ALCUItf. 



iflo 



. Thes* were generally mag or ripteisnted by ebornesi of 

 MI or Midst* whobowwr> were not, u in UM choral ode. 



of Pindar, invariably identified with the character of the port, nor 

 UM mere organ by which be expressed hb thought, and feelings. 



I':. 



y. many of Alcman's Psrtheoia contain a dialogn* between 

 rirgms nd tb. port, and in raort cases the virgins speak 

 in tkrtr own persona. Still be wu both the leader and teacher of 



contrary, 

 torotot v 



hbeharo.se; "and lOMrtimei we meet with addraeeei of the maidens 

 to UM poet, soBrtime* of the pert to UM maidens joined with him. 

 In oae beautiful fragment written in iambic, he thus addressee them : 

 - Mo more, ye boney-tongned holy-etnging virgins, are my limb* able 

 tobearme; would thatlwere a Cerylua, which with the halcyon* 

 akim* the foam of the wave, with fearless breast, the sea-bloe bird 

 of pring." Alcman wu also noted for erotic poems, of which be 

 wa. by some considered the flirt Greek writer, and to the licentious 

 spirit of which hb character wu said to correspond. (Athenvus, 

 xiii. COO, ed. IHnd.) Thee* were probably sung by a single performer 

 to the cithara. Another species of hb compositions wu the clepsi- 

 tabes, eombting partlv of singing and partly of common discourse, 



the aooompaniment of which wu an inntrument similarly named. 

 (Hcwrrbitu, a v.) In thb, u well u in other forms of hi* poetry, he 

 b thought to hare imitated an older poet, Archilochus. The metre 

 of the peculiar aiiapnwtic verses t ung by the Spartans as they advanced 

 to battle, wu aUo attributed to Alcman ; but we cannot from thia 

 infer that he composed war-tongs, for there is no trace of it in any of 

 bis fragment*, nor anything corresponding in the general character of 

 his poetry ; and though he made use of the anapicstio metre, it woe 

 only in connection with other rhythms, and not in tho same way as 

 the war-port TyrUcua. It appear*, then, that the compositions of 

 Alcman were somewhat varied in metre and poetic character, as they 



> in dialect 



The extent fragments of Alcman, though some of them are very 

 beautiful, scarcely warrant tho admiration which the ancients have 

 erprsesid of him ; but this may be from their extreme shortness, or 

 beans* they are very unfavourable specimens. They are however 

 distinguished by lively conceptions of nature, and abound in those 

 personifications of the inanimate which characterised the earliest Greek 

 poetry : thus the dew (in Greek ' hersa') is called by him the daughter 

 of Zeus and Selene, of the god of heaven and the moon. Mullcr (' Lite- 

 rature of Greece,' p. 197) thus sneaks of him : " He is remarkable for 

 imple and cheerful views of human life, connected with an intense 

 enlhuaiaim for the beautiful in whatever age or sex, especially for the 

 grace of virgins. A corrupt, refined sensuality neither belong) to the 

 age in which he lived nor to the character of his poetry ; and although 

 perhaps he is chiefly conversant with sensual existence, yet indications 

 are not wanting of a quick and profound conception of the spirit tin)." 

 We may however observe, that the terms in which the undents spoke 

 of the licentiousness of Alcman s erotic poetry ore so strong that we 

 cannot well acquiesce in such a favourable representation of it, 

 According to Plutarch and other writer*, Alcman died of the same 

 kind of disease as Sulla, the morbus pedicularb. The Fragments of 

 Alcman were first printed in H. Stephens'! ' Collection of the Poems 

 of UM Nine Chief Lyric Poets,' Paris, 1650, 8vo. The lut edition is 

 by r. T. Welcker, Gieseen, 1815, 4 to. 



(Vsoaantu, Ui. 15, S; Suida*, Alcman; Eusebius, Chron. Armm. 

