Masthead Logo The Fordham Undergraduate Research Journal

Volume 2 | Issue 1 Article 3

January 2014 Fabrication and Execution: The yL cambids and their Iambic Aptitude William Bruckel FCRH '11 Fordham University, [email protected]

Follow this and additional works at: https://fordham.bepress.com/furj Part of the Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity Commons

Recommended Citation Bruckel, William FCRH '11 (2014) "Fabrication and Execution: The yL cambids and their Iambic Aptitude," The Fordham Undergraduate Research Journal: Vol. 2 : Iss. 1 , Article 3. Available at: https://fordham.bepress.com/furj/vol2/iss1/3

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalResearch@Fordham. It has been accepted for inclusion in The orF dham Undergraduate Research Journal by an authorized editor of DigitalResearch@Fordham. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FURJ | Volume 2 | Spring 2012 Bruckel: Fabrication and Execution www.furj.org FURJ | Volume 2 | Spring 2012

Research William Bruckel, FCRH ’11 metaphorically referring to sexual behavior. Also illustrative of dence comes in the form of a passage in the etiological Homeric the typical vulgarity of iambus is Archilochos’s reputation in an- Hymn to Demeter: tiquity. Examining his dubia—works attributed to but most likely τὴν δ’ αἰδώς τε σέβασ τε ἰδὲ χλωρὸν δέος εἷλεν• Fabrication and Execution not written by Archilochos—affords one an idea of this reputa- εἶξε δέ οἱ κλισμοῖο καὶ ἑδριάασθαι ἅνωγεν. tion. A number of these works are not only vulgar in that they ἀλλ’ οὐ Δημήτηρ ὡρηφόρος ἀγλαόδωρος The Lycambids and their Iambic Aptitude deal with matters of sexuality, but are explicit in a way that is un- ἤθελεν ἑδριάασθαι ἐπὶ κλισμοῖο φαεινοῦ, Research characteristic of works we know to authentically Archilochos. The ἀλλ’ ἀκέουσα ἔμιμνε κατ’ ὄμματα καλὰ βαλοῦσα, πρίν γ’ ὅτε δή οἱ ἔθηκεν Ἰάμβη κέδν’ εἰδυῖα Classics works scholars attribute to him tend to be artful and metaphori- πηκτὸν ἕδος, καθύπερθε δ’ ἐπ’ ἀργύφεον βάλε cal. For example, prostitutes are known as “[γυνή] δῆμος (public κῶα<ς>. The Lycambids were a family believed to have personally known the archaic poet Archilochos of Paros. Tradition tells of their col- woman),”10 rather than πόρνη (whore); and instances of explicit ἔνθα καθεζομένη προκατέσχετο χερσὶ καλύπτρην• lected suicide being motivated by criticisms launched at them in his Iambic verse, and this is sometimes mistaken for historical fact. sexual action are described metaphorically. In the dubia, however, δηρὸν δ’ ἄφθογγος τετιημένη ἧστ’ ἐπὶ δίφρου, However, analysis of the conventions of the Iambic genre reveals that it is not sincere invective that Iambus is composed but rather references to sexual behavior are more vulgar, with lewd language οὐδέ τιν’ οὔτ’ ἔπεϊ προσπτύσσοετο ὄυτέ τι ἔργωι, ἀλλ’ ἀγέλαστος ἄπαστος ἐδητύος ἠδὲ ποτῆτος humorous mockery. Inconsistencies in the characterization of the Lycambids in these verses, and the aptitude of those verses for and explicit references to male genitalia and sexual intercourse. sympotic ritual, are considered in light of this understanding to demonstrate that this tragic family is most likely a figment of Archi- ἧστο, πόθωι μινύθουσα βαθυζώνοιο θυγατρός, The dubia is nearly stylistically antithetical to the authentic Ar- πρίν γ’ ὄτε δὴ χλεύηις μιν Ἰάμβη κέδν’ εἰδυῖα lochos’s verse designed to increase the breadth of his art. chilochean fragment. However, its attribution to Archilochos il- πολλὰ παρασκώπτουσ’ ἐτρέψατο πότνιαν ἁγνήν lustrates the ancient conception of iambus as being characterized μειδῆσαι γελάσαι τε καὶ ἵλαον σχεῖν θυμόν• by vulgarity, since he is seen as its inventor and finest artist.11 ἥ δή οἱ καὶ ἔπειτα μεθύστερον εὔαδεν ὀργαῖς Accounting for the nature of his work and underscoring his repu- attack on the Lycambids. The Greek ear was extremely sensitive The Mnesiepes inscription, which was found on Paros and relates (The queen was seized by awe and reverence and tation as the prototypical artist of his genre, it is said that the iam- to meter. Different meters were utilized to achieve different ends. myths about Archilochos devised by his hero cult located there, sallow fear; she gave up her couch for [Demeter], bic poet Archilochos loved the daughter of an individual named For example, Homer and Hesiod both write for different reasons, understands vulgarity not only as characteristic of the iambic and invited her to sit down. But Demeter, bringer Lycambes, who denied the couple marriage, and so ridiculed him yet each is considered an epic poet since each uses hexameter. genre, but also as one of its virtues. Archilochos, it says, having of resplendent gifts in season, did not want to be with his poetry that he and even his children hanged themselves Since hexameter is also the meter of choice for Herodotus’s Pythic recently been given the lyre and its gifts by the muses, improvises seated on the gleaming couch, but stood in silence, out of shame. Some consider these characters to be figures of his- decrees, it emerges as the meter of the learned and instructive. her lovely eyes downcast, until dutiful Iambe set a a poem at a Dionysian festival on Paros. For this Archilochos is jointed stool for her and laid a shining white fleece 12 torical fact. However, this supposition relies on a misconceived According to West, however, iambus is not categorized this way exiled as his verses are deemed “too iambic.” Since it is unlikely over it. There she sat, holding her veil before her notion of the nature and intended ends of iambic poetry as sincere since poems using both iambic trimeter and trocheic tetrameter, that meter would offend a group of Parian citizens celebrating the face, and for a long time she remained there on the in its ferociousness. Rather, iambus directs its force toward the as well as epodes, have all been considered iambus in antiquity.1 festival of Dionysus, one can conclude that the use of “iambic” re- seat in silent sorrow. She greet no one with word or generation of humor, often by combining it with lewd imagery or The term iambus seems to have been more indicative of purpose fers to the content of the poem and implies that its audience found movement, but sat there unsmiling, tasting neither crude subject matter. Since these elements manifested themselves and content since, in the tradition of ancient literature, it and its food nor drink, pining for her deep-girt daughter, such subject matter immediately scandalous. The inscription goes until at last the dutiful Iambe with ribaldry and in vituperation, the more abuse a poet could issue, the better the various grammatical uses were all associated primarily with the on to describe a plague that descends onto the Parian citizenry. many a jest diverted the holy lady so that she smiled quality of his iambus. Therefore, to better his art he would need to practice of ridicule. Indeed, West notes that, the verbs ἰαμβίζω This pestilence is sent by Apollo, who, associated with the muses, and laughed and became benevolent—Iambe who extend his invective range so that it might be as diverse as possi- and ἰαμβόπτειν come to signify satirization.2 Such an instance prizes Archilochos as their servant, underscoring his skill with ever since has found favor with her moods).14 ble. In order to do this, an iambic poem should be able to chastise can be found in Aristotle’s Poetics: “For these the iambic meter verse and lyre. The “iambic” nature of the poetry, thus, is seen as The first and most obvious point to be made about the passage either the same individual for more than one thing or more than was fittingly introduced and that is why it is still called iambic, a virtue because Archilochos’s verses are protected by a divinity, is the character whose behavior, which seems jocular and witty, one individual for the same thing. At the same time, it should cast because it was the meter in which they lampooned each other.”3 casting the vulgarity as a virtuous aspect of the genre. Moreover, is named Ἰάμβη. While the exact etymological roots of the terms some individuals as good for the sake of comparison. Archilochos According to Rosen this notion, which Aristotle refines into a sort even if Archilochos had been exiled in historical fact and the in- ἴαμβος, Ἰάμβη and ἰαμβίζειν have yet to be demonstrated, the con- does this when he intends to chastise, but then he instantly reverts of “ἰαμβική ἰδέα (iambic idea),”4 “denotes the many features that scription does no more than offer an etiology, his penchant for nection between the figure of Ἰάμβη and the poetic genre are un- to vituperation of his former subject. recur in poetry