Precious stela with longest poem from Classical Greece

Nearly three years ago, the discovery of Tomb of Hecatomnos near Milas (ancient Mylasa) made headlines (see: Sensational Archaeological find near Milas).

[Picture from the Hurriyet Daily News]

Ongoing excavations have recently revealed a written stela giving us the longest poem from the Classical Era ever found in Turkey. The poem counting 121 lines was written for King Hecatomnos, the father of Mausolos who was to be buried in the reputed Mausoleum of Halicarnassus. Obviously, the stela has been dated to the end of the fourth century BC or beginning of the third century BC.

According to the academics, the poetical language used in the style is called “catalectic tyrochaic tetrameter”. More information about this peculiar style can be found on this link for Poetry Forms