Silloi

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Silloi is a term for any philosophical satire or parody in ancient Greek. The poems are in hexameter, and they originated with Timon of Philus, circa 250 BC. Xenophanes of Colophon had written philosophical satire earlier, but Timon is given credit for the silloi ("squint-eyed writing"). In general, Timon's verses satirized the philosophies of other philosophers, and not the philosophers themselves (although there was some personalized satire), and the form was popular enough that five books were attributed (and three extant and confirmed) to Timon.

[edit] References

• Brogan, T.V.F. "Silloi" in Alex Preminger and T.V.F. Brogan, eds., The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1993. 1148.