and help to define it…. Whether the poet sings of the artful rendering of vulgarity is still cast as pleasing to Apollo; deniable. Furthermore, almost her entire name is contained in real, fictional, or even semi-fictional people, he must conform to Compositions about an enemy that would facilitate such diverse thus, it is one of the virtues, if not the primary one, of his work. “Λυκάμβης,” which itself seems to merely to be the result of a com- the demands of [the] literary tradition.”5 This component of iam- blame are a requirement of generic quality. The construction of Furthermore, if his exile is a fabrication, then the inscription bares bination between Λύκος (wolf) and Ἰάμβη, preserving even the first bus becomes the first basis of the virtue (ἀρετή) of the poet. The Lycambes’s family, as reflected in the Archilochos fragments, is a narrative that resembles hero cult myth in that he is deified and declension and cementing the connection (mythological, religious, quality of the iambic poet was determined in part by how well he deliberately designed to meet this condition. The plot of the fam- his invective skill is celebrated as a divine attribute, thus illustrat- or otherwise) between the two characters. And, while it is unclear could lampoon his subjects. Generally, the effect of blame that re- ily’s relationship to the poet, the composition of the family itself, ing the importance of such content to the genre. whether this section of the hymn is either an etiology for the prac- sults from iambic poetry is known as “ψογοs.” The successful and and the characterization of each member therein form a network tice of iambic poetry, as the whole hymn serves for Eleusinian cult artful application of “ψογοs” to one’s (supposed) enemy6 is one of To suppose the tradition of the Lycambids as historically factual of premises that can be used to ridicule its figures by conjunction practice, or an indication that worship of the goddess gave rise to the two virtues of iambic poetry, “the outstanding feature of the relies on the supposition that iambic poetry is genuinely vicious, or contrast in any combination of ways. This gives Archilochos the genre, it is hardly deniable that της Ἰάμβης behavior serves as genre,” according to West.7 Archilochos “know[s] how to repay owing to its satyrical nature and vulgar content. However, closer ample fodder for creative insult, and marks his place as an iam- a model for iambic execution. Thus her motive, the generation of love with love and hatred with hate and biting abuse,”8 and thus examination of the genre and Greek religious and literary tradi- bic poet. This ethos is reflected in discrepancies in the character- humor and levity in her audience, is a model for the ideal iambic embraces the ἰαμβική ἰδέα. tion reveals that the intended effect of the amalgamation is humor. ization of some members of the Lycambids, which indicates that The mix of an abusive attitude and a loquacious yet vulgarly con- effect. Indeed, Ralph Rosen confirms this inclination: concerns for consistent illustration were subjugated to interests The second virtue, the one that governs content, is the artful use cerned vocabulary can serve, it seems, only two possible primary Since Iambe herself is emblematic of the iambus, one might appropri- in maximizing blame and casts doubt on their historical person- of vulgarity. Indeed, according to the Cambridge Companion to purposes: either the intentional derision of its object or the elicita- ately look to the episode for commentary on the ways in which the liter- hood. Furthermore, this varied characterization illustrates a per- Lyric Poetry, “[other] archaic verse lacks the explicitness of iam- tion of humor from the audience by way of this derision. That a ary genres of this sort, genres of abuse and mockery, behave. The Iambe/ fomative as well as aesthetic motive, helping Archilochos’s work bus…. The three major archaic exponents of iambus also share poet would set out to unleash genuine anger at another person is iambus connection, in short, allows us (and ancient audiences likewise) conform to the varied ritual demands of poetry in symposia. and interest in details and incidents from everyday life … in par- to read the episode as programmatic of the entire genre, and to analyze not inconceivable. However, it is unlikely that such a poet would the mockery of Iambe in terms of the poetic performance to which she ticular, food and sex.”9 This is clear when one considers that a Though the iambic genre is associated with a collection of me- be considered virtuous and that this effect would become the de- lends her name.15 great deal, perhaps even the majority, of the Archilochean body ters, it can best be recognized by its humorously satirical telos fining characteristic of a genre that later developed its own meter. is either explicitly vulgar or can only make sense by reading it as As Rosen further explains, “an awareness of the mediating force of and vulgar content. This diminishes the sincerity of Archilochos’s Furthermore, there is concrete reason to believe that humor was indeed the goal and characteristic effect of iambus. Besides the representation … mitigates the aggressiveness of the mockery and 13 A debt of my most sincere thanks is owed to Alex Buzick for his time, patience, and generosity in providing comments on this paper. fact that Archilochos literally tells us via comparison, this evi- transforms the target into an accomplice for the sake of the audi- 27Published by DigitalResearch@Fordham, 2012 1 28 FURJ | Volume 2 | Spring 2012 www.furj.org The Fordham Undergraduate Research Journal, Vol. 2 [2012], Iss. 1, Art.FURJ 3 | Volume 2 | Spring 2012

Research William Bruckel, FCRH ’11 metaphorically referring to sexual behavior. Also illustrative of dence comes in the form of a passage in the etiological Homeric the typical vulgarity of iambus is Archilochos’s reputation in an- Hymn to Demeter: tiquity. Examining his dubia—works attributed to but most likely τὴν δ’ αἰδώς τε σέβασ τε ἰδὲ χλωρὸν δέος εἷλεν• Fabrication and Execution not written by Archilochos—affords one an idea of this reputa- εἶξε δέ οἱ κλισμοῖο καὶ ἑδριάασθαι ἅνωγεν. tion. A number of these works are not only vulgar in that they ἀλλ’ οὐ Δημήτηρ ὡρηφόρος ἀγλαόδωρος The Lycambids and their Iambic Aptitude deal with matters of sexuality, but are explicit in a way that is un- ἤθελεν ἑδριάασθαι ἐπὶ κλισμοῖο φαεινοῦ, Research characteristic of works we know to authentically Archilochos. The ἀλλ’ ἀκέουσα ἔμιμνε κατ’ ὄμματα καλὰ βαλοῦσα, πρίν γ’ ὅτε δή οἱ ἔθηκεν Ἰάμβη κέδν’ εἰδυῖα Classics works scholars attribute to him tend to be artful and metaphori- πηκτὸν ἕδος, καθύπερθε δ’ ἐπ’ ἀργύφεον βάλε cal. For example, prostitutes are known as “[γυνή] δῆμος (public κῶα<ς>. The Lycambids were a family believed to have personally known the archaic poet Archilochos of Paros. Tradition tells of their col- woman),”10 rather than πόρνη (whore); and instances of explicit ἔνθα καθεζομένη προκατέσχετο χερσὶ καλύπτρην• lected suicide being motivated by criticisms launched at them in his Iambic verse, and this is sometimes mistaken for historical fact. sexual action are described metaphorically. In the dubia, however, δηρὸν δ’ ἄφθογγος τετιημένη ἧστ’ ἐπὶ δίφρου, However, analysis of the conventions of the Iambic genre reveals that it is not sincere invective that Iambus is composed but rather references to sexual behavior are more vulgar, with lewd language οὐδέ τιν’ οὔτ’ ἔπεϊ προσπτύσσοετο ὄυτέ τι ἔργωι, ἀλλ’ ἀγέλαστος ἄπαστος ἐδητύος ἠδὲ ποτῆτος humorous mockery. Inconsistencies in the characterization of the Lycambids in these verses, and the aptitude of those verses for and explicit references to male genitalia and sexual intercourse. sympotic ritual, are considered in light of this understanding to demonstrate that this tragic family is most likely a figment of Archi- ἧστο, πόθωι μινύθουσα βαθυζώνοιο θυγατρός, The dubia is nearly stylistically antithetical to the authentic Ar- πρίν γ’ ὄτε δὴ χλεύηις μιν Ἰάμβη κέδν’ εἰδυῖα lochos’s verse designed to increase the breadth of his art. chilochean fragment. However, its attribution to Archilochos il- πολλὰ παρασκώπτουσ’ ἐτρέψατο πότνιαν ἁγνήν lustrates the ancient conception of iambus as being characterized μειδῆσαι γελάσαι τε καὶ ἵλαον σχεῖν θυμόν• by vulgarity, since he is seen as its inventor and finest artist.11 ἥ δή οἱ καὶ ἔπειτα μεθύστερον εὔαδεν ὀργαῖς Accounting for the nature of his work and underscoring his repu- attack on the Lycambids. The Greek ear was extremely sensitive The Mnesiepes inscription, which was found on Paros and relates (The queen was seized by awe and