The Cypria (Ancient Greek: Κύπρια Kypria; Latin form: Cypria) is an epic of ancient Greek literature that was quite well known in the Classical period^[1] and fixed in a received text, but which subsequently was lost to view. It was one of the Epic Cycle, that is, the "Trojan" cycle, which told the entire history of the Trojan War in epic hexameter verse. The story of the Cypria comes chronologically at the beginning of the Epic Cycle, and is followed by that of the Iliad; the composition of the two was apparently in the reverse order. The poem comprised eleven books of verse in epic dactylic hexameters.

Date and authorship[link]

The Cypria, in the written form in which it was known in classical Greece, was probably composed in the late 7th century BCE,^[2] but there is much uncertainty. The Cyclic Poets, as the translator of Homerica, Hugh G. Evelyn-White noted^[3] "were careful not to trespass upon ground already occupied by Homer," one of the reasons for dating the final, literary form of Cypria as post-Homeric, in effect a "prequel". "The author of the Kypria already regarded the Iliad as a text. Any reading of the Kypria will show it preparing for events for (specifically) the Iliad in order to refer back to them, for instance the sale of Lykaon to Lemnos or the kitting out of Achilles with Briseis and Agamemnon with Chryseis".^[4] A comparison can be made with the Aithiopis, also lost, but which even in its quoted fragments is more independent of the Iliad as text.

The stories contained in the Cypria, on the other hand, were fixed^[5] much earlier than that, and the same problems of dating oral traditions associated with the Homeric epics also apply to the Cypria. Many or all of the stories in the Cypria were known to the composer(s) of the Iliad and Odyssey. The Cypria, in presupposing an acquaintance with the events of the Homeric poem, in the received view thus formed a kind of introduction to the Iliad^[6] though there is an overlap in events from the death of Palamedes, including the catalogue of Trojan allies.^[7] J. Marks observes that "Indeed, the junction would be seamless if the Kypria simply ended with the death of Palamedes." (p. 2).

The title Cypria, associating the epic with Cyprus,^[8] demanded some explanation: the epic was said in one ancient tradition^[9] to have been given by Homer as a dowry to his son-in-law, a Stasinus of Cyprus mentioned in no other context; there was apparently an allusion to this in a lost Nemean ode by Pindar. Some later writers repeated the story. It did at least serve to explain why the Cypria was attributed by some to Homer and by others to Stasinus. Others, however, ascribed the poem to Hegesias (or Hegesinus) of Salamis in Cyprus or to Cyprias of Halicarnassus (see Cyclic poets).

It is possible that the "Trojan Battle Order" (the list of Trojans and their allies, of Iliad 2.816-876, which forms an appendix to the "Catalogue of Ships") is abridged from that in the Cypria, which was known to contain in its final book a list of the Trojan allies.

Manuscript tradition[link]

In current critical editions only about fifty lines survive of the Cypria's original text, quoted by others. For the content we are almost entirely dependent on a prose summary of the Cyclic epics contained in the Chrestomathy attributed to an unknown "Proclus" (possibly to be identified with the 2nd-century CE grammarian Eutychius Proclus, or else with an otherwise unknown 5th-century grammarian).^[10] Many other passing references give further minor indications of the poem's storyline.

Content[link]

What follows embeds reports of known content of the Cypria in a retelling of the known events leading up to the anger of Achilles.

The poem narrates the origins of the Trojan War and its first events. It begins with the decision of Zeus to relieve the Earth of the burden of population through war, a decision with familiar Mesopotamian parallels.^[11] The Theban war of the Seven ensues.

The Cypria described the wedding of Peleus and Thetis; in the Judgement of Paris^[12] among the goddesses Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite: Paris awards the prize for beauty to Aphrodite, and as a prize is awarded Helen, wife of Menelaus.

Then Paris builds his ships at Aphrodite's suggestion, and Helenus foretells the future to him, and Aphrodite orders Aeneas to sail with him, while Cassandra prophesies the outcome. In Lacedaemon the Trojans are entertained by the sons of Tyndareus, Castor and Polydeuces, and by Menelaus, who then sets sail for Crete, ordering Helen^[13] to furnish the guests with all they require. Aphrodite brings Helen and Paris together, and he takes her and her dowry back to his home of Troy with an episode at Sidon, which Paris and his men successfully storm.

In the meantime Castor and Polydeuces, while stealing the cattle of Idas and Lynceus, are caught and killed: Zeus gives them immortality that they share every other day.

