today's
Calabria (Southern Italy). He is best known for telling epic stories in lyric metres,[1] and for some ancient traditions about his life, such as his opposition to the tyrant
Phalaris, and the blindness he is said to have incurred and cured by composing verses first insulting and then flattering to
Helen of Troy.
He was ranked among the
nine lyric poets esteemed by the scholars of
HellenisticAlexandria, and yet his work attracted relatively little interest among ancient commentators,[2] so that remarkably few fragments of his poetry now survive. As David Campbell notes: "Time has dealt more harshly with Stesichorus than with any other major lyric poet."[3] Recent discoveries, recorded on Egyptian papyrus (notably and controversially, the
Lille Stesichorus),[4] have led to some improvements in our understanding of his work, confirming his role as a link between
Homer's epic narrative and the lyric narrative of poets like
Pindar.[5]
Stesichorus also exercised an important influence on the representation of myth in 6th century art,[6] and on the development of Athenian dramatic poetry.[7]
Biography
Stesichorus was born in
Metauros (modern Gioia Tauro) in
Calabria, Southern Italy[8][9][10][11][12] c. 630 BC and died in Katane (modern
Catania) in
Sicily in 555 BC. Some say that he came from Himera in Sicily, but that was due to him moving from Metauros to Himera later in life. When exiled from
Pallantium in
Arcadia he came to Katane (
Catania) and when he died there was buried in front of the gate which is called Stesichorean after him. In date he was later than the lyric poet
Alcman, since he was born in the 37th
Olympiad (632/28 BC). He died in the 56th Olympiad (556/2 BC). He had a brother Mamertinus who was an expert in geometry and a second brother Helianax, a law-giver. He was a lyric poet. His poems are in the Doric dialect and in 26 books. They say that he was blinded for writing abuse of
Helen and recovered his sight after writing an encomium of Helen, the Palinode, as the result of a dream. He was called Stesichorus because he was the first to establish (stesai) a chorus of singers to the
cithara; his name was originally Tisias.
Chronology
The specific dates given by the Suda for Stesichorus have been dismissed by one modern scholar as "specious precision"[13] — its dates for the floruit of
Alcman (the 27th Olympiad), 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.[14] Nevertheless, the Suda's dates "fit reasonably well" with other indications of Stesichorus's life-span — for example, they are consistent with a claim elsewhere in Suda that the poet
Sappho was his contemporary, along with
Alcaeus and
Pittacus, and also with the claim, attested by other sources, that
Phalaris was his contemporary.[15]Aristotle quoted a speech the poet is supposed to have made to the people of Himera warning them against the tyrannical ambitions of Phalaris.[16] The Byzantine grammarian
Tzetzes also listed him as a contemporary of the tyrant and yet made him a contemporary of the philosopher
Pythagoras as well.[17] According to
Lucian, the poet lived to 85 years of age.[18]Hieronymus declared that his poems became sweeter and more swan-like as he approached death,[19] and
Cicero knew of a bronzed statue representing him as a bent old man holding a book.[20]Eusebius dated his floruit in Olympiad 42.2 (611/10 BC) and his death in Olympiad 55.1 (560/59 BC).[21]
Family
The Suda's claim that
Hesiod was the father of Stesichorus can be dismissed as "fantasy"[22] yet it is also mentioned by
Tzetzes[23] and the Hesiodic
scholiast Proclus[24] (one of them however named the mother of Stesichorus via Hesiod as Ctimene and the other as Clymene). According to another tradition known to
Cicero, Stesichorus was the grandson of Hesiod[25] yet even this verges on anachronism since Hesiod was composing verses around 700 BC.[26] Stesichorus might be regarded as Hesiod's literary "heir" (his treatment of Helen in the Palinode, for example, may have owed much to Hesiod's Catalogue of Women)[27] and maybe this was the source of confusion about a family relationship.[28] According to
Stephanus of Byzantium[29] and the philosopher
Plato[30] the poet's father was named Euphemus, but an inscription on a
herm from
Tivoli listed him as Euclides.[31] The poet's mathematically inclined brother was named Mamertinus by the Suda but a scholiast in a commentary on
Euclid named him Mamercus.[32]
Background
Stesichorus's lyrical treatment of epic themes was well-suited to a western Greek audience, owing to the popularity of hero-cults in southern Italy and
Magna Graeca, as for example the cult of
Philoctetes at
Sybaris,
Diomedes at
Thurii and the
Atreidae at