reverence and tation as the prototypical artist of his genre, it is said that the iam- to meter. Different meters were utilized to achieve different ends. myths about Archilochos devised by his hero cult located there, sallow fear; she gave up her couch for [Demeter], bic poet Archilochos loved the daughter of an individual named For example, Homer and Hesiod both write for different reasons, understands vulgarity not only as characteristic of the iambic and invited her to sit down. But Demeter, bringer Lycambes, who denied the couple marriage, and so ridiculed him yet each is considered an epic poet since each uses hexameter. genre, but also as one of its virtues. Archilochos, it says, having of resplendent gifts in season, did not want to be with his poetry that he and even his children hanged themselves Since hexameter is also the meter of choice for Herodotus’s Pythic recently been given the lyre and its gifts by the muses, improvises seated on the gleaming couch, but stood in silence, out of shame. Some consider these characters to be figures of his- decrees, it emerges as the meter of the learned and instructive. her lovely eyes downcast, until dutiful Iambe set a a poem at a Dionysian festival on Paros. For this Archilochos is jointed stool for her and laid a shining white fleece 12 torical fact. However, this supposition relies on a misconceived According to West, however, iambus is not categorized this way exiled as his verses are deemed “too iambic.” Since it is unlikely over it. There she sat, holding her veil before her notion of the nature and intended ends of iambic poetry as sincere since poems using both iambic trimeter and trocheic tetrameter, that meter would offend a group of Parian citizens celebrating the face, and for a long time she remained there on the in its ferociousness. Rather, iambus directs its force toward the as well as epodes, have all been considered iambus in antiquity.1 festival of Dionysus, one can conclude that the use of “iambic” re- seat in silent sorrow. She greet no one with word or generation of humor, often by combining it with lewd imagery or The term iambus seems to have been more indicative of purpose fers to the content of the poem and implies that its audience found movement, but sat there unsmiling, tasting neither crude subject matter. Since these elements manifested themselves and content since, in the tradition of ancient literature, it and its food nor drink, pining for her deep-girt daughter, such subject matter immediately scandalous. The inscription goes until at last the dutiful Iambe with ribaldry and in vituperation, the more abuse a poet could issue, the better the various grammatical uses were all associated primarily with the on to describe a plague that descends onto the Parian citizenry. many a jest diverted the holy lady so that she smiled quality of his iambus. Therefore, to better his art he would need to practice of ridicule. Indeed, West notes that, the verbs ἰαμβίζω This pestilence is sent by Apollo, who, associated with the muses, and laughed and became benevolent—Iambe who extend his invective range so that it might be as diverse as possi- and ἰαμβόπτειν come to signify satirization.2 Such an instance prizes Archilochos as their servant, underscoring his skill with ever since has found favor with her moods).14 ble. In order to do this, an iambic poem should be able to chastise can be found in Aristotle’s Poetics: “For these the iambic meter verse and lyre. The “iambic” nature of the poetry, thus, is seen as The first and most obvious point to be made about the passage either the same individual for more than one thing or more than was fittingly introduced and that is why it is still called iambic, a virtue because Archilochos’s verses are protected by a divinity, is the character whose behavior, which seems jocular and witty, one individual for the same thing. At the same time, it should cast because it was the meter in which they lampooned each other.”3 casting the vulgarity as a virtuous aspect of the genre. Moreover, is named Ἰάμβη. While the exact etymological roots of the terms some individuals as good for the sake of comparison. Archilochos According to Rosen this notion, which Aristotle refines into a sort even if Archilochos had been exiled in historical fact and the in- ἴαμβος, Ἰάμβη and ἰαμβίζειν have yet to be demonstrated, the con- does this when he intends to chastise, but then he instantly reverts of “ἰαμβική ἰδέα (iambic idea),”4 “denotes the many features that scription does no more than offer an etiology, his penchant for nection between the figure of Ἰάμβη and the poetic genre are un- to vituperation of his former subject. recur in poetry and help to define it…. Whether the poet sings of the artful rendering of vulgarity is still cast as pleasing to Apollo; deniable. Furthermore, almost her entire name is contained in real, fictional, or even semi-fictional people, he must conform to Compositions about an enemy that would facilitate such diverse thus, it is one of the virtues, if not the primary one, of his work. “Λυκάμβης,” which itself seems to merely to be the result of a com- the demands of [the] literary tradition.”5 This component of iam- blame are a requirement of generic quality. The construction of Furthermore, if his exile is a fabrication, then the inscription bares bination between Λύκος (wolf) and Ἰάμβη, preserving even the first bus becomes the first basis of the virtue (ἀρετή) of the poet. The Lycambes’s family, as reflected in the Archilochos fragments, is a narrative that resembles hero cult myth in that he is deified and declension and cementing the connection (mythological, religious, quality of the iambic poet was determined in part by how well he deliberately designed to meet this condition. The plot of the fam- his invective skill is celebrated as a divine attribute, thus illustrat- or otherwise) between the two characters. And, while it is unclear could lampoon his subjects. Generally, the effect of blame that re- ily’s relationship to the poet, the composition of the family itself, ing the importance of such content to the genre. whether this section of the hymn is either an etiology for the prac- sults from iambic poetry is known as “ψογοs.” The successful and and the characterization of each member therein form a network tice of iambic poetry, as the whole hymn serves for Eleusinian cult artful application of “ψογοs” to one’s (supposed) enemy6 is one of To suppose the tradition of the Lycambids as historically factual of premises that can be used to ridicule its figures by conjunction practice, or an indication that worship of the goddess gave rise to the two virtues of iambic poetry, “the outstanding feature of the relies on the supposition that iambic poetry is genuinely vicious, or contrast in any combination of ways. This gives Archilochos the genre, it is hardly deniable that της Ἰάμβης behavior serves as genre,” according to West.7 Archilochos “know[s] how to repay owing to its satyrical nature and vulgar content. However, closer ample fodder for creative insult, and marks his place as an iam- a model for iambic execution. Thus her motive, the generation of love with love and hatred with hate and biting abuse,”8 and thus examination of the genre and Greek religious and literary tradi- bic poet. This ethos is reflected in discrepancies in the character- humor and levity in her audience, is a model for the ideal iambic embraces the ἰαμβική ἰδέα. tion reveals that the intended effect of the amalgamation is humor. ization of some members of the Lycambids, which indicates that The mix of an abusive attitude and a loquacious yet vulgarly con- effect. Indeed, Ralph Rosen confirms this inclination: concerns for consistent illustration were subjugated to interests The second virtue, the one that governs content, is the artful use cerned vocabulary can serve, it seems, only two possible primary Since Iambe herself is emblematic of the iambus, one might appropri- in maximizing blame and casts doubt on their historical person- of vulgarity. Indeed, according to the Cambridge Companion to purposes: either the intentional derision of its object or the elicita- ately look to the episode for commentary on the ways in which the liter- hood. Furthermore, this varied characterization illustrates a per- Lyric Poetry, “[other] archaic verse lacks the explicitness of iam- tion of humor from the audience by way of this derision. That a ary genres of this sort, genres of abuse and mockery, behave. The Iambe/ fomative as well as aesthetic motive, helping Archilochos’s work bus…. The three major archaic exponents of iambus also share poet