epigram

Japanese: エピグラム

(1) epigramma A type of poetry in ancient Greece and Rome. Originally meaning "inscription," the poetic form, especially elegia, was used for inscriptions on tombstones and votive offerings. Simonides was the representative epigram poet in this sense. In the Hellenistic period, the term came to mean short poems expressing a particular mood or feeling, and the types were divided into votive poems, love poems, satirical poems, etc., and epigram poets such as Callimachus, Meleager of Gadara, and Palladus of Alexandria appeared. In Rome, epigrams were widely used for inscriptions from Ennius onwards, but in literature they reached their peak in Martialis's Epigrams (14 volumes) after Catulus. This is a collection of short poems, mostly written in elegia, which express a single feeling succinctly and directly, and are particularly skilled in sharp satire. Most of the poems are addressed to real or imaginary individuals, and are critical of the social customs of the time, depicting various characters in Rome, such as inheritance seekers, gluttons, drunkards, libertines, poor poets, hypocrites, or various incidents, with a keen and realistic eye. Many of the poems are complaints, requests, invitations, and welcomes, and some vividly depict the Roman scene. The one addressed to Emperor Domitian uses servile flattery, but generally the poems are obscene, and there is a strong sense of amusement at corruption rather than indignation. (2) epigram. A short poem or epigram that skillfully incorporates a flash of wit in the form of a succinct summary of the whole.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

(1) epigramma　古代ギリシア・ローマの詩の一種。本来は「碑文」の意で，墓碑銘や奉納物に刻む言葉には詩形，特にエレゲイアが用いられ，この意味でのエピグラムの代表詩人はシモニデスであった。ヘレニズム時代にはおりおりの気分や感想を歌う短い詩をもさすようになり，種類も奉献詩，恋愛詩，風刺詩等々に分れ，カリマコス，ガダラのメレアグロス，アレクサンドリアのパラダスらのエピグラム詩人が現れた。ローマでもエンニウス以来碑文に広く用いられたが，文学的にはカツルスを経てマルチアリスの『エピグラム集』 (14巻) で頂点に達した。これは大部分エレゲイアで書かれた短い詩の集りで，単一の感想を簡潔直截に述べ，特に鋭い風刺を得意としている。たいていは実際の，または想像上の個人にあてたもので，当時のローマのさまざまな人物たち，遺産ねらい，食い道楽，飲んだくれ，放蕩者，へぼ詩人，偽善者などを，あるいは種々の事件を鋭い観察眼で写実的に描いた社会風俗批評詩である。苦情，要求，招待，歓迎などの詩が多く，ローマの情景をいきいきと描き出すものもあり，皇帝ドミチアヌスにあてたものでは卑屈なまでの阿諛 (あゆ) を用いているが，全般に淫猥な詩が多く，堕落に憤慨するというよりは，それを見て楽しんでいる感が強い。 (2) epigram　警句，寸鉄詩。全体を端的に要約する形で，ひらめく機知を巧みに盛込んだ短詩，または警句。

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