OCR GCSE Classical Civilisation · J199
Paper 5
Revise: Authors, Genres and Composition of Classical War TextsAncient elegy is a verse form: it uses pairs of lines called elegiac couplets, each combining a hexameter with a pentameter. It does not necessarily mean a poem mourning someone’s death. Tyrtaeus uses elegy for martial exhortation, urging men to behave courageously in war.
- Revise: Greek Literary Sources on Warfare: Homer and Tyrtaeus
A Greek poetic form composed in elegiac couplets. It could address warfare, politics or other subjects, rather than only mourning.