Choerilus of Samos' epic poem, Persica ( SH ), opens with a lament on the current state of poetry ( SH 317). Scholars have misread this lament as a genuine expression of dismay on the part of a poet who is disillusioned with poetry and who thinks that the time for poetry has passed. Choerilus' lament is not sincere but rather a rhetorical device in which the poet draws attention to the problems found in contemporary poetry, problems which he then (...) overcomes with his new style of poetry, namely, historical epic. (shrink)