would set out to unleash genuine anger at another person is iambus connection, in short, allows us (and ancient audiences likewise) conform to the varied ritual demands of poetry in symposia. and interest in details and incidents from everyday life … in par- to read the episode as programmatic of the entire genre, and to analyze not inconceivable. However, it is unlikely that such a poet would the mockery of Iambe in terms of the poetic performance to which she ticular, food and sex.”9 This is clear when one considers that a Though the iambic genre is associated with a collection of me- be considered virtuous and that this effect would become the de- lends her name.15 great deal, perhaps even the majority, of the Archilochean body ters, it can best be recognized by its humorously satirical telos fining characteristic of a genre that later developed its own meter. is either explicitly vulgar or can only make sense by reading it as As Rosen further explains, “an awareness of the mediating force of and vulgar content. This diminishes the sincerity of Archilochos’s Furthermore, there is concrete reason to believe that humor was indeed the goal and characteristic effect of iambus. Besides the representation … mitigates the aggressiveness of the mockery and 13 A debt of my most sincere thanks is owed to Alex Buzick for his time, patience, and generosity in providing comments on this paper. fact that Archilochos literally tells us via comparison, this evi- transforms the target into an accomplice for the sake of the audi- 27 https://fordham.bepress.com/furj/vol2/iss1/3 282 FURJ | Volume 2 | Spring 2012 Bruckel: Fabrication and Execution www.furj.org FURJ | Volume 2 | Spring 2012

Research ence’s pleasure.”16 This awareness, according to Rosen, is betrayed (though far from always) morally corrupt Neoboule, Soror is de- chilochos characterizes Neoboule as very beautiful, reveling in A third invective episode is clear in a grouping of fragments that both by Iambe’s confidence in mocking the goddess and Demeter’s picted as virtuous and pure. “[σὺ],” Archilochos writes of her, “μὲν her “ἐσμθριχμένας κόμας καὶ στῆθος, ὡς ἄν καὶ γέρων ἠράσσατο take Neoboule’s physical figure as being ugly, fat, and worn out unexpectedly positive reaction. Ἰάμβη, he postulates, had to have γὰρ ὄυτ’ ἄπιστοσ ὄυτε διπλόη/ ἥ δ]ὲ μάλ’ ὀξουτἐρη/ πολλοὺς δὲ (scented hair and breasts so that even an old man would have from engaging in prostitution: she is “περὶ σφυρὸν παχεῖα, μισητὴ some reason for confidence in mocking the goddess, assurance ποιεῖτα[ι φίλους (since you are neither trustworthy nor untrust- been enamored with them).”27 She is depicted not only as beauti- γυνή (a revolting old woman fat about the ankles).”34 This is dis- that her mockery would return the desired result, i.e. to delight worthy, whereas [Neoboule] is quite precipitous and makes many ful, but also a credit to her household and, thus, honorable. For tinct from the first episode in two ways. In the first episode, So- rather than provoke. This, he suggests, is the unexpectedness and her lovers).”20 Archilochos refers to her as “Ἀμφιμεδοῦς θύγατερ Archilochos, Lycambes is “τρισμακάριος (thrice blessed)” for ror is implicated as a figure of the narrative; here, however, the Research extremity of Iambe’s mockery. According to Rosen, these elements (daugher of Amphido),” and thus characterizes her as a worthy having “τοιαῦτα τέκνα (such daughters as these).”28 However, Ar- object of the tirade is categorically singular. Also, there is a dif- combine to push her behavior over the bounds of the plausibly heir to the moral estate of “ἐσθλῆς τε καὶ γυναικός, ἥν νῦν γῆ κατ’ chilochos uses the full brunt of his powers against her. His iambi ference between being lascivious and being a prostitute. Accord- sincere and into that of performance. That Demeter senses this is εὐρώσσ’ ἔ[χει (a worthy and prudent woman whom now the earth contain a multitude of fragments issuing a constant attack against ing to Herennius Philo, μισητὴ lacks an oxytone accent, which obvious, since her reaction to Iambe’s display is positive; indeed, it holds).”21 These verses depict not only a virgin, but also a timid Neoboule. would have caused it to mean “one deserving of hatred”; instead distracts her from such a severe loss as the death of her daughter, one, who, though beautiful, is afraid of sexual intercourse. This it has a grave accent on its ultima, causing it to mean “lewd.”35 While this sudden reversal signifies a larger character inconsis- Persephone. The knowledge that what she is seeing is a perfor- characterization is markedly different, if not completely opposite, This consideration strengthens Eustathius’s supposition that “Ar- tency, it gives birth to a host of discrepancies within the character mance allows Demeter to appreciate the audacity of it, and thus to Soror’s character in the rest of the corpus where she joins her chilochos [spoke abusively of a prostitute] as ‘fat (παχειαν),’ and of Neoboule after her transformation from chaste to morally cor- humor is manifest.17 Just as Demeter and Iambe’s conduct illus- sister in rampant explicit sexual behavior. She is implicated by the a ‘public woman (δημον)’ … and a ‘worker for hire (εργατιν)’ in rupt. Fragments chastising Neoboule appear grouped, with each trate this awareness to modern scholars, so too does its depiction phrase “ὄιην Λυκάμβεω παῖδα τὴν ὑπερτέραν (only the superior addition to the ‘froth of defilement (μυσαχνην)’ on the analogy group featuring one of her character traits that either is a priori illustrate the existence of this awareness in Greek society. Though daughter of Lycambes).”22 This fragment is grouped in the context of the froth of the sea, and such like.”36 This supposition connects objectionable or accounts for the deterioration of her form and it is instrumental to the plot, Iambe’s performance does not seem of several other fragments that all contain references, both explicit fragment 206W with a series of others that describe “δημοs (a her loss of beauty. These grouping patterns, resulting ultimately to stand out as extraordinary or miraculous. This indicates that and subdued, to sexual behavior.23 Surrounding phrases create an public woman),”37 “εργατιs (a worker for hire),”38 and “μυσαχνη in the total illustration of four distinct versions of Neoboule, sug- such a phenomenon, the recognition of the ridiculousness of the orgiastic scene, and so it is not unreasonable, according to West,24 (froth of defilement).”39 Though it is unclear from the fragments, gest that her character was included in different narrative episodes performance as humorous, is as commonplace for the archaic to suppose that “ὑπερτέραν” signifies a dichotomy wherein one Hesychius insists “ἐργάτις• τὴν Νεοβούλην (-λιαν cod.) λέγει καὶ and that her character was manipulated to fit the circumstances Greek man as it seems in the hymn. Thus, because iambus is lyric Lycambid is on top of the speaker, and her counterpart is else- παχεῖαν (a worker for hire: the reference is to Neoboule; she is also of these episodes to maximize Archilochos’s invective range. Be- poetry and so a performed art, one can only conclude that an ar- where. This surely situates Soror in the orgy with her sister and called fat).”40 If Archilochos were trying to imply prostitution in cause of iambus’s concern with sex, a favorite method for chastis- chaic audience would react in the matter of Demeter, with laugh- drastically reverses the chaste character traits by which we came to fragment 36W, one would expect some of the terminology under- ing Neoboule is to describe in detail her illicit sexual behavior. ter, and that the extremes in satirical and artistic use of vulgarity know her in the “Cologne Epode.” This character discrepancy not stood by Eustathius to be characteristic of prostitutes to be pres- This method of castigation, directly highlighting Neoboule’s las- are composed to that end. If, then, the Lycambids were members only indicates a clear lack of historicity, which would not allow for ent. However, it is absent, and nothing else about the first episode civiousness, is not always explicitly stated. West places fragments of this audience, as the tradition posits, it is unlikely they would someone to be characterized in opposite ways by the same author, suggests that Soror and Neoboule are acting as prostitutes. The 34–37 in the context of the Lycambids’s orgiastic behavior.29 Ac- have been so moved to suicide. but it also demonstrates the iambic utility of character fluidity. In mention of “work” would suggest such a thing were it not for the cepting West’s context and bearing in mind his