Xenien
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Xenien (from Greek Xenion, hostess gift) was the name the Roman poet Martial (1st century) gave a collection of his poems which were to accompany his presents.
Later, Goethe called a collection of distichs, which he wrote together with Schiller, the Xenien, in which the two friends avenged themselves on opposing critics. They were first published in the Musenalmanach.
Goethes share in the Xenien may be briefly dismissed. The Xenien were prompted by the indifference and animosity of contemporary criticism, and its disregard for what the two poets regarded as the higher interests of German poetry. The Xenien succeeded as a retaliation on the critics, but the masterpieces which followed them proved in the long run much more effective weapons against the prevailing mediocrity.
[edit] References
- This article incorporates text from the public domain 1907 edition of The Nuttall Encyclopædia.
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
