A short, polished poem or saying that turns on a single pointed idea, often closing with a twist, a paradox or a barb. The form began in Greek as a literal inscription, carved on tombs, statues and votive offerings, before Roman poets, above all Martial, developed it into a genre of satirical wit independent of any physical object. Its hallmark is compression: an epigram succeeds or fails on its final line, where the meaning turns, and its brevity has made it a favorite vehicle for aphorism across languages, from Martial's Latin couplets to Alexander Pope's heroic couplet epigrams and the closing couplets of the English sonnet, which often work by the same principle of a late turn.
Facts
Place of OriginAncient Greece, as a literal inscription (epigramma, 'to write upon') carved on tombs, statues and votive offerings, before Roman poets developed it into a genre of satirical wit independent of any physical object. 1 StructureTypically only a couplet or a few lines long, an epigram turns on a single pointed idea and closes on a twist, paradox or barb delivered in its final line; compression is the form's defining constraint. 1 Notable ExampleMartial's Latin epigrams (1st century CE); Alexander Pope's heroic-couplet epigrams. 1 Connections
Form Of Genre
Source The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics
Satire, Genres The Roman epigrammatist Martial used the short, pointed epigram as a primary vehicle for satire.
Source The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics
In the Other Atlases
- Also in Geography Atlas: Greece, originated there.
Sources
1. The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics
Princeton University Press- s.v. Epigram
- Form Of Genre: Satire
Epigram (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationLead sectionQuote, Lead section
The word derives from the Greek ἐπίγραμμα (epígramma, "inscription", from ἐπιγράφειν [epigráphein], "to write on, to inscribe").
Frequently Asked Questions
Where does the word epigram come from and what did it first mean?
It comes from a Greek word for inscription.
The word comes from the Greek epigramma, meaning inscription, from epigraphein, to write on or inscribe. The earliest epigrams were literal inscriptions carved on tombs, statues and votive offerings. Roman poets, above all Martial, later turned the form into a genre of satirical wit that no longer depended on a physical object.
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