Iris informs Menelaus, who returns to plan an expedition against Ilium with his brother Agamemnon. They set out to assemble the former suitors of Helen, who had sworn an oath to defend the rights of whichever one won her hand. Nestor in a digression tells Menelaus how Epopeus was destroyed after seducing the daughter of Lycus, the story of Oedipus, the madness of Heracles, and the story of Theseus and Ariadne. In gathering the leaders, they detect Odysseus' feigned madness.

The assembled leaders offer ill-omened sacrifice at Aulis, where the prophet Calchas warns the Greeks that the war will last ten years. They reach the city of Teuthras in Mysia and sack it in error for Ilium: Telephus comes to the city's rescue and is wounded by Achilles. The fleet scattered by storm, Achilles puts in at Scyros and marries Deidameia, the daughter of Lycomedes, then heals Telephus, so that he might be their guide to Ilium.

When the Achaeans have been mustered a second time at Aulis, Agamemnon is persuaded by Calchas to sacrifice his daughter Iphigeneia to appease the goddess Artemis and obtain safe passage for the ships, after he offends her by killing a stag. Iphigeneia is fetched as though for marriage with Achilles. Artemis, however, snatches her away, substituting a deer on the altar, and transports her to the land of the Tauri, making her immortal.

Next they sail as far as Tenedos, where while they are feasting, Philoctetes is bitten by a snake and is left behind in Lemnos. Here, too, Achilles quarrels with Agamemnon. A first landing at the Troad is repulsed by the Trojans, and Protesilaus is killed by Hector. Achilles then kills Cycnus, the son of Poseidon, and drives the Trojans back. The Greeks take up their dead and send envoys to the Trojans demanding the surrender of Helen and the treasure. The Trojans refusing, they first attempt an assault upon the city, and then lay waste the country round about.

Achilles desires to see Helen, and Aphrodite and Thetis contrive a meeting between them. The Achaeans next desire to return home, but are restrained by Achilles, who afterwards drives off the cattle of Aeneas, sacks neighbouring cities, and kills Troilus. Patroclus carries away Lycaon to Lemnos and sells him as a slave, and out of the spoils Achilles receives Briseis as a prize, and Agamemnon Chryseis.

Then follow the death of Palamedes, the plan of Zeus to relieve the Trojans by detaching Achilles from the Hellenic confederacy, and a catalogue of the Trojan allies.

Reception[link]

The Cypria was considered to be a lesser work than Homer's two masterpieces: Aristotle criticised it for its lack of narrative cohesion and focus. It was rather a catalogue of events than a unified story.

Notes[link]

Editions[link]

• Online editions (English translation):
  • Fragments of the Cypria translated by H.G. Evelyn-White, 1914 (public domain)
  • Fragments of complete Epic Cycle translated by H.G. Evelyn-White, 1914; Project Gutenberg edition
  • Proclus' summary of the Epic Cycle, omitting the Telegony translated by G. Nagy, 2000

• Print editions (Greek):
  • A. Bernabé 1987, Poetarum epicorum Graecorum testimonia et fragmenta pt. 1 (Leipzig)
  • M. Davies 1988, Epicorum Graecorum fragmenta (Göttingen)
• Print editions (Greek with English translation):
  • M.L. West 2003, Greek Epic Fragments (Cambridge, MA)

References[link]

• Burkert, Walter, 1992. The Orientalizing Revolution: Near Eastern Influences on Greek Culture in the Early Archaic Age (Cambridge: Harvard University Press) pp 101–04.
• F.G. Welcker, Der epische Cyclus (1862)
• D.B. Monro, Appendix to his edition of Odyssey, xiii–xxiv. (1901)
• Thomas W. Allen, "The Epic Cycle," in Classical Quarterly (January 1908, and following issues)

See also[link]

• Eris
• Kallisti

v t e Works attributed to Homer Batrachomyomachia Cypria Epigoni Homeric Hymns Iliad Little Iliad Margites Nostoi Odyssey Capture of Oechalia Phocais Thebaid

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (September 2010)

Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II, (born December 9, 1932) is an American jazz and rhythm and blues trumpeter. A sideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, Byrd is best known as one of the only bebop jazz musicians who successfully pioneered the funk and soul genres while simultaneously remaining a pop artist.

In 1973, he created The Blackbyrds, a fusion group consisting of his best students. They scored several major hits including "Happy Music" (#3 R&B, #19 pop), "Walking In Rhythm" (#4 R&B, #6 pop) and "Rock Creek Park".

Biography[link]

Byrd attended Cass Technical High School. He performed with Lionel Hampton before finishing high school. After playing in a military band during a term in the United States Air Force, he obtained a bachelor's degree in music from Wayne State University and a master's degree from Manhattan School of Music.