Tarentum.[33] It was also a sympathetic environment for his most famous poem, The Palinode, composed in praise of Helen, an important cult figure in the Doric diaspora.[34] On the other hand, the western Greeks were not very different from their eastern counterparts and his poetry cannot be regarded exclusively as a product of the Greek West .[35] His poetry reveals both
Doric and
Ionian influences and this is consistent with the Suda'a claim that his birthplace was either Metauria or Himera, both of which were founded by colonists of mixed Ionian/Doric descent.[36] On the other hand, a Doric/Ionian flavour was fashionable among later poets — it is found in the 'choral' lyrics of the Ionian poets
Simonides and
Bacchylides — and it might have been fashionable even in Stesichorus's own day.[37] His poetry included a description of the river Himera[38] as well as praise for the town named after it,[39] and his poem Geryoneis included a description of Pallantium in Arcadia.[40] His possible exile from Arcadia is attributed by one modern scholar to rivalry between
Tegea and
Sparta.[41] Traditional accounts indicate that he was politically active in Magna Graeca. Aristotle mentions two public speeches by Stesichorus: one to the people of Himera, warning them against Phalaris, and another to the people of
Locri, warning them against presumption (possibly referring to their war against
Rhegium).[42]Philodemus believed that the poet once stood between two armies (which two, he doesn't say) and reconciled them with a song — but there is a similar story about
Terpander.[43] According to the 9th century scholar
Photius, the term eight all (used by gamblers at dice) derives from an expensive burial the poet received outside Catana, including a monument with eight pillars, eight steps and eight corners,[44] but the 3rd century grammarian
Julius Pollux attributed the same term to an 'eight all ways' tomb given to the poet outside Himera.[45]
Career
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 (see
Works below). Moreover the name wasn't unique — there seems to have been more than one poet of this name[46] (see
Spurious works below). The Suda in yet another entry refers to the fact, now verified by Papyrus fragments, that Stesichorus composed verses in units of three stanzas (strophe, antistrophe and epode), a format later followed by poets such as
Bacchylides and
Pindar. Suda claims this three-stanza format was popularly referred to as the three of Stesichorus in a proverbial saying rebuking cultural buffoons ("You don't even know the three of Stesichorus!"). According to one modern scholar, however, this saying could instead refer to the following three lines of his poem The Palinode, addressed to Helen of Troy:[47]
Helen of Troy's bad character was a common theme among poets such as Sappho and Alcaeus[49] and, according to various ancient accounts, Stesichorus viewed her in the same light until she magically punished him with blindness for blaspheming her in one of his poems.[50] According to a colourful account recorded by
Pausanias, she later sent an explanation to Stesichorus via a man from
Croton, who was on a pilgrimage to White Island in the Black Sea (near the mouth of the Blue Danube), and it was in response to this that Stesichorus composed the Palinode,[51] absolving her of all blame for the Trojan War and thus restoring himself to full sight.
Works
The ancients associated the lyrical qualities of Stesichorus with the voice of the nightingale, as in this quote from the
Palatine Anthology: "...at his birth, when he had just reached the light of day, a nightingale, travelling through the air from somewhere or other, perched unnoticed on his lips and struck up her clear song."[52] The account is repeated by
Pliny the Elder[53] but it was the epic qualities of his work that most impressed ancient commentators,[46] though with some reservations on the part of
Quintilian:
The 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. In both their actions and their speeches he gives due dignity to his characters, and if only he had shown restraint he could possibly have been regarded as a close rival of Homer; but he is redundant and diffuse, a fault to be sure but explained by the abundance of what he had to say. —Quintilian[54]
In a similar vein,
Dionysius of Halicarnassus commends Stesichorus for "...the magnificence of the settings of his subject matter; in them he has preserved the traits and reputations of his characters",[55] and
Longinus puts him in select company with
Herodotus,
Archilochus and
Plato as the 'most Homeric' of authors.[56]