 Oltmp., SO, 4; Pliny, ffiit. A'ot, xL 83 j Plutarch, Sulla, o, 36; 

 Clinton, Pa*. HdL, i. 189, 195.) 



(From the /Hoyraphical Dictionary oflhe Society for the DifaMon of 



A LCVIN, or, u he called himself in Latin, Placcia A Ibinu* A feutntu, 

 wu on* of the most learned perrons of the 8th century. Re appears 

 to have been born about the year 785, and probably in the city of 

 York or UM neighbourhood, though some authorities make him a 

 native of Scotland. H* tells us himself that he received his education 

 at York, when he had successively for his masters Egbert and Elbert, 

 who were afterwards successively archbishops of that see. He there 

 acquired a knowledge of the Latin language, and some acquaintance 

 aba, H would appear, with the Greek and tb* Hebrew. HTifterwards 



Moan* himself muter of the-echoo], and taught with much reputation. 



He wu l ~, appointed keeper of tb. library which Egbert had founded 

 *"** <* * ita of which he hu given us a minute 

 t* account in one of bb poms. Being equally eminent for 

 pJrty a* for learning, be wu likewbe ordained a deaoon of the cathe- 

 dral ; a*l we may mention her* Uu* frroufr modesty, u is stated, 



' f!? "I A*"* 1 * ' " oc * tor Eanbalde, to Rome to procure 

 T Tr r*""*. Akwin 00 bb retarn paswd through Parma, where 

 S*^E2 Ck< ** llliB ** ll4!llWM - Atth invitation of thretnperor 

 SCBMUUJ, u soon u be should have executed hb mbsion, to come 

 i; and eeooriMvly In the me year (780) he proceeded to 

 loiusrj. Soon after hb arrival bb patron bertowed upon him 

 ** * *"*** ' "> Oittoob and of 8t-Loup at Troyen, and 

 ^^'^T * 8fJoK to Pootliicu ; btit tlip princlnul oom* 

 patioo of Alcuta wu u a public teacher of what wu tW caUed^ 



/" ^SJf^ 1 ^ , hamml1 tanih In *" ca P Ml *y he 



w*M KTis0tli*i1KUir tnmAmrt mt him ' L_ i__ . i - .. . 



emperor. The school thus established by Alcuin is considered by 

 French antiquaries u the germ from which the University of I'aris 

 originated ; and the example and exertions of this foreigner were 

 undoubtedly mainly instrumental in rekindling in the country of his 

 adoption the extinguished light of science and literature. Much of 

 Alcuin 's time wu also occupied In theological controversy and other 

 labours connected with hi* clerical calling. In 796, on the death of 

 Ithler, abbot of St. Martin of Tours, the emperor gave him that abbey 

 also ; and some time after, having obtained leave to retire from court, 

 he established a school here, which soon became greatly celebrated. 

 In hb old age Alcuin gave himself up almost exclusively to theological 

 studies; and besides composing many treatises in that department, 

 copied with hb own hand the whole of the Old and Now Testaments, in- 

 troducing numerous corrections u he proceeded. This edition came to 

 be looked upon u a standard, and many transcripts were made from it. 

 There b "till to be seen in the library of the Fathers of the Oratory 

 of St. Philip of Neri, at Rome, a Bible, which is believed to be, as 

 some verses written on it state, a copy given by Alcuin to Charlemagne. 

 Alcuin died on the 19th of May, SOi, and wu buried in the church 

 of St Martin. 