other sexual ani- the “Cologne Epode,” Soror’s virtues are described almost exclu- combined nature of the metaphor. In it, Neoboule is compared to The method and goal of iambus are clear: to elicit humor via harsh mal metaphors, such as “πολλὰς δὲ τυφλὰς ἐγχέλυας ἐδέξω (you sively in contrast to an extended poetic description of Neoboule’s an ox, and her lover is compared to an ass, connecting them via blame in vulgar yet artfully-wrought language. Thus the goal of an received many blind eels),”30 it becomes clear that Archilochos is vices. The epode, then, is something of a show of Archilochos’s use of αἶνος (animal fable), wherein both are animal characters. iambic poet like Archilochos is to widen the range of his invective referring to Neoboule when he says “βοῦς ἐστιν ἥμιν ἐργάτης ἐν abusive abilities, with Soror acting as a contrasting agent. This also works to categorize the sexual act as “work” by exagger- ability against his subjects to produce as much abuse as possible. οἰκίῃ,/ κορωνός, ἔργων ἴδρις (we have in the stable a work-ox, ating the size of the lover’s genitalia. The combination of this understanding with inconsistencies both Archilochos’s verse is scathing enough on its own, but it is not until proud, a skilled worker).”31 Using metaphor to induce the images, between the common tradition of the Lycambids and their depic- he offers up an example of the virtues missing from Neoboule that smells, and sounds of a cow, and then referring to “work” as a met- Like the stark inconsistency that characterizes the description of tion in the fragments of Archilochos and between the extant frag- the lack seems real and the invective all the more vivid. However, aphor for the labor of sexual performance, Archilochos attacks Soror, the moral polarity of Neoboule that results from the plural- ments themselves illustrates the Lycambids’s character as dynamic Neoboule is not the only object at which the criticism in the epode Neoboule’s chastity while associating her with beastly sensations. ity of her character evidences her manipulation for the sake of and flexible, designed to maximize the range of Archilochos’s at- is directed. Lycambes himself is the object of insult if, indeed, Ar- The narrative cohesion and satirical integrity of the fragments composition and casts sizable doubt onto the likelihood of her tack. Though the Archilochean corpus is fragmentary, scholars chilochos’s figure is able to take even the stinted advantage he does directly attacking Neoboule’s chastity signify the first invective historicity. The poetic utility in a good (morally or otherwise) have arranged Archilochos’s fragments into groups that seem to of Soror. First, by using a metronymic instead of the more com- episode. However a different motif is on display in fragment 188, Neoboule figure limits Archilochos to emphasizing the lack of depict certain episodes. Relative to the daughters of Lycambes, mon patronymic in introducing Soror, whom he connects with where Archilochos exclaims: virtue in Lycambes by contrasting his virtue with hers and em- who figure into most of these episodes, not only does moral qual- virtue, Archilochos implies that her father is without virtue. Sec- Οὐκέ] θ’ ὁμῶς θάλλεις ἁπαλὸν χρόα• κάρφετα[ι bellishing the cruelty of Lycambes’s traditional affront. Instead, ity waver, but often the reason for immorality or general knavery ond, by having his way with Soror, an object that is not only Lyc- γὰρ ἤδη Archilochos ignores the character traits he bestows on her in his varies from youthful lasciviousness to the aesthetic grotesqueness ambes’s possession but also his responsibility, Archilochos mocks ὄγμο]ς• κακοῦ δὲ γήραος καθαιρεῖ other poems to benefit the artistry of his body of iambus and the of old age. This betrays the inconsistencies that signify a lack of Lycambes’s impotence as a father, guardian, and respectable man …..] ἀφ’ ἱμερτοῦ δὲ θορὼν γλυκὺς ἴμερος vituperative diversity of the poems therein. The episodic nature of historical personhood and demonstrates Archilochos’s tactic for of archaic Greece. Honor (τιμή), after all, was represented materi- π[ροσώπου his derision against her presents four different narratives, and thus …..]κεν• ἦ γὰρ πολλὰ δή σ’ ἐπῆιξεν maximizing the breadth of his invective. ally, and daughters were no exception. While the inconsistency πνεύμ]ατα χειμερίων ἀνέμων four different Neoboules: the beautiful and virtuous, the whore indicates the absence of a concrete historical character, it illus- (who delights in her exploits), the old, and the fat prostitute. Each The number of Lycambes’s daughters is somewhat uncertain. trates deliberate framing of the narrative’s circumstances and ma- (No longer does your skin have the soft bloom that it of these in turn represents, instead of the passionate raving of a From Archilochos’s fragments, we are aware of at least two:18 one nipulation of Soror’s characteristics, thus reflecting Archilochos’s Once had; now you furrow is withered the…of scorned bridegroom, a deliberate41 attempt by an iambic poet to who remains nameless and will be referred to as “Soror,” and the ownership of his characters’ identities. Ugly old age is taking its toll, and sweet loveliness widen the range of his art, and thus the potency of his skills. Each primary female subject of his poetry and thus object of his in- (has gone?) with a rush from your lovely face. For of these characters is distinct from one another. Instead of being vective, Neoboule. Because Soror is mentioned so infrequently, In no other Lycambid, however, is there as much variation and In truth many a blast of wintry winds has assaulted 32 limited to embellishing his Lycambes invective, Archilochos can and most times in passing, discussion of her character and its inconsistency as in the character of Neoboule. In the corpus as a You.) directly display his talent for blame against three new objects since consistency are brief. Though she is not mentioned often, Soror whole, she is the object of Archilochos’s most intense emotions. Here Archilochos diverges from his favorite diatribe to explore the end of iambus is humorous ridicule: a greater number of en- figures in what is perhaps the most narrative-rich fragment of Indeed, one fragment finds Archilochos “δύστηνος ἔγκει[μενος] the possibilities of a different one. It is possible that this frag- emies constitutes a greater and more diverse range of satirical pos- the Archilochean corpus, “The Cologne Epode.”19 A figure, who πόθῳ ἄψυχος, χαλεπῃσι … ὀδύνῃσι … πεπαρμένος (lying in ment is linked with another reading, “οὐκ ἄν μύροισι γρηῦς ἐοῦσ’ sibility. For example, West points out that many elements of Ar- may or may not be Archilochos, propositions Soror for sexual the throes of desire … pierced through the bones with grievous ἠλείφεο (an old woman, you would not be anointing yourself with 25 chilochos’s first invective motif, especially the image of Neoboule intercourse and, by extension, marriage. However, Soror, refuses pangs).” In many fragments, Neoboule is not the objective of 33 perfume),” since it too makes light of Neoboule’s age without re- performing fellatio, can be traced to Mesopotamian culture, espe- on the grounds—this is only a presumption, but a near-univer- abuse, but of affection: “εἰ γὰρ ὥς ἐμοὶ γένοιτο χεῖρα Νεοβούλης gard for her lasciviousness, and thus we can understand this motif 42 26 cially images on pots and vessels. Archilochos would have had sal one—that she is not ready. Here, set up against the typically θιγεῖν (would that I might touch Neoboule on her hand).” Ar- as signifying a second abusive episode. 29Published by DigitalResearch@Fordham, 2012 3 30 FURJ | Volume 2 | Spring 2012 www.furj.org The Fordham Undergraduate Research Journal, Vol. 2 [2012], Iss. 1, Art.FURJ 3 | Volume 2 | Spring 2012