Modern scholars tend to accept the general thrust of the ancient comments – even the 'fault' noted by Quintilian gets endorsement: 'longwindedness', as one modern scholar calls it, citing, as proof of it, the interval of 400 lines separating Geryon's death from his eloquent anticipation of it.[57] Similarly, "the repetitiveness and slackness of the style" of the recently discovered Lille papyrus has even been interpreted by one modern scholar as proof of Stesichorean authorship[58] – though others originally used it as an argument against.[4] Possibly Stesichorus was even more Homeric than ancient commentators realized – they had assumed that he composed verses for performance by choirs (the triadic structure of the stanzas, comprising strophe, antistrophe and epode, is consistent with choreographed movement) 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.[59] Moreover, the versatility of lyric meter is suited to solo performance with self-accompaniment on the lyre[60] – which is how Homer himself delivered poetry. Whether or not it was a choral technique, the triadic structure of Stesichorean lyrics allowed for novel arrangements of dactylic meter – the dominant meter in his poems and also the defining meter of Homeric epic – thus allowing for Homeric phrasing to be adapted to new settings. However, Stesichorus did more than recast the form of epic poetry – works such as the Palinode were also a recasting of epic material: in that version of the Trojan War, the combatants fought over a phantom Helen while the real Helen either stayed home or went to Egypt (see a summary
below). The 'Lyric Age' of Greece was in part self-discovery and self-expression – as in the works of Alcaeus and Sappho – but a concern for heroic values and epic themes still endured:
Stesichorus'
citharodic narrative points to the simultaneous coexistence of different literary genres and currents in an age of great artistic energy and experimentation. It is one of the exciting qualities of early Greek culture that forms continue to evolve, but the old traditions still remain strong as points of stability and proud community, unifying but not suffocating. —Charles Segal.[61]
Style
The following description of the birthplace of the monster
Geryon, preserved as a quote by the geographer
Strabo,[62] is characteristic of the "descriptive fulness" of his style:[63]
Born near th' unfathomed silver springs that gleam
'Mid caverned rocks, and feed
Tartessus' stream.[65]
See
The Queen's Speech in the Lille fragment for more on Stesichorus's style.
An "Homeric" simile
The Homeric qualities of Stesichorus' poetry are demonstrated in a fragment of his poem Geryoneis describing the death of the monster Geryon. A scholiast writing in a margin on Hesiod's Theogony noted that Stesichorus gave the monster wings, six hands and six feet, whereas Hesiod himself had only described it as 'three-headed'.[66] yet Stesichorus adapted Homeric motifs to create a humanized portrait of the monster,[67] whose death in battle mirrors the death of
Gorgythion in Homer's Iliad, translated here by
Richmond Lattimore:
He bent drooping his head to one side, as a garden poppy
bends beneath the weight of its yield and the rains of springtime;" (Iliad 8.306-8)[68]
Homer here transforms Gorgythion's death in battle into a thing of beauty—the poppy has not wilted or died.[69] Stesichorus adapted the simile to restore Death's ugliness while still retaining the poignancy of the moment:[70]
The mutual self-reflection of the two passages is part of the novel aesthetic experience that Stesichorus here puts into play.[72] The enduring freshness of his art, in spite of its epic traditions, is borne out by
Ammianus Marcellinus in an anecdote about Socrates: happening to overhear, on the eve of his own execution, the rendition of a song of Stesichorus, the old philosopher asked to be taught it: "So that I may know something more when I depart from life."[73]
The 26 books
According to the Suda, the works of Stesichorus were collected in 26 books, but each of these was probably a long, narrative poem. The titles of more than half of them are recorded by ancient sources:[74]
Helen: This might have been the poem in which he portrayed Helen of Troy according to convention as a bad character.[34] His interest in the Trojan epic cycle is evinced in a number of works.[75]
Helen: Palinodes: An introduction to a poem of
Theocritus refers to "the first book of Stesichorus's Helen",[76] indicating that there were at least two books under this title. Similarly, a commentary recorded on a papyrus, indicates there were two Palinodes, one censuring Homer, the other Hesiod for the false story that Helen went to Troy.[77]Dio Chrysostom summarises two accounts of the Palinode, one in which Helen never sailed for Troy, and a second in which she ended up in Egypt[78] – only her image arrived at Troy. It is not known if either of the two Palinodes was separate from the Helen book(s).[79]
Sack of Troy: Some scholars think the content of the poem can be deduced from a relief carved onto a monument near Rome, but this is contentious – see the section below
Tabula Iliaca.
