by Moe Zilla

Created on: February 09, 2008

An epigram is a short, witty saying - but there's a unique context for the word in its poetic origins in ancient Greece.

Epigrams began during a time when there were very few written works in early Greece. Most poetry was spoken, and handed down through the generations. But the writing of short poems was used on a handful of solemn occasions, usually for the inscription on a grave stone or the dedication of a new building.

This heritage is hidden within the word "epigram" itself, since its Greek roots literally mean "surface writing." Because they were associated with solemn occasions, epigrams began a tradition of statements which were short and thoughtful. (And they were usually rhymed, because it was felt this gave the verses more impact and made them more memorable.) Inevitably, seriousness leads to satire, and soon another form of epigram appeared: the witty statement.

Romans borrowed the epigram from neighboring Greece, creating formal epigrams which surprised listeners with a joke in its final line. (One Roman epigram chides a rival poet by saying that he has so little to say that even a couplet is too long.) This tradition continued throughout the Middle Ages, with epigrams reserved for sentiments of love and wit.

Like the haiku, epigrams condense the most profound thoughts into startlingly few syllables. Often this gives them a greater impact - for example, this couplet from Emily Dickinson.

Society for me my misery
Since Gift of Thee.

The history of literature is filled with writers of great epigrams, including Benjamin Franklin, John Dryden, and Alexander Pope. Around 1919, an American poet popularized a strict structure for couplets - two ten-syllable lines, explaining a thought in the title. But just a few years earlier, Oscar Wilde popularized his own non-poetic epigrams, elevating the importance of the witty (and often contradictory) statement.

Ultimately there's no better way to appreciate epigrams than sampling some of Oscar Wilde's best work.

"Nothing succeeds like excess."

"The way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it."

"The truth is rarely pure and never simple."

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