Of the writings of Alcuin several have been printed separately, both 

 in Franco and Kngland ; but the first edition of his collected works 

 wu that published at Paris in 1617 by Andre" Duchesne (Andreas 

 Quercetanus), in one volume, folio. A much more complete edition 

 however appeared at Ratisbon, in two volumes, folio, in 1777, under 

 the superintendence of M. Froben, the prince-abbot of Ratisbon. It 

 contains many pieces which had never before been publbhed, but 

 which were found in manuscript in the libraries of France, England, 

 and Italy. The epistles of Alcuin in Froben's edition amount to 232, 

 among which are included a few epistles of Charlemagne in answer to 

 Alcuin. There U prefixed to them a ' Synopsis Epbtolorum,' which 

 gives a general view of the contents of each letter : the period which 

 they comprise extends from the year 787 to the beginning of the next 

 century. It is however certain that thb is not a complete collection 

 of Alcuin's epistles, and indeed Pertz hu since discovered others. Tho 

 correspondence of Alcuin generally relates to topics of business or to 

 ecclesiastical matters ; it never assumes the character of learned dis- 

 quisition or philosophical discussion. The letters are addressed, among 

 others, to popes Adrian L and Leo III. ; Ufla, king of the Mercians ; 

 and to various bishops and other ecclesiastical persons. In one of 

 them, addressed to Bishop Aginus, he respectfully reminds him of his 

 promise to give him some relics of saints (" aliquu sanctorum 

 rcliquias "). The letters to Charlemagne, thirty in number, are the 

 most interesting in the collection. The mild temper, the sincere piety, 

 and the unaffected humility of the man, arc apparent in all his cor- 

 respondence. Towards Charles his letters show the most profound 

 devotion and respect, and yet the correspondence between the great 

 king and his teacher is in the style of friendship. Alcuin addresses 

 Charles by hb assumed name of David, to which he sometimes adds 

 " mort beloved " (dilectusimus). Though hb Latin style is far from 

 being free from uuclassical expressions, it b flowing and perspicuous : 

 he wrote Latin with ease and perfect freedom from all affectation. 

 His letters are often concluded by some Latin verses. They are among 

 the best specimens of the Latinity of the middle ages. 



Alcuin, the most learned man of hb age, wu the friend and adviser 

 of one of the most energetic and able princes that ever sat on a throne. 

 In hb enlarged schemes for the restoration and encouragement of 

 learning, Charles wu aided by the industry and knowledge of Alcuin. 

 Theology wu the principal pursuit of Alcuin, but with him it wu 

 practical rather than speculative : its object wu to secure a virtuous 

 life. From some ill-understood expressions of hb own, and from a 

 passage or two in the anonymous ' Life,' it hu been inferred that 

 Alcuiu wu unfavourable to secular studies. That the founder of 

 schools, the restorer of ancient learning, the diligent student of Roman 

 antiquity, should, even in hb old age, have condemned or discouraged 

 such pursuits, would require strong evidence. The fact b exactly the 

 reverse. He distinctly states that secular learning b the true founda- 

 tion on which the education of youth should rest ; grammar and dis- 

 cipline in other philosophical subtleties are recommended; and he 

 states, consistently enough, u any Christian may do at the present 

 day, that by certain steps of (human) wisdom the scholar may ascend 

 to the highest point of Christian (evangelical) perfection. With him. 

 everything is subordinate to religion ; and, when secular studies come 

 in comparison with theological, the superiority of the theological is 

 emphatically asserted. But thb does not lead to tho inference, and 

 hii writings dbtinctly contradict it, that he wu unfavourable to the 

 xtudies in which he excelled, and which he recommended by his pre- 

 cepts and his teaching. The activity of Alcuin wu the striking pai-t 

 of hb intellectual character. In originality, in large and comprehensive 

 views, he wu eminently deficient; he did not possess more than a 

 reasonable amount of dialectic skill ; abstruse speculation and philoso- 

 phical inquiry were beyond hb sphere. He was too good a sou of tho 

 Church to transgress toe limits which were prescribed to her children. 

 His learning and hb prodigious industry made him the first man of 

 hb age, and hb honesty of purpose and hb services to education entitle 

 him to our grateful remembrance. 



A list of the editions of Alcuiu is given by Mr. Wright in his very 

 useful work entitled ' Uiograpbia Britannica Literaria,' London, 1842. 



