Comparison of Mimnermus #1 and #2
or
Mimnermus is a Grumpy Old Fart

When comparing two similar poems of the ancient Greek poet Mimnermus, known simply as Mimnermus #1 and Mimnermus #2, even the most casual reader will immediately and easily grasp the strong similarity between the two. Both are written in the style of elegiac couplet, and are similar in length (10 and 16 lines, respectively). By examining the two works side-by-side for theme, structure, imagery and mood, we can observe that each resembles the other in most of these respects. Both poems share the theme of the hardships of aging. More succinctly, each of these works is an outright lamentation of man’s poor fortune at being saddled with such a difficult thing as mortality. These poems, it would seem, are intended to leave the reader with a sense of the poet’s despair at the inevitability and misfortune of old age, and one is well able to imagine Mimnermus as a very gloomy old fellow indeed.

There are a number of images which make nearly identical appearances in each work. First, Mimnermus associates youth with the sun. In poem #1, the poet claims that once a man has become aged he takes "no more pleasure … in seeing the rays of the sun". Likewise in poem #2, the young at first "…sprout under the rays of the sun", but when the prime of life is over, there is "…no more gathering the harvest of youth, once the morning sun’s rays have covered the earth". In both works the poet mentions the "flowers of youth", and in each case he is referring to a number of youthful pleasures which, he says, we may enjoy for only a short time. Each of the works suggests that advanced age brings evil in various forms: in poem #1, age "…makes a man ugly and evil as well, endless evil anxieties weaken his spirit". Similarly in poem #2, after a man’s youthfulness has passed, "many an evil the heart knows then…". Mimnermus finishes by blaming this state of affairs on the immortal gods, since in poem #1 "Such a painful thing god has made of old age". Likewise in poem #2 he states, "…there is no one mortal to whom the great Zeus doesn’t assign many ills", with the implication that these ills are harshest upon the aged, since youthful people, he says, know "not evil, not good, from the gods". Thus, there are a number of images that the two poems share in common, however it should be stated that some notable differences exist as well. Although there is a common thread regarding the use of sunlight and the "flowers of youth" between the two works, poem #2 is much more deeply involved in the metaphor of humans as leaves, flowers and plants. Additionally, the poems differ regarding the details of what befalls the aged; in poem #1, Mimnermus states that a man becomes "hateful to boys" and "dishonoured by women" in his old age, whereas poem #2 lists more serious consequences, such as poverty, grieving over one’s lack of children, and "soul-destroying disease".

In each of these works, the poet asks rather for death if he cannot live life as he wishes: in poem #1 he proclaims, "let me die when these no longer matter to me: secret friendship, and gladdening gifts, and the bed of love". In contrast, in poem #2 Mimnermus asks for a swift death "…the moment this time of life has seen its fulfillment". The difference between these two instances is subtle but significant. In the first case, the poet doesn’t imply that those youthful pleasures are likely to ever become unimportant to him; thus, he is simply seeking to emphasize the degree to which he esteems these mortal pleasures. In the second case, however, the poet is clearly saying that, once he is too old to enjoy the benefits of youth, he would prefer a speedy demise.

Upon closer inspection of the structures of the poems, however, a more significant difference between the two becomes apparent: the drastic, (and somewhat comic) change in mood which occurs midway through poem #1, which has no equivalent in poem #2. Structurally speaking, poem #1 consists of two halves which are defined by their moods. In contrast, poem #2 represents more of a consistent whole with a reasonably steady theme throughout; it is bittersweet from start to finish. This second work mentions life’s pleasures only long enough to lament their inevitable loss in later years. Contrast this with the sudden change in mood at roughly the midway point poem #1, in the middle of line 5, which might come as quite a surprise to an unsuspecting reader. The mood of lines 1-4 and the first half of line 5 in this first work is most closely akin to that of a love poem. He begins with a tribute to romantic love, asking "What then is life, what is pleasure, without Aphrodite the golden?". One unfamiliar with Mimnermus’ work might innocently expect the poem to continue along these lines. Alas, the poet’s mood quickly changes such that the second half of the poem is all bitterness and lamentation: the line "…but when grievous old age comes on…" begins this poem’s sudden descent. From this point on, we are treated rather to Mimnermus’ unhappy views on the aging process. As mentioned previously, this complete change is almost comically abrupt. Contrast this with poem #2, which begins on a less auspicious note and is more consistent throughout. Line 1 states that when we are young we are like the "…leaves which the blooming springtime produces". The more careful reader will notice that a comparison between Humans and seasonal foliage foreshadows the theme of the lines that are to follow. By the time we reach line 3, the poet begins to confirm our earlier suspicions about those leaves when he says "just like them for a little time we savour our pleasure, in the flowers of youth, knowing not evil, not good from the gods". Things get darker still on line 5 when he tells us that even as we enjoy the benefits of our youth, "…already the gloomy death goddesses stand near". One can observe that unlike poem #1, it comes as no great surprise to the reader that the overall theme of poem #2 is an unhappy one.

Thus, the difference in the structures of the two poems is closely related to their respective moods, and in the case of poem #1, the transition that occurs halfway though the poem. This is what plainly separates the two works from one another, and is a desirable difference. Indeed, without this structural difference the poems seem to be so similar as to be nearly redundant, except for the fact that the overall message differs between the two poems. The first poem can be paraphrased as saying something along the lines of ‘old age stinks’. The second, however, can be interpreted as being closer in meaning to ‘it’s better to die young’. The differences between the two poems are subtle, but distinguishable, if the reader is willing to examine the works closely.

 

 

References

All citations are from the following source:

Schmiel, R C and Murphy T,
1993, Greek Lyric Poetry and Hellenistic Poetry, Canada: University of Calgary Printing Services