Tryphiodorus (less commonly Triphiodorus; Greek: Τρυφιόδωρος Tryphiodoros), fl. 3rd or 4th century, was an epic poet native to Egypt. His only surviving work is The Taking of Ilios, in 691 verses. Other recorded titles include Marathoniaca and The Story of Hippodamea.
His style is partway between that of Nonnus and Quintus Smyrnaeus.
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There is little known about the life of Tryphiodorus other than the notice of him in the Greek lexicon or encyclopedia the Suidas. There are no records of Tryphiodorus' grammatical labours, he is only known as a versifier.[1] The Suidas indicates the he was from Egypt. The Suidas explains that Tryphiodorus is of Egypt and that he was a grammarian and epic poet. It is believed that Tryphiodorus was a Christian based on a phrase on verse 604 of his famous poem The Taking of Ilios.[2] It is thought that Tryphiodorus got his name from the Egyptian goddess Triphis or Thriphis.[2] Although it is not known it is believed that Tryphiodorus lived to around the middle of the 5th century and the reason for this was because he imitated Nonnus who died around the end of the 4th century and was believed to be imitated by Colluthus.[2] Despite the copy of his poem The Taking of Ilios and the knowledge of other works that he has been thought to have written; these other works have been lost and there is no other information about Tryphiodorus' life or background.
Tryphiodorus' only extant work is The Taking of Ilios. Despite the similarities The Taking of Ilios is an independent poem and not like Quintus Smyrnaeus' continuation of the Iliad.[1] The Taking of Ilios, a 691-verse epic poem, details the capture of Troy. The poem begins after the death of Hector, with the building of the Trojan Horse. Tryphiodorus lists the heroes that entered the wooden horse, including Odysseus and Anticlus son of Ortyx, and tells how, when Helen circled the horse calling the names of the Greeks' wives, Odysseus had to strangle Anticlus in order to prevent his calling out. Tryphiodorus also explains the relationship between Athene and Helen.[3]
| "The Achaeans poured the blood of Polyxena over the tomb of dead Achilles to propitiate his wrath, and took each his lot of Trojan women and divided all their other spoil, both gold and silver: wherewith they loaded their deep ships and through the booming sea set sail from Troy, having made and end of the war." |
| The Taking of Ilios |
The Taking of Ilios ends with a description of Neoptolemus' sacrifice of Polyxena at the tomb of Achilles because they were in love. It is believed that Tryphiodorus' language in The Taking of Ilios is imitated by Nonnus.[4] Although no other of Tryphiodorus' works have lasted the test of time, The Taking of Ilios has been considered an epic poem of importance and has been translated from Greek to Latin, English, French, and German.[3]
Unfortunately Tryphiodorus only had one piece of work survive over time and that was The Taking of Ilios. Two works that are known to have been lost are Marathoniaca and The Story of Hippodameia. Tryphiodorus was also said to have written an Odyssey leipogrammatos, a poem about the travels of Odysseus.[5] In addition to those lost works of Tryphiodorus, he was known to have written a paraphrase of similes of Homer.[5]
Tryphiodorus' impact and historical contribution may not be as large as one might think and this is because only one of his works remains for us to analyze. Tryphiodorus influenced Colluthus, as can be seen in his famous poem The Rape of Helen.[2] As Tryphiodorus in The Taking of Ilios and Virgil in his Aeneid disagree on the identity of Sinon (Tryphiodorus describing Sinon as a much more primitive figure in his poem than Virgil does in his poem.[6]), historians have asked whether Tryphiodorus used a second Aeneid as a source for his epic poem.[7]