Research ence’s pleasure.”16 This awareness, according to Rosen, is betrayed (though far from always) morally corrupt Neoboule, Soror is de- chilochos characterizes Neoboule as very beautiful, reveling in A third invective episode is clear in a grouping of fragments that both by Iambe’s confidence in mocking the goddess and Demeter’s picted as virtuous and pure. “[σὺ],” Archilochos writes of her, “μὲν her “ἐσμθριχμένας κόμας καὶ στῆθος, ὡς ἄν καὶ γέρων ἠράσσατο take Neoboule’s physical figure as being ugly, fat, and worn out unexpectedly positive reaction. Ἰάμβη, he postulates, had to have γὰρ ὄυτ’ ἄπιστοσ ὄυτε διπλόη/ ἥ δ]ὲ μάλ’ ὀξουτἐρη/ πολλοὺς δὲ (scented hair and breasts so that even an old man would have from engaging in prostitution: she is “περὶ σφυρὸν παχεῖα, μισητὴ some reason for confidence in mocking the goddess, assurance ποιεῖτα[ι φίλους (since you are neither trustworthy nor untrust- been enamored with them).”27 She is depicted not only as beauti- γυνή (a revolting old woman fat about the ankles).”34 This is dis- that her mockery would return the desired result, i.e. to delight worthy, whereas [Neoboule] is quite precipitous and makes many ful, but also a credit to her household and, thus, honorable. For tinct from the first episode in two ways. In the first episode, So- rather than provoke. This, he suggests, is the unexpectedness and her lovers).”20 Archilochos refers to her as “Ἀμφιμεδοῦς θύγατερ Archilochos, Lycambes is “τρισμακάριος (thrice blessed)” for ror is implicated as a figure of the narrative; here, however, the Research extremity of Iambe’s mockery. According to Rosen, these elements (daugher of Amphido),” and thus characterizes her as a worthy having “τοιαῦτα τέκνα (such daughters as these).”28 However, Ar- object of the tirade is categorically singular. Also, there is a dif- combine to push her behavior over the bounds of the plausibly heir to the moral estate of “ἐσθλῆς τε καὶ γυναικός, ἥν νῦν γῆ κατ’ chilochos uses the full brunt of his powers against her. His iambi ference between being lascivious and being a prostitute. Accord- sincere and into that of performance. That Demeter senses this is εὐρώσσ’ ἔ[χει (a worthy and prudent woman whom now the earth contain a multitude of fragments issuing a constant attack against ing to Herennius Philo, μισητὴ lacks an oxytone accent, which obvious, since her reaction to Iambe’s display is positive; indeed, it holds).”21 These verses depict not only a virgin, but also a timid Neoboule. would have caused it to mean “one deserving of hatred”; instead distracts her from such a severe loss as the death of her daughter, one, who, though beautiful, is afraid of sexual intercourse. This it has a grave accent on its ultima, causing it to mean “lewd.”35 While this sudden reversal signifies a larger character inconsis- Persephone. The knowledge that what she is seeing is a perfor- characterization is markedly different, if not completely opposite, This consideration strengthens Eustathius’s supposition that “Ar- tency, it gives birth to a host of discrepancies within the character mance allows Demeter to appreciate the audacity of it, and thus to Soror’s character in the rest of the corpus where she joins her chilochos [spoke abusively of a prostitute] as ‘fat (παχειαν),’ and of Neoboule after her transformation from chaste to morally cor- humor is manifest.17 Just as Demeter and Iambe’s conduct illus- sister in rampant explicit sexual behavior. She is implicated by the a ‘public woman (δημον)’ … and a ‘worker for hire (εργατιν)’ in rupt. Fragments chastising Neoboule appear grouped, with each trate this awareness to modern scholars, so too does its depiction phrase “ὄιην Λυκάμβεω παῖδα τὴν ὑπερτέραν (only the superior addition to the ‘froth of defilement (μυσαχνην)’ on the analogy group featuring one of her character traits that either is a priori illustrate the existence of this awareness in Greek society. Though daughter of Lycambes).”22 This fragment is grouped in the context of the froth of the sea, and such like.”36 This supposition connects objectionable or accounts for the deterioration of her form and it is instrumental to the plot, Iambe’s performance does not seem of several other fragments that all contain references, both explicit fragment 206W with a series of others that describe “δημοs (a her loss of beauty. These grouping patterns, resulting ultimately to stand out as extraordinary or miraculous. This indicates that and subdued, to sexual behavior.23 Surrounding phrases create an public woman),”37 “εργατιs (a worker for hire),”38 and “μυσαχνη in the total illustration of four distinct versions of Neoboule, sug- such a phenomenon, the recognition of the ridiculousness of the orgiastic scene, and so it is not unreasonable, according to West,24 (froth of defilement).”39 Though it is unclear from the fragments, gest that her character was included in different narrative episodes performance as humorous, is as commonplace for the archaic to suppose that “ὑπερτέραν” signifies a dichotomy wherein one Hesychius insists “ἐργάτις• τὴν Νεοβούλην (-λιαν cod.) λέγει καὶ and that her character was manipulated to fit the circumstances Greek man as it seems in the hymn. Thus, because iambus is lyric Lycambid is on top of the speaker, and her counterpart is else- παχεῖαν (a worker for hire: the reference is to Neoboule; she is also of these episodes to maximize Archilochos’s invective range. Be- poetry and so a performed art, one can only conclude that an ar- where. This surely situates Soror in the orgy with her sister and called fat).”40 If Archilochos were trying to imply prostitution in cause of iambus’s concern with sex, a favorite method for chastis- chaic audience would react in the matter of Demeter, with laugh- drastically reverses the chaste character traits by which we came to fragment 36W, one would expect some of the terminology under- ing Neoboule is to describe in detail her illicit sexual behavior. ter, and that the extremes in satirical and artistic use of vulgarity know her in the “Cologne Epode.” This character discrepancy not stood by Eustathius to be characteristic of prostitutes to be pres- This method of castigation, directly highlighting Neoboule’s las- are composed to that end. If, then, the Lycambids were members only indicates a clear lack of historicity, which would not allow for ent. However, it is absent, and nothing else about the first episode civiousness, is not always explicitly stated. West places fragments of this audience, as the tradition posits, it is unlikely they would someone to be characterized in opposite ways by the same author, suggests that Soror and Neoboule are acting as prostitutes. The 34–37 in the context of the Lycambids’s orgiastic behavior.29 Ac- have been so moved to suicide. but it also demonstrates the iambic utility of character fluidity. In mention of “work” would suggest such a thing were it not for the cepting West’s context and bearing in mind his other sexual ani- the “Cologne Epode,” Soror’s virtues are described almost exclu- combined nature of the metaphor. In it, Neoboule is compared to The method and goal of iambus are clear: to elicit humor via harsh mal metaphors, such as “πολλὰς δὲ τυφλὰς ἐγχέλυας ἐδέξω (you sively in contrast to an extended poetic description of Neoboule’s an ox, and her lover is compared to an ass, connecting them via blame in vulgar yet artfully-wrought language. Thus the goal of an received many blind eels),”30 it becomes clear that Archilochos is vices. The epode, then, is something of a show of Archilochos’s use of αἶνος (animal fable), wherein both are animal characters. iambic poet like Archilochos is to widen the range of his invective referring to Neoboule when he says “βοῦς ἐστιν ἥμιν ἐργάτης ἐν abusive abilities, with Soror acting as a contrasting agent. This also works to categorize the sexual act as “work” by exagger- ability against his subjects to produce as much abuse as possible. οἰκίῃ,/ κορωνός, ἔργων ἴδρις (we have in the stable a work-ox, ating the size of the lover’s genitalia. The combination of this understanding with inconsistencies both Archilochos’s verse is scathing enough on its own, but it is not until proud, a skilled worker).”31 Using metaphor to induce the images, between the common tradition of the Lycambids and their depic- he offers up an example of the virtues missing from Neoboule that smells, and sounds of a cow, and then referring to “work” as a met- Like the stark inconsistency that characterizes the description of tion in the fragments of Archilochos and between the extant frag- the lack seems real and the invective all the more vivid. However, aphor for the labor of sexual performance, Archilochos attacks Soror, the moral polarity of Neoboule that results from the plural- ments themselves illustrates the Lycambids’s character as dynamic Neoboule is not the only object at which the criticism in the epode Neoboule’s chastity while associating her with beastly sensations. ity of her character evidences her manipulation for the sake of and flexible, designed to maximize the range of Archilochos’s at- is directed. Lycambes himself is the object of insult if, indeed, Ar- The narrative cohesion and satirical integrity of the fragments composition and casts sizable doubt onto the likelihood of her tack. Though the Archilochean corpus is fragmentary, scholars chilochos’s figure is able to take even the stinted advantage he does directly attacking Neoboule’s chastity signify the first