Tryphiodorus
Tryphiodorus was an epic poet from Panopolis, Egypt. His only surviving work is The Sack of Troy, an epic poem in 691 verses. Other recorded titles include Marathoniaca and The Story of Hippodamea.
During his lifetime he was known as Triphiodorus. The confusion between the two spellings occurred already in the sixth century AD due to the widespread confusion of the pronunciation of i/y. A false etymology claims spelling "Tryphiodorus" is based on the Greek word "truphē," meaning "luxury" or "extravagance".
Life
There is little known about the life of Triphiodorus other than two entries in the Byzantine encyclopedia the Suda, thought to refer to the same individual. The Suda provides his place of birth, that he was a grammarian and epic poet, but not when he lived. Traditionally he was dated to the fifth century because he was thought imitate the Dionysiaca of Nonnus of Panopolis and he was in his turn imitated by Coluthus. However, the publication in the 1970s of a fragment of papyrus from Oxyrhynchus, containing lines 301-402 of the Sack of Troy and dated to the third or early fourth century, has made most scholars place him in the third century.Triphiodorus' pagan name cannot be considered a proof that he was a pagan and nothing in his poem allows us to call him a Christian: the reference in lines 604-5 to children paying with their lives for the sins of their parents is not decisive, having classical parallels such as Homer Iliad 3.298-301.
Writings
''The Taking of Ilios''
Triphiodorus' only extant work is The Sack of Troy, a 691-verse epic poem, narrating events from the capture of the Trojan seer Helenus to the sailing of the Greek troops after the capture of Troy.The poem begins with an invocation to Calliope, the Muse of epic poetry. The narrative is introduced with a summary of the dire situation of the troops of the Greeks and Trojans : both are mined by the tiredness of years of fighting and heavy casualties. Then the Greeks capture the Trojan seer and following his advice call Neoptolemus to join their lines and steal the Palladion from Troy. The construction of the Trojan Horse follows and Triphiodorus gives a long description. The Greeks have an assembly in which Odysseus convinces the most brave fighters to hide with him in the horse and the rest of the troops to pretend they are fleeing from Troy, while preparing to come back the following night. The following morning the Trojans discover the disappearance of the Achaean army, inspect their camp and admire the Wooden Horse. Sinon appears before them covered in blood and convinces Priam to take the horse into their citadel to win Athena’s attention and avoid that she helps the Greeks to return. The Trojans transport the horse and break the otherwise indestructible walls of Troy to bring it into their citadel. Cassandra tries to make them come into their senses but Priam orders to lock her up. While they are celebrating the end of the war, Aphrodite tells Helen to join Menelaus. Helen goes to the temple of Athena where the horse is kept and calls the names of the wives of the hidden heroes, so as to tempt them to come out. One of them, Anticlus, is about to give in forcing Odysseus to strangle him, while Athena orders Helen to go to her room and light a torch to call the Greek fleet back to Troy for the final battle. While the Trojans are overcome by a deep slumber, the gods abandon Troy and Helen and Sinon light torches to guide the return of the Greek fleet. The fleet arrives and the hidden warriors leave the horse, giving start to a long night of fighting, full of dramatic episodes. The poet then decides to put a stop to the narrative and conclude. The poem finishes with the a brief description of how at the beginning of the new day, the victors check for survivors and booty, set Troy on fire, sacrifice Polyxena to appease the spirit of Achilles, distribute the booty and leave for good.
| "The Achaeans poured the blood of Polyxena over the tomb of dead Achilles to propitiate his wrath, and took each his lot of Trojan women and divided all their other spoil, both gold and silver: wherewith they loaded their deep ships and through the booming sea set sail from Troy, having made and end of the war." |
| The Taking of Ilios |
The Sack of Troy can be considered part of a late antique vogue for mythological epic, which includes the Posthomerica by Quintus of Smyrna, the Dionysiaca by Nonnus of Panopolis, the Rape of Helen and the Description of the Statues in the Terms of Zeuxippus by Christodorus.
In this poem Triphiodorus shows a deep understanding of Homer and the grammatical tradition of interpretation of the Homeric poems. He quotes Hesiod and Pindar, Hellenistic poetry. His portrayal of Cassandra is reminiscent of Aeschylus in his Agamemnon and Euripides in Trojan Women.
Regarding a possible influence of Virgil Aeneid 2, there are some glaring differences between the two accounts of the end of Troy: Virgil develops the character of Laocoön, and only mentions Cassandra, while Triphiodorus focuses on Cassandra and does not mention Laocoön. On the contrary, Virgil and Triphiodorus are particularly close in the treatment of the figure of Sinon, in particular in their speeches.