In the classification of literary activity it is possible to establish three main genres: novel, theater and poetry. Within poetry we find two great subgenres: the lyrical and the epic. The Elegy is a poem that belongs to the lyrical genre, like the ode, the hymn or the eclogue, all of them being a form of versification in which the poet exalts some feelings.
Main characteristics of the elegy
Elegy is a word that comes from Latin and which in turn picks it up from Greek, specifically from the word elegos, which we could translate as sad or melancholic song. It was the Greek poets and later the Romans who wrote elegies and initially they were made up of a fixed metric, which could be hexameters or pentameters.
In the elegy the poet usually expresses an idea in the form of a lament
Their lamentation is often related to death, for example the death of a loved one. In this sense, the elegiac poem is a posthumous tribute to the deceased person (such as "Las verses a la muerte de su padre" by Jorge Manrique, "La elegía a Ramón Sijé" by Miguel Hernández or "Elegía uninterrupida" by Mexican poet Octavio Peace).
In the elegy, lament is not always related to death, since the issue of the passage of time, heartbreak, melancholy or some painful aspect of human existence is also addressed.
The origin of the elegy
Although this subgenre of lyric is part of universal literature and has had relevance in times as diverse as the Middle Ages, the Renaissance or the contemporary era, it is in the sphere of Greco-Roman culture where it acquired its maximum splendor. It must be remembered that Roman civilization is culturally heir to the legacy of the Greeks and the elegy is a clear example of this legacy.
Greco-Latin elegies must be understood in the context of funeral ceremonies, in which the words of the poets symbolize a final tribute to a celebrity, something similar to what happens with epigrams or epitaphs.
The elegy for the Greeks and Romans is a way of expressing the most intimate, personal and deep feelings. To exalt the great events that affect the community, the poets leaned towards the epic genre.
The tradition of elegiac poetry was cultivated by Ovid, Propercio, and Tibulus among the Roman authors and Calinus of Ephesus and Solon of Athens among the Greeks.
Photos: iStock - KrisCole / SrdjanPav