invective historicity. The poetic utility in a good (morally or otherwise) have arranged Archilochos’s fragments into groups that seem to of Soror. First, by using a metronymic instead of the more com- episode. However a different motif is on display in fragment 188, Neoboule figure limits Archilochos to emphasizing the lack of depict certain episodes. Relative to the daughters of Lycambes, mon patronymic in introducing Soror, whom he connects with where Archilochos exclaims: virtue in Lycambes by contrasting his virtue with hers and em- who figure into most of these episodes, not only does moral qual- virtue, Archilochos implies that her father is without virtue. Sec- Οὐκέ] θ’ ὁμῶς θάλλεις ἁπαλὸν χρόα• κάρφετα[ι bellishing the cruelty of Lycambes’s traditional affront. Instead, ity waver, but often the reason for immorality or general knavery ond, by having his way with Soror, an object that is not only Lyc- γὰρ ἤδη Archilochos ignores the character traits he bestows on her in his varies from youthful lasciviousness to the aesthetic grotesqueness ambes’s possession but also his responsibility, Archilochos mocks ὄγμο]ς• κακοῦ δὲ γήραος καθαιρεῖ other poems to benefit the artistry of his body of iambus and the of old age. This betrays the inconsistencies that signify a lack of Lycambes’s impotence as a father, guardian, and respectable man …..] ἀφ’ ἱμερτοῦ δὲ θορὼν γλυκὺς ἴμερος vituperative diversity of the poems therein. The episodic nature of historical personhood and demonstrates Archilochos’s tactic for of archaic Greece. Honor (τιμή), after all, was represented materi- π[ροσώπου his derision against her presents four different narratives, and thus …..]κεν• ἦ γὰρ πολλὰ δή σ’ ἐπῆιξεν maximizing the breadth of his invective. ally, and daughters were no exception. While the inconsistency πνεύμ]ατα χειμερίων ἀνέμων four different Neoboules: the beautiful and virtuous, the whore indicates the absence of a concrete historical character, it illus- (who delights in her exploits), the old, and the fat prostitute. Each The number of Lycambes’s daughters is somewhat uncertain. trates deliberate framing of the narrative’s circumstances and ma- (No longer does your skin have the soft bloom that it of these in turn represents, instead of the passionate raving of a From Archilochos’s fragments, we are aware of at least two:18 one nipulation of Soror’s characteristics, thus reflecting Archilochos’s Once had; now you furrow is withered the…of scorned bridegroom, a deliberate41 attempt by an iambic poet to who remains nameless and will be referred to as “Soror,” and the ownership of his characters’ identities. Ugly old age is taking its toll, and sweet loveliness widen the range of his art, and thus the potency of his skills. Each primary female subject of his poetry and thus object of his in- (has gone?) with a rush from your lovely face. For of these characters is distinct from one another. Instead of being vective, Neoboule. Because Soror is mentioned so infrequently, In no other Lycambid, however, is there as much variation and In truth many a blast of wintry winds has assaulted 32 limited to embellishing his Lycambes invective, Archilochos can and most times in passing, discussion of her character and its inconsistency as in the character of Neoboule. In the corpus as a You.) directly display his talent for blame against three new objects since consistency are brief. Though she is not mentioned often, Soror whole, she is the object of Archilochos’s most intense emotions. Here Archilochos diverges from his favorite diatribe to explore the end of iambus is humorous ridicule: a greater number of en- figures in what is perhaps the most narrative-rich fragment of Indeed, one fragment finds Archilochos “δύστηνος ἔγκει[μενος] the possibilities of a different one. It is possible that this frag- emies constitutes a greater and more diverse range of satirical pos- the Archilochean corpus, “The Cologne Epode.”19 A figure, who πόθῳ ἄψυχος, χαλεπῃσι … ὀδύνῃσι … πεπαρμένος (lying in ment is linked with another reading, “οὐκ ἄν μύροισι γρηῦς ἐοῦσ’ sibility. For example, West points out that many elements of Ar- may or may not be Archilochos, propositions Soror for sexual the throes of desire … pierced through the bones with grievous ἠλείφεο (an old woman, you would not be anointing yourself with 25 chilochos’s first invective motif, especially the image of Neoboule intercourse and, by extension, marriage. However, Soror, refuses pangs).” In many fragments, Neoboule is not the objective of 33 perfume),” since it too makes light of Neoboule’s age without re- performing fellatio, can be traced to Mesopotamian culture, espe- on the grounds—this is only a presumption, but a near-univer- abuse, but of affection: “εἰ γὰρ ὥς ἐμοὶ γένοιτο χεῖρα Νεοβούλης gard for her lasciviousness, and thus we can understand this motif 42 26 cially images on pots and vessels. Archilochos would have had sal one—that she is not ready. Here, set up against the typically θιγεῖν (would that I might touch Neoboule on her hand).” Ar- as signifying a second abusive episode. 29 https://fordham.bepress.com/furj/vol2/iss1/3 304 FURJ | Volume 2 | Spring 2012 Bruckel: Fabrication and Execution www.furj.org FURJ | Volume 2 | Spring 2012

Research access to this iconographic tradition during his military career, of both Soror, otherwise portrayed as an orgiast, and Neoboule, Jeff Lockhart, FCRH ’13 and finds occasion to use it only after having cast Neoboule as a whose character wavers between positive and negative. Soror’s lascivious orgiast, as he does in fragments 30W-48W. Preserving manipulation in this instance, as demonstrated above, enhances the character of Neoboule as virtuous and beautiful would have the abusive force of the epode against Neoboule and Lycambes Gendered Classrooms and Gendered Attire precluded such an inclusion and thus limited his art. and satisfies yet another sympotic goal, the vilification and bit- ter rebuke of one’s enemies. Archilochos’s invocation of Amphido Research While these discrepancies are illustrative enough on their own to Doing Gender on a College Campus both meets the second function of sympotic poetry, praise of the indicate the Lycambids were more likely literary characters than dead or those not present, and embellishes the virtue of Soror. historical figures, consideration of both the perfection in their fa- milial construction to fulfill various functions of poetry and the This, also, is impossible without manipulating Soror’s character. Gender and social identity rank as high priorities for undergraduate students, putting significant weight on their choice of apparel ridicule during symposia indicates another reasons for Archilo- For a possible attack on someone present, one need only look at and accessories. In a university, students must also navigate the pressures of academic disciplines, which have their own norms of chos to have characterized them the way he does. He thus erodes Archilochos’s inclusion of premature ejaculation. Since it is un- appearance and gender. Credibility in a discipline often hinges on one’s ability to conform to those disciplinary standards, but people their historicity all the more. In the sympotic context, we see an likely that he would imply that he himself had prematurely ejacu- whose social gender role does not match the gender of their discipline, such as womyn in the sciences or men in gender studies, will Archilochos who, attempting to maximize his anger against Lyc- lated and because such a phenomenon is a unique poetic topos find these two forces at odds. This study leverages statistical observations of clothing and accessories to examine how the gender ambes, establishes a familial construction that magnifies and mul- yet explicitly stated, that he refers to someone present to chide performances of undergraduate students are affected by the gender of their discipline of study. The results go beyond prior work and tiplies the force of his invective, while simultaneously fulfilling them for an event to which they admitted or are otherwise framed reveal a depth and complexity to the system of gender influence that challenges simplistic narratives about pressure to conform to Women’s Studies Women’s the objectives requisite of quality sympotic poetry. The combined is quite likely. The last two goals remaining, profession of erotic disciplinary gender norms. variation and contextual perfection signify manipulation of the attraction and description of sexual activity, are particularly reve- characters to meet the demands of the context. The symposium latory because they, were it not for the manipulation of the char- is