Wooden Horse: The title was recorded in a fragmentary form on a roll of papyrus: Στη...Ίππ.. ~ Ste(sichorus's Wooden) Hor(se). Possibly it was just an alternative title for Sack of Troy.[80]
Nostoi (The Returns): This dealt with the return of the Greek warriors from Troy.
Geryoneis: This relates the theft by
Heracles of
Geryon's cattle. Many recently discovered fragments allow us a glimpse of the poet at work over the length of the entire poem.[81] It includes:
romantic geography – descriptions of the Sun's voyage in a golden cup under Ocean, of
Eurytion's homeland, the 'all-golden'
Hesperides, and of Pallanteum in
Arcadia, which possibly featured as the home of the
Centaur, Pholus;
poignant speeches based on Homeric models – a proud speech by Geryon to Heracles that echoes Sarpedon's speech to Glaucus,[82] and an exchange between Geryon and his mother
Callirhoe that echoes exchanges between
Achilles-
Thetis[83] and
Hector-
Hecuba;[84]
heroic action, again with Homeric colouring – a description of the dying Geryon that echoes the death of
Gorgythion.[85]
Cerberus: The title is mentioned by
Julius Pollux only because it included the Greek word for a purse but clearly it relates to Heracles's descent into
Hades to fetch
Cerberus.[86]
Cycnus: A
scholiast commenting on a poem by Pindar summarises the story: Heracles's final triumph over
Cycnus after an initial defeat.[87]
Skylla: The title is mentioned by a scholiast on
Apollonius of Rhodes in a passing reference to
Skylla's parentage[88] and possibly it involved Heracles.[81]
Thebaid, Seven Against Thebes?: These two titles are conjectured by one modern scholar[89] as appropriate for the longest fragment attributed to Stesichorus – discovered in 1974 among the wrappings of a mummy of the 2nd century BC stored at the university of
Lille, generally known as The Lille Stesichorus. It presents a speech by a Theban queen, possibly
Jocasta, and some scholars have denied attribution to Stesichorus on account of its "drab, repetitious flaccidity".[90] But opinions are mixed and one scholar sees in it "...Stesichorus' full mastery of his technique, handling epic situations and characters with the flexibility and poignancy of lyric."[61]
Eriphyle: The title is mentioned by
Sextus Empiricus in relation to an imaginative account of
Asclepius raising the dead at Thebes.[91] Evidently it concerns
Eriphyle's role in the Theban epic cycle but with an imaginative twist.
Europa: The title is mentioned by a scholiast on the
Phoenissae of
Euripides in relation to Stesichorus's imaginative variation on the traditional tale of
Cadmus, the brother of
Europa, sowing dragon's teeth – Stesichorus presented
Athena in that role.[92]
Oresteia: It came in two parts. The title is mentioned by a scholiast on Peace, a play by
Aristophanes, attributing some of the lyrics to a borrowing from Stesichorus's poem.[93] The 'second' Oresteia is mentioned in a scholiast's comment on
Dionysius of Thrace, according to which Stesichorus attributed the discovery of the Greek alphabet to
Palamedes.[94]
Boar-hunters:
Athenaeus mentions the title when quoting a description of a boar nosing the earth and the poem evidently concerned
Meleager and the
Calydonian Boar.[95]
Some poems were wrongly attributed to Stesichorus by ancient sources, including
bucolic poems and some love songs such as Calyce and Rhadine. It is possible that these are the works of another Stesichorus belonging to the fourth century, mentioned in the
Marmor Parium.[99]
Tabula Iliaca
Bovillae, about twelve miles outside Rome, was the original site of a monument dating from the Augustan period and now located in the
Capitoline Museum. The stone monument features scenes from the fall of Troy, depicted in low relief, and an inscription: Ιλίου Πέρσις κατα Στησίχορον ('Sack of Troy according to Stesichorus').[100] Scholars are divided as to whether or not it accurately depicts incidents described by Stesichorus in his poem Sack of Troy. There is, for example, a scene showing
Aeneas and his father
Anchises departing 'for
Hesperia' with 'sacred objects', which might have more to do with the poetry of
Virgil than with that of Stesichorus.[101][102][103]
References
^Charles Segal, "Archaic Choral Lyric" in The Cambridge History of Classical Literature: Greek Literature, P. Easterling and B. Knox (eds.), Cambridge University Press (1985), page 186
^
abP.J. Parsons, "The Lille Stesichorus", Zeitschreift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik Vol. 26 (1977), pages 7–36
^Charles Segal, "Archaic Choral Lyric" in The Cambridge History of Classical Literature: Greek Literature, P. Easterling and B. Knox (eds.), Cambridge University Press (1985), page 187; Steve Reece, "Homeric Influence in Stesichorus' Nostoi," Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists 25 (1988) 1-8.
