Anonymous, The Battle of the Frogs and the Mice

Matthew Hosty (University of Oxford)

Ed. by Laura Swift, The Open University
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.1.1: Greek Writing and Culture: Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic and Imperial, -800--100.
Vol. editors: Jonathan Burgess (University of Toronto), Giacomo Fedeli (University of Exeter), Emily Kneebone (University of Nottingham), Vaios Liapis (Open University of Cyprus), Elodie Paillard (University of Sydney), Mali Skotheim (Ashoka University), Laura Swift (The Open University)

Dates

First circulation or publication c. -200 - c. -100

Places

Ancient Greece (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Epic
Parody

Resources

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The

Batrachomyomachia

[

Battle of the Frogs and Mice

], hereafter

, is an ancient Greek hexameter poem of roughly 300 lines. It is written in a pastiche of Homeric style, and derives much of its effect from the juxtaposition of a humble theme with the epic tropes and grand language of the

Iliad

It was popular in antiquity, and was commonly believed to have been composed by Homer himself. It was also widely circulated during the Byzantine period, when it seems to have been used as a school text for students learning to read Greek literature. It enjoyed sufficient status that it may well have been the first work of ancient Greek poetry ever to be printed on a mechanical press, at Brescia in 1474 (Proctor 1900, pp. 83, 170-1). In the 19th and 20thcenturies it fell from favour, and it is…

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1644 words

Citation: Hosty, Matthew. "The Battle of the Frogs and the Mice". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 31 August 2016 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=35729, accessed 18 April 2024.]

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