Lyric for the Rulers, Lyric for the people. The transformation of some lyric subgenres in Hellenistic poetry

This is a meticulous survey of the reception of some lyric subgenres in Hellenistic poetry. Leaving aside lyric in a religious context, the paper is divided into two main sections, namely lyric poetry composed for rulers and lyric poetry written for everyday people. In the new social context lyric poetry was intended for presentation in the the royal symposia. The Alexandrians wrote all types of occasional lyric poetry (enkomia, epinikia, epithalamia, threnoi and epikedeia), a fact that is reflected both in the work of distinguished poets, such as Callimachus, Posidippus and Theocritus as well as in the epigrammatic tradition and in poetic fragments found on papyri. Special attention is given to stichic lyric poetry and to the new genre of the mime, whereas the oral tradition of the carmina popularia and the making of lyric anthologies for symposiastic use complete the picture.