^M.L.West, 'Stesichorus', The Classical Quarterly, New Series Vol.21, No.2 (Nov. 1971) page 302
^Charles Segal, 'Archaic Choral Lyric' – P. Easterling and E. Kenney (eds), The Cambridge History of Classical Literature I: Greek Literature, Cambridge University Press (1985), page 186-7
^Tzetzes Vit.Hes. 18, cited by Campbell, Loeb page 35
^Proclus Hes. Op. 271a, cited by Campbell in Loeb page 35
^Cicero De Rep. 2.20, cited by Campbell in Loeb page 37
^Jasper Griffin, "Greek Myth and Hesiod", J. Boardman, J. Griffin and O. Murray (eds), The Oxford History of the Classical World, Oxford University Press (1986), page 88
^Charles Segal, "Archaic Choral Lyric" in The Cambridge History of Classical Literature: Greek Literature, Cambridge University Press (1985), page 191
^Richard Lattimore translation, "Hesiod" Intro. pp. 5, The University of Michigan Press, 1959
^Stephanus of Byzantium
s.v.Μάταυρος, cited by Campbell in Loeb page 35
^Plato Phaedrus 244a, cited by Campbell in Loeb page 37
^Proclus in Euclid Prolog. 2, cited by Campbell in Loeb page 37
^Richard Jebb, Bacchylides: The poems and fragments Cambridge Uni Press (1905), page 32
^
abCharles Segal, 'Archaic Choral Lyric' – P. Easterling and E. Kenney (eds), The Cambridge History of Classical Literature I: Greek Literature, Cambridge University Press (1985), page 191
^G.O.Hutchinson, Greek Lyric Poetry: a commentary on selected larger pieces, Oxford University Press (2001), page 113
^Charles Segal, 'Archaic Choral Lyric' – P. Easterling and E. Kenney (eds), The Cambridge History of Classical Literature I: Greek Literature, Cambridge University Press (1985), page 186
^G.O.Hutchinson, Greek Lyric Poetry: a commentary on selected larger pieces, Oxford University press (2001), page 115
^Vibius Sequester, de fluminibus fontibus etc, cited by Campbell in Loeb page 181
^Himerius Orationes 27.27, cited by Campbell in Loeb page 181
^Pausanias 8.3.2, cited by Campbell in Loeb page 89
^W.G.Forrest, A History of Sparta 950–192 BC, page 76, cited by Campbell in Loeb page 28, note 4
^Aristotle Rhet. 2.21. 1394b-95a, cited by Campbell in Loeb page 39
^Phildemus Mus. 1.30.31ss, cited by Campbell in Loeb page 41
^Photius Lexicon, cited by Campbell in Loeb page 45
^
abCharles Segal, 'Archaic Choral Lyric' – P. Easterling and E. Kenney (eds), The Cambridge History of Classical Literature I: Greek Literature, Cambridge University Press (1985), page 187
^Plato Phaedr. 243a, cited by Campbell in Loeb page 93
^Sappho 16.6–10 and Alcaeus B 10 PLF, cited by Charles Segal, 'Archaic Choral Lyric' – P. Easterling and E. Kenney (eds), The Cambridge History of Classical Literature I: Greek Literature, Cambridge University Press (1985), page 191
^Isocrates Hel. 64, cited by Campbell in Loeb, page 93
^Pausanias 3.19.11–13, cited by Campbell in Loeb, page 41 (Campbell's translation: "In the Black Sea off the mouths of the Danube there is an island called White Island...note: Actually off the estuary of the Dnieper.")
