Stesichorus Bust

Stesichorus retold the great stories of Greek myth in a form made for lyric performance. Active in the late seventh and early sixth centuries BCE, he was associated with the Greek communities of southern Italy and Sicily, especially Himera. The details of his life remain uncertain.

His poems treated subjects such as the fall of Troy, the return of its heroes, and Heracles' encounter with Geryon. Only fragments survive, some recovered on papyrus, so modern readers have to reconstruct the shape of works once known on a much larger scale. That uneven survival is part of any account of his achievement.

Ancient tradition linked a poem about Helen to a story of blindness and recovery after he withdrew an accusation against her. The tale explains the power attributed to poetry and its subjects; it is not reliable evidence for a medical event in the poet's life.

Stesichorus' place in this commemorative collection reflects the Greek history of the Italian peninsula. His work also shows that familiar myths had competing versions long before later writers and artists gave them forms that now seem definitive.