Understanding the 'Ivy' of Leonidas of Tarentum

What does Meleager mean when he calls the epigrams of Leonidas of Tarentum “the thick clusters of ivy of Leonidas” (AP 4.1.15: ἐν δὲ Λεωνίδεω θαλερoὺς κισσοῖο κορύμβους)? Meleager’s description of the epigrams of Leonidas was part of a poem that introduced his own anthology (Gutzwiller 1998: 279-80), and commentators have not offered a satisfactory explanation of it (Gigante 1971: 14-17). Gow and Page (1965: 307) have suggested that the ivy simply marks Leonidas as a “prolific epigrammatist,” on account of the sheer number of his epigrams that are included by the anthologizers. The great number of Leonidas’ epigrams in the Greek Anthology (second in number only to Meleager!) is remarkable, and the “thick clusters” perhaps references this abundance, yet Meleager’s use of ivy itself to refer metaphorically to merely the number of poems would be unusual. Instead, the ivy metaphor must reference an aspect of Leonidas’ style or typical themes, as with plant species for other poets. I begin by discussing the metaphorical quality of flowers or plants in Meleager’s Garland, how the flowers are applied representatively to certain poets in the anthology, and how the plant species correspond to certain poetic styles or themes of the authors’ collections from which Meleager created his Garland (Gow-Page 1965: 593-6; Gutzwiller 1997: 170). Next, I analyze the metaphorical application of ivy in several epigrams in the Greek Anthology, in order to show how ivy’s representational quality in the Hellenistic period regularly has a paradoxical effect, which plays on the classical representation of ivy as associated with tragedy. Ivy in these epigrams references both final stationary respite, i.e. death, and also a sense of movement, growth, or journeying, as well as reward for poetic contest (e.g. Callimachus AP 9.565; Euphorion AP 6.279). Leonidas himself describes an ivy-branch, dedicated by an old man in exchange for gifts of Bacchus, as much-wandering (πολυπλανέος, AP 6.154). I then illustrate how the poems that present a poetic persona for Leonidas elicit the coordinating themes of wandering, death, and poetic fame. The autobiographical epitaph of Leonidas (AP 7.715) in particular represents death as the end of a journey, for which Leonidas claims to receive everlasting fame, and thus it is natural to understand that poetic wandering was a principal theme in Leonidas’ collection (cf. Höschele 2007: 343; Gutzwiller 1998: 108). The paradox of stationary death and wandering is clear in Leonidas’ collection then too; associations with ivy as representative of death, wandering, and poetic fame seem to be natural references to principal themes in Leonidas’ epigrams which Meleager captures in the preface to his Garland. Works Cited Gigante, M. 1971. L’edera di Leonida. Napoli. Gow, A. & D. Page. 1965. The Greek Anthology: Vol. 2. Cambridge. Gutzwiller, K. 1997. “The Poetics of Editing in Meleager’s Garland.” TAPhA 127: 169-200. ___________. 1998. Poetic Garlands. Berkeley. Höschele, R. 2007. “The Traveling Reader: Journeys Through Ancient Epigram Books.” TAPhA 137: 333-369.