not a setting in which it is hard to imagine Archilochos; in fact acters of Soror and Neoboule, would have been mutually exclu- a number of his fragments strongly suggest his participation.43 sive for Archilochos. For Archilochos to chide Lycambes with full Bowie claims that some of the major functions of poetry during force, he must debase Lycambes’s children, which he accomplishes Gender is a substantial field of study within the social sciences ness) connote “boy.” This notion that one can act out a specific symposia are: reflections of good and bad conduct, praise directed through the description of Neoboule. However, this affects his op- 1 at those not present, declaration of one’s own likes and dislikes tions both sympotically and abusively: he cannot, if Neoboule is (frequently, gender and womyn’s studies even have their own de- gender relies upon an understanding of gender as socially con- pronunciations of erotic attraction, descriptions of erotic experi- base, profess sexual attraction or activity since it would drag him partments), and the field owes much of its prowess to the theories structed rather than innate or biologically determined. In Butler’s ence, criticism of those present, and vilification of enemies.44 Each down and destroy the potency of his diatribe. Furthermore, it of social construction and performativity. Central to theories of words, “gender is performative[,] a certain kind of enactment,” but of these rhetorical goals is met singly by the “Cologne Epode”—the eliminates the invective possibility of the implication of abscond- social construction is that norms of what is masculine or femi- “the ‘appearance’ of gender is often mistaken as a sign of its inter- starkest example of character variation for the sake of increased ing with the pure. Archilochos resolves this problem in Soror, nine are determined socially rather than biologically. Further, nal or inherent truth” (2009, p. i). Sociologist Michael Messner verbal assault in the Archilochean corpus. Soror’s comparison who creates the possibility of sexual attraction, completing his following Judith Butler (2009), performativity involves the idea (2000) explains how structural segregation of sexes, social pres- with Neoboule is a prime example of the first function, moral obligation to sympotic function, and enhances his derisive abili- that gender is a performance (a set of actions and choices people sure to conform from peers and superiors, cultural messages in reflection, and the third, expression of one’s likes and dislikes. ties against both Neoboule by means of comparison, and against make) that either conforms with or breaks those social norms. A the media, and one’s sense of self-identity interact to provide the However, this is impossible without manipulating the characters Lycambes by means of straightforward insult. central feature of gender performances involves a person’s choice conditions in which people make gendered choices throughout of apparel; for example, dressing according to the masculine norm their lives. is a way to perform masculinity. The social norms of gender gov- As numerous authors note,2 clothing is a major locus for gender Notes ern not only what appears as which gender, but also who should performance. Infant garments are gender segregated into pink and 1 M.L. West, Studies in Greek Elegy and Iambus (New York: Walter de 16 Ibid., 53. 36 Eustathius on Homer, Iliad. 25.775 (iv.836.1 V.d. Valk). appear each way, and people whose gender performances do not Gruyter & Co., 1974), 22. blue from birth. Even fantasy and role-playing costumes such as 17 37 conform are said to transgress gender boundaries. Ibid 53ff. Archilochus, frag. 207 West, Iambi et Elegi. those worn on Halloween are gendered not only by character, but 2 Ibid. 18 Neoboule’s sister refers to only one other in her house prepared to 38 Ibid., frag. 208. Many studies of gender issues have focused on students and by wearer (Nelson, 2000). Moreover, clothing can be an important 3 Aristotle. Aristotle in 23 Volumes. vol. 23, trans. by W.H. Fyfe (Cam- be married (“Cologne Epode,” 196aW). 39 bridge, MA: Harvard University Press) 1448b. Ibid., frag. 209. schools, and it has been widely recognized that some disciplines and conscious part of identity construction, as Mary Bucholtz’ 19 Ibid. 40 are gendered feminine (e.g. language and humanities) and oth- (1999) work on high school nerd girl culture demonstrates. Raine 4 Theodore Waitz, Aristotelis Organon Graece, vol. 2. (1846, repr., Hesychius, Lexicon. 20 Lipsiae) 407. Ibid., 36-38. ers masculine (e.g. mathematics and sciences). There has been Dozier (2005) provides a broader overview of the trends that these 41 Archilochus, frag. 23 and 126 West, Iambi et Elegi: both fragments 23 21 5 Ralph M. Rosen, “Hipponax, Boupalos, and the Conventions of the Ibid., 10-11. and 126 make it very clear that Archilochos wielded his bitter words considerable work on the way a discipline’s gender affects student case studies examine. For her, bodies are treated and interpreted Psogos,” Transactions of the American Philological Association 118 proudly. 22 Archilochus, frag. 38 West, Iambi et Elegi. participation and scores (Steele, 1999), however, there has been as ongoing projects of gender performance; people are constantly (1988): 29-41. 42 M.L. West, “Some Oriental Motifs in Archilochus,” Zeitschrift für surprisingly little work on the way the gender of a discipline af- “doing gender” by making choices about how to appear and what 23 West, Studies in Greek, 123. 6 Ibid., 30. Papyrologie und Epigraphik 102 (1994): 1–5. fects students’ gender performance. This study leverages quanti- to wear, whether and how much to conform with or transgress 24 Ibid. 43 7 West, Studies in Greek, 22. Archilochus, frag. 196 , 168, et. cetera West, Iambi et Elegi. tative observations of clothing and accessories to examine how against gender norms, and what such conformity or transgression 25 Archilochus, frag. 193 West, Iambi et Elegi. 44 8 Ibid., 23. Ewen L. Bowie “Greek Table-Talk before Plato,” Rhetorica 11 (no. university students perform gender in the classrooms of gendered could gain or cost them—in some cases gender transgression can 4): 355–371; Rhétoriques de la conversation, de l’Antiquité à l’époque 26 Ibid., frag. 118. 9 Chris Camery, “Iambos,” in The Cambridge Companion to Greek Lyric, moderne, Actes de la table ronde de Paris, 4 juin 1993 (Autumn, 1993): disciplines. The results reveal a depth and complexity to the sys- be extremely costly to family, social, and professional goals (Mir, ed. Felix Budelmann, (Cambridge University Press: 2009) 150. 27 Ibid., frag. 48. 355-373. tem of gender influence and performance which challenges sim- 2009). This concept of “doing gender” was first introduced in West

10 Archilochus, frag. 207 West, Iambi et Elegi Graeci ante Alexandrum 28 Ibid., frag. 60. plistic narratives about pressure to conform to disciplinary gender and Zimmerman’s paper by that title in 1987, where they argued Cantati (Oxford University Press, 1971). norms. that we cannot not do gender, because all things we do risk being 29 West, Studies in Greek, 123. 11 Marius Victorinus, Grammar. perceived in a gendered way. 30 Archilochus, frag. 189 West, Iambi et Elegi. Doing Gender, Constructing Social Norms 12 Mnesiepes Inscription, B(E2) col. I 31 Ibid., frag. 35. Performing Gender on a College Campus 13 Archilochus, frag. 215 West, Iambi et Elegi: “I have no interest in As elementary teacher Gair Boldt (1996) points out, the theory of iambi or amusements.” This statement seems to equivocate Iambus with 32 Ibid., frag. 188. performativity sheds a great deal of light on the means by which The university is a major social institution for U.S. students dur- amusement. 33 Ibid., frag. 205. gender is produced and reproduced. Even her eight-year-old pu- ing their formative young adult years. Even during class, students 14 Homeric Hymn to Demeter, ll: 190-205 34 Ibid., frag. 206. pils recognize that some behaviors (e.g. playing with girls, writing rank social goals such as friendships and romantic relationships 15 Ralph Rosen, Making Mockery: The Poetics of Ancient Satire, (Oxford poetry) connote “girl” while others (e.g. sports, rough play, dirti- highest among their top concerns, and to that end they may put 35 University Press: 2007) 52. Herennius Philo, On the Different Meanings of Words (p. 194 Palmieri, 83 Nickau Ammonius). Thanks to Dr. Orit Avishai, my faculty mentor, for guiding the work, and reviewing the results and drafts. This work was approved by Fordham’s Institutional Review Board. 31Published by DigitalResearch@Fordham, 2012 5 32