John Tzetzes facts for kids
John Tzetzes (born around 1110 in Constantinople, died 1180 in Constantinople) was a famous Byzantine poet and scholar. He lived in Constantinople during the 12th century. Tzetzes helped save a lot of important information from ancient Greek writings and knowledge.
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About John Tzetzes
Tzetzes said his father was a pure Greek. His mother's family was partly from Georgia. He wrote that his grandmother was related to a Georgian princess named Maria of Alania. This princess came to Constantinople and later married a powerful official.
John Tzetzes worked as a secretary for a time. Later, he started earning money by teaching and writing. He was known for being very proud of his knowledge. He sometimes argued with other scholars. He had to rely on his memory a lot because written materials were hard to find. Still, he was very learned. He made a great contribution to studying ancient Greek literature.
His Important Writings
Letters and Histories
Tzetzes published a collection of 107 Letters. Some were sent to real people, and some to made-up characters. These letters tell us a lot about life in his time. They also include many references to history, speeches, and myths.
These letters led to one of his most famous works, the Book of Histories. It is often called Chiliades, which means "thousands." This name came from an early editor who divided it into sections of 1,000 lines. The book has 12,674 lines of poetry. It covers 660 different topics. Each topic explains a literary, historical, or learned reference from his letters. This collection gives us a great look at the intellectual world of Constantinople in the mid-12th century. It also saves parts of works from over 200 ancient writers whose original books are now lost.
Works About Homer
Tzetzes wrote several works that added to or explained the famous stories of Homer.
- The Homeric Allegories are two teaching poems. The first is about the Iliad, and the second is about the Odyssey. They explain Homer's stories and ideas using different kinds of allegory.
- In the Antehomerica, Tzetzes wrote about events that happened before Homer's Iliad.
- This was followed by the Homerica, which covered the events of the Iliad.
- Then came the Posthomerica, which told about events between the Iliad and the Odyssey. All three of these works are now available in English.
Other Commentaries
Tzetzes also wrote explanations for many other Greek authors. One of his most important commentaries explains the difficult poem Cassandra or Alexandra by the poet Lycophron. This work is usually called "On Lycophron." His brother Isaac often helped him with this.
Tzetzes also wrote a short play in poetry. It described how luck can change and how hard life can be for learned people. He also wrote a poem about the death of Emperor Manuel I Komnenos. This poem was special because the last word of each line became the first word of the next line.
Images for kids
See also
In Spanish: Juan Tzetzes para niños
