Stesichorus

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A Greek poet from Sicily who composed choral lyric poetry in the sixth century BC and is remembered for his epic and narrative odes
2. The ancient Greek lyric writer from Himera known for choral poems on mythological subjects such as the story of Helen and Geryon
3. A sixth-century BC Sicilian Greek who wrote celebrated choral lyrics retelling heroic myths and is counted among the great early Greek lyric poets

Etymology: Stesichorus was a Greek lyric poet of the late seventh and early sixth centuries BCE, born in Sicily, and his name is the one the English word borrows. The name is Ancient Greek, Στησίχορος ("Stēsíkhoros"), a personal name that was not a common noun but the proper name of a real man. Because it passed into English without changing its meaning, it still refers only to that poet and to the chorus-style choral verse associated with him. Some words in English are borrowed from classical names so that the people who bore them can be cited directly, and this is a plain case of that. The Greek name is built from elements that are usually read as "establish" or "set up" and "chorus," the dancing and singing group of ancient drama, though the exact sense of the first element is debated among scholars.