Myrtis of Anthedon

Myrtis (; ) was an ancient Greek poet from Anthedon, a town in Boeotia. She was said to have taught the poets Pindar and Corinna. The only surviving record of her poetry is a paraphrase by the 1st-century AD historian Plutarch, discussing a local Boeotian legend. In antiquity she was included by the 1st-century BC epigrammatist Antipater of Thessalonica in his canon of nine female poets, and a bronze statue of her was reportedly made by Boïscus, a sculptor about whom nothing more is known. In the modern world, Myrtis has been represented in artworks by Judy Chicago and Anselm Kiefer, and a poem by Michael Longley.

Life

Myrtis was from Anthedon, a small town in Boeotia, and is the earliest poet known to have come from this area of Greece. and was purported to be the teacher of Pindar of Thebes and Corinna of Tanagra. Mieke de Vos argues that the fragment of Corinna's poetry which mentions Myrtis, criticising her for competing with Pindar, seems to contradict this tradition and positions Corinna and Myrtis as equals.

Poetry

Myrtis is the most obscure of the nine female poets included in the 1st-century BC epigrammatist Antipater of Thessalonica's canon. All that is known of her poetry can be surmised from Plutarch's paraphrase of one of her poems. as the source for the story that explained why women were forbidden to set foot in a sacred grove dedicated to a local hero, Eunostos, in Tanagra.

Corinna criticised Myrtis for venturing, as a woman, to compete with Pindar. Criticising other poets was a common trope of Greek lyric poetry – for example Pindar himself criticised Archilochus – but the meaning of Corinna's reproach to Myrtis is uncertain. It might have referred to Myrtis entering a poetry contest, although that interpretation would appear to contradict the tradition, known from other sources, that Corinna herself defeated Pindar in such a contest. Alternatively, it might reflect similarities between Pindar's and Myrtis's poetry in genre, style, or subject matter. Diane Rayor suggests that Corinna's criticism of Myrtis was due to her poetry being about male heroes, or for a male audience.

Reception

Myrtis was called "sweet-sounding" by Antipater of Thessalonica, who includes her in his canon of nine female poets, and "clear-voiced" by Corinna. which he saw at the Portico of Pompey in Rome. A fresco from Pompeii, now lost, is thought to show Corinna, Pindar, and Myrtis. Myrtis seems to have been forgotten after the 2nd century AD. She is included on Judy Chicago's Heritage Floor, associated with the place-setting for Sappho in The Dinner Party. She is also depicted in Anselm Kiefer's series of sculptures, Women of Antiquity. Myrtis is one of the poets featured in Michael Longley's poem "The Group", published in the collection Snow Water.