While still at the Manhattan School, he joined Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, as replacement for Clifford Brown. In 1955, he recorded with Jackie McLean and Mal Waldron. After leaving the Jazz Messengers in 1956, he performed with many leading jazz musicians of the day, including John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Thelonious Monk, and later Herbie Hancock.

Byrd's first regular group was a quintet that he co-led from 1958-61 with baritone saxophonist Pepper Adams, an ensemble whose hard driving performances are captured "live" on At the Half Note Cafe. In June 1964, Byrd jammed with jazz legend Eric Dolphy in Paris just two weeks before Dolphy's death from insulin shock.

In the 1970s, Byrd moved away from the hard-bop jazz idiom and began to record jazz fusion and rhythm and blues. He teamed up with the Mizell Brothers (producer-writers Larry and Fonce) for Black Byrd in 1972. It was highly successful and became Blue Note Records' highest-ever selling album. The title track climbed to #19 on Billboard's R&B chart and reached the Hot 100 pop chart, peaking at #88. The Mizell brothers' follow-up albums for Byrd, Street Lady, Places and Spaces and Steppin' Into Tomorrow were also big sellers, and have subsequently provided a rich source of samples for acid jazz artists such as Us3. Most of the material for the albums was written by Larry Mizell.

In 1994, Byrd appeared on the Red Hot Organization's compilation album, Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool. The album, meant to raise awareness and funds in support of the AIDS epidemic in relation to the African American community, was heralded as "Album of the Year" by Time Magazine.

He has taught music at Rutgers University, the Hampton Institute, New York University, Howard University, Queens College, Oberlin College, Cornell University and Delaware State University.

In addition to his master's from Manhattan School of Music, Byrd has two master's degrees from Columbia University. He received a law degree in 1976, and his doctorate from Columbia University Teachers College in 1982.

In September 2009, he was named an artist-in-residence at Delaware State University.^[1] Byrd lives in Teaneck, New Jersey.^[2]

Discography[link]

As leader[link]

• Byrd's Eye View (1955), Transitions
• Byrd Blows on Beacon Hill (1956), Transitions
• Off to the Races (1958), Blue Note
• Byrd in Hand (1959), Blue Note
• Fuego (1959), Blue Note
• Byrd in Flight (1960), Blue Note
• At the Half Note Cafe (1960), Blue Note
• Motor City Scene - with Pepper Adams (1960), Bethlehem
• Chant (1961), Blue Note
• The Cat Walk (1961), Blue Note
• Royal Flush (1961), Blue Note
• Free Form (1961), Blue Note
• A New Perspective (1963), Blue Note
• Up with Donald Byrd (1964), Verve
• I'm Tryin' to Get Home (1964), Blue Note
• Mustang! (1966), Blue Note
• Blackjack (1967), Blue Note
• Slow Drag (1967), Blue Note
• The Creeper (1967), Blue Note
• Fancy Free (1969) Blue Note
• Electric Byrd (1969–70), Blue Note
• Kofi (1969), Blue Note
• Ethiopian Knights (1971), Blue Note
• Black Byrd (1972), Blue Note
• Street Lady (1973), Blue Note
• Stepping into Tomorrow (1974), Blue Note
• Places and Spaces (1975), Blue Note
• Caricatures (1976), Blue Note
• Thank You... for F.U.M.L. (Funking Up My Life) (1978), Elektra
• Love Byrd (1981), Elektra
• Words, Sounds, Colors and Shapes (1983) Landmark
• Harlem Blues (1987), Landmark
• Getting Down to Business (1989), Landmark
• A City Called Heaven (1991), Landmark
• Touchstone (2000)
• The Transition Sessions (2002)

As sideman[link]