^Anth.Pal. 2.125ss, cited by David Campbell, Loeb, pages 59
^Plin.N.H.10.82, cited by David Campbell, Loeb, page 55
^Quintilian Inst.10.1.62, cited by David Cambell, Loeb, pages 59
^Dion.Hal.Imit.2.421, cited by David Campbell, Loeb, pages 55
^Longinus de subl.13.3, cited by David Campbell, Loeb, pages 55
^David A. Campbell, Greek Lyric III, Loeb Classical Library (1991), page 4
^Charles Segal, 'Archaic Choral Lyric' – P. Easterling and E. Kenney (eds), The Cambridge History of Classical Literature I: Greek Literature, Cambridge University Press (1985), page 186, note 2
^C.O.Pavese, Tradizione e generi poetici della Graecia arcaica, Rome (1972), cited by C.Segal, The Cambridge History of Greek Literature, page 187
^M.L.West, 'Stesichorus', Classical Quarterly 21 (1971) pages 302–14, cited by D.Campbell in Greek Lyric III, page 5
^
abCharles Segal, 'Archaic Choral Lyric' – P. Easterling and E. Kenney (eds), The Cambridge History of Classical Literature I: Greek Literature, Cambridge University Press (1985), page 200
^Charles Segal, "Archaic Choral Lyric" in The Cambridge History of Classical Literature: Greek Literature, P. Easterling and B. Knox (eds.), Cambridge University Press (1985), page 188
^Sir Edward Bromhead, The Remains of Stesichorus in an English Version, (1849), page 11
Google digitalized version
^Schol.Hes.Theog.287, cited by David Campbell, Loeb, page 89
^Charles Segal, 'Archaic Choral Lyric' – P. Easterling and E. Kenney (eds), The Cambridge History of Classical Literature I: Greek Literature, Cambridge University Press (1985), page 190, 194–95
^Iliad 8.306-8, translated by Richmond Lattimore, The Iliad of Homer, University of Chicago Press (1951)
^Susanne Lindgren Wofford, The Choice of Achilles: The Ideology of Figure in the Epic. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1992.
^Charles Segal, 'Archaic Choral Lyric' – P. Easterling and E. Kenney (eds), The Cambridge History of Classical Literature I: Greek Literature, Cambridge University Press (1985), page 190
^Geryoneis, P.Oxy.2617 fr.5, cited by D.Campbell, Greek Lyric III page 76
^Richard Garner, From Homer to Tragedy: the art of allusion in Greek poetry, Routledge (1990), page 17
^Amm.Marc.28.4.15, cited by D.Campbell, Greek Lyric III page 56
^See M. Noussia-Fantuzzi in M. Fantuzzi and C. Tsagalis, eds., "The Epic Cycle and Its Ancient Reception," 2015; also P. J. Finglass and A. Kelly, eds. Stesichorus in Context, 2015.
^Argum.Theocr.18, cited by David Campbell, Loeb, page 91
^P.Oxy.2506 fr.26col.i, cited by David Cambell, Loeb, page 97
^Dio Chrysostom Or.11.40s, cited by David Campbell, Loeb, page 95
^Charles Segal, 'Archaic Choral Lyric' – P. Easterling and E. Kenney (eds), The Cambridge History of Classical Literature I: Greek Literature, Cambridge University Press (1985), page 192
^
abCharles Segal, 'Archaic Choral Lyric' – P. Easterling and E. Kenney (eds), The Cambridge History of Classical Literature I: Greek Literature, Cambridge University Press (1985), page 193
^Charles Seagal, Archaic Choral Lyric, 'The Cambridge History of Classical Literature I: Greek Literature', Cambridge University Press (1985), page 196, note 1
Further reading
Barrett, W. S., Greek Lyric, Tragedy, and Textual Criticism: Collected Papers, edited for publication by M. L. West (Oxford & New York, 2007)
M. Davies, Poetarum Melicorum Graecorum Fragmenta (PMGF) vol. 1, Oxford 1991: testimonies of his life and works pp. 134–151, fragments pp. 152–234 (previously D. L. Page, Poetae Melici Graeci (PMG), Oxford 1962, and Supplementum Lyricis Graecis (SLG), Oxford 1974).
D. A. Campbell, Greek Lyric III: Stesichorus, Ibycus, Simonides and Others (Loeb Classical Library).
G. O. Hutchinson, Greek Lyric Poetry: A Commentary on Selected Larger Pieces (Alcman, Stesichorus, Sappho, Alcaeus, Ibycus, Anacreon, Simonides, Bacchylides, Pindar, Sophocles, Euripides), Oxford, 2001.
J. M. Edmonds, Lyra Graeca II, pp. 23 (Loeb Classical Library) Harvard University Press, 1958