• 1955 Kenny Clarke - Bohemia After Dark
• 1955 Cannonball Adderley - Discoveries
• 1955 Oscar Pettiford - Another One
• 1955 Hank Jones - Quartet-Quintet
• 1955 Hank Jones - Bluebird - one track only
• 1955 Ernie Wilkins - Top Brass
• 1956 George Wallington - Jazz for the Carriage Trade
• 1956 Jackie McLean - Lights Out!
• 1956 Hank Mobley - The Jazz Message of Hank Mobley
• 1956 Kenny Clarke - Klook's Clique
• 1956 Art Blakey - The Jazz Messengers
• 1956 Rita Reys - The Cool Voice of Rita Reys
• 1956 Elmo Hope - Informal Jazz
• 1956 Phil Woods - Pairing Off
• 1956 Jackie McLean - 4, 5 and 6
• 1956 Gene Ammons - Jammin' with Gene
• 1956 Horace Silver - Silver's Blue
• 1956 Hank Mobley - Mobley's Message
• 1956 Hank Mobley - Jazz Message #2
• 1956 Art Farmer - 2 Trumpets
• 1956 Paul Chambers - Whims of Chambers
• 1956 Phil Woods/Donald Byrd - The Young Bloods
• 1956 Horace Silver - 6 Pieces of Silver
• 1956 Hank Mobley - Hank Mobley Sextet
• 1956 Doug Watkins - Watkins at Large
• 1956 Sonny Rollins - Sonny Rollins, Vol. 1
• 1956 Kenny Burrell - All Night Long
• 1957 Kenny Burrell - All Day Long
• 1957 Gigi Gryce/Donald Byrd - Jazz Lab
• 1957 Art Farmer/Donald Byrd/Idrees Sulieman - Three Trumpets
• 1957 Lou Donaldson - Wailing with Lou
• 1957 Jimmy Smith - A Date with Jimmy Smith Volume One
• 1957 Art Taylor - Taylor Wailer's
• 1957 Gigi Gryce - Gigi Gryce and The Jazz Lab Quintet
• 1957 George Wallington - The New York Scene
• 1957 Various Artists - American Jazzmen Play Andre Hodeir's Essais
• 1957 Kenny Burrell/Jimmy Raney - 2 Guitars
• 1957 Kenny Drew - This is New
• 1957 Hank Mobley - Hank
• 1957 Paul Chambers - Paul Chambers Quintet
• 1957 The Gigi Gryce/Donald Byrd Jazz Lab - At Newport - One side of LP which also features Cecil Taylor
• 1957 Gigi Gryce/Donald Byrd - New Formulas from the Jazz Lab
• 1957 Gigi Gryce/Donald Byrd - Modern Jazz Perspective
• 1957 Sonny Clark - Sonny's Crib
• 1957 John Jenkins - Star Eyes
• 1957 Oscar Pettiford - Winner's Circle
• 1957 George Wallington - Jazz at Hotchkiss
• 1957 Red Garland - All Mornin' Long
• 1957 Red Garland - Soul Junction
• 1957 Red Garland - High Pressure
• 1957 Lou Donaldson - Lou Takes Off
• 1958 John Coltrane - Lush Life - one track only
• 1958 John Coltrane - The Believer - two tracks
• 1958 John Coltrane - The Last Trane - two tracks
• 1958 Johnny Griffin - Johnny Griffin Sextet
• 1958 Pepper Adams - 10 to 4 at the 5 Spot
• 1958 John Coltrane - Black Pearls
• 1958 Michel Legrand - Legrand Jazz
• 1958 Dizzy Reece - Blues in Trinity
• 1958 Art Blakey - Holiday for Skins
• 1958 Jim Timmens - Gilbert and Sullivan Revisited
• 1959 Jackie McLean - Jackie's Bag
• 1959 Thelonious Monk - The Thelonious Monk Orchestra at Town Hall
• 1959 Chris Connor - Ballads of the Sad Cafe
• 1959 Sonny Clark - My Conception
• 1959 Manny Albam/Teo Macero - Something New, Something Blue
• 1959 Jackie McLean - Vertigo
• 1959 Jackie McLean - New Soil
• 1959 Walter Davis Jr. - Davis Cup
• 1961 Pepper Adams - Out of This World
• 1962 Duke Pearson - Hush!
• 1963 Hank Mobley - No Room for Squares
• 1963 Hank Mobley - Straight No Filter - released 1986
• 1963 Hank Mobley - The Turnaround
• 1963 Jimmy Heath - Swamp Seed
• 1963 Herbie Hancock - My Point of View
• 1964 Dexter Gordon - One Flight Up
• 1964 Cal Tjader - Soul Sauce
• 1964 Solomon Ilori - African High Life
• 1964 Duke Pearson - Wahoo!
• 1965 Dexter Gordon - Ladybird
• 1965 Wes Montgomery - Goin' Out of My Head
• 1967 Stanley Turrentine - A Bluish Bag
• 1967 Sam Rivers - Dimensions & Extensions
• 1967 Hank Mobley - Far Away Lands
• 1977 Gene Harris - Tone Tantrum
• 1978 Sonny Rollins - Don't Stop the Carnival
• 1993 Guru - Jazzmatazz, Vol. 1
• 1995 Guru - Guru's Jazzmatazz, Vol. 2: The New Reality
• 1995 Ahmad Jamal - Big Byrd: The Essence Part 2

References[link]

External links[link]

• Donald Byrd at Allmusic
• Donald Byrd Discogs entry
• Donald Byrd discography at jazzdisco.org