DOCSLIB.ORG

Lyric Indecorum in Archaic Mytilene (And Beyond): Sappho F 99 C

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Lyric Indecorum in Archaic Mytilene (And Beyond): Sappho F 99 C SOSYOLOJİ DERGİSİ TURKISH JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY Received: February 2, 2017 Revision received: April 4, 2017 Copyright © 2017 Istanbul University Department of Sociology Accepted: June 29, 2017 tjs.istanbul.edu.tr/en OnlineFirst: November 30, 2017 DOI 10.26650/TJS.2017.2.0003 December 2017 37(2) 259282 Original Article Lyric Indecorum in Archaic Mytilene (and Beyond): Sappho F 99 c. I.1–9 L-P = Alcaeus F 303Aa V* Timothy Power1 Abstract This paper considers a remarkable epithet in a lacunose fragment of Archaic Lesbian poetry that some have , against a member or members of the Polyanaktidai, an aristocratic family of Lesbian Mytilene, who are also mentioned in the fragment. This paper offers a new appraisal of the invective poetics of by taking a musicological and sociological approach, that is, by attending to the musical as well as the sexual dimen- sions of the epithet, and by reading it within the socio-musical context of Archaic Mytilene and Archaic and Classical Greece more widely. It is argued that the motivation and impact of the “dildo-receiving strings” evoked in the fragment are best appreciated in terms of the prestige of musical culture in Archaic Mytilene, society, sexually framed musical invective would have had a powerful effect, with political, social, and moral implications that went beyond the musical and the sexual. The paper concludes with a hypothesis about the origin of the tradition, reported in the Suda Keywords To cite this article: Turkish Journal of Sociology, 37 TURKISH JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY The Phallic Plectrum chelys, lyrabarbitos phorminxkithara barbitos tauDe Musica barbitos 260 Power phorminx kithara Anthology phorminx Satires 261 TURKISH JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY kithara Mirabilia Historical Miscellany Mimiamb olisbos and Chordai Olisbodokoi “Dildo-Receiving Strings” Iliad Odyssey Homeric Hymn to Apollo Leucippe and Clitophon plektron 262 Power phorminx Homeric Hymn to Hermes Hymn Library Suda Suda barbitos Homeric Hymn to Apollo , olisbos phorminx Hymn to Hermes olisboiLysistrata olisbosolisboi LexiconSuda 263 TURKISH JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY .] .. [ ]. 1 .] [..]. [ [ ] ]. 1 _…[.] µ [ .[.]] ….[.] 3 _…µ .[.] ….[.] 3 .] .. [ ]. 1 _ [.] [ ] …. 5 _[_…] µ [ .[.]] ….[.…. ] 3 5 ]…..[ _’ ] [[] ] …. 5 7 ]…..] ’ [][..] [] [] 7 ]….. ’ [] 7 ] ] ’.[.]..[..] [..]... 9 ] [..] ] ] ’.[.]..’.[.]..[..].[..]..... 9 9 4 ’ Lobel 7 ] Ferrari 4 ’ Lobel 7 ] Ferrari 4 ’ Lobel 7 ] Ferrari a littlea little later later 1 1 the Polyanaka thelittle Polyanak latertid(s)tid(s) 2 12 3 the Polyanakstriking strings tid(s) 4 23 striking that strings receive the olisbos 5 34 with such people as those gladly 6 that receive the olisbos 5 striking andstrings [and a stringed instrument] is set 4 thatwith receive suchto quivering people the (gently?)olisbos as those gladly 7 56 with and such [and people a stringed as those instrument] gladly is set 6 to and quivering [and a stringed(gently?) instrument] is set 7 to quivering (gently?) 7 olisbodokos olisbos 264 Power olisbodokos olisbos olisbos olisbosolisbodokos olisbos de Poem.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Starting with Anacreon While Preparing a Compendium of Essays on Sappho and Her Ancient Reception
    Starting with Anacreon while preparing a compendium of essays on Sappho and her ancient reception The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters Citation Nagy, Gregory. 2021.02.06. "Starting with Anacreon while preparing a compendium of essays on Sappho and her ancient reception." Classical Inquiries. http://nrs.harvard.edu/ urn-3:hul.eresource:Classical_Inquiries. Published Version https://classical-inquiries.chs.harvard.edu/starting-with-anacreon- while-preparing-a-compendium-of-essays-on-sappho-and-her- ancient-reception/ Citable link https://nrs.harvard.edu/URN-3:HUL.INSTREPOS:37367198 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#LAA Classical Inquiries Editors: Angelia Hanhardt and Keith Stone Consultant for Images: Jill Curry Robbins Online Consultant: Noel Spencer About Classical Inquiries (CI ) is an online, rapid-publication project of Harvard’s Center for Hellenic Studies, devoted to sharing some of the latest thinking on the ancient world with researchers and the general public. While articles archived in DASH represent the original Classical Inquiries posts, CI is intended to be an evolving project, providing a platform for public dialogue between authors and readers. Please visit http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.eresource:Classical_Inquiries for the latest version of this article, which may include corrections, updates, or comments and author responses. Additionally, many of the studies published in CI will be incorporated into future CHS pub- lications.
    [Show full text]
  • Anacreon - Poems
    Classic Poetry Series Anacreon - poems - Publication Date: 2012 Publisher: Poemhunter.com - The World's Poetry Archive Anacreon(570 BC – 488 BC) Anacreon ((570 BC – 488 BC) was a Greek lyric poet, notable for his drinking songs and hymns. Later Greeks included him in the canonical list of nine lyric poets. Anacreon wrote all of his poetry in the ancient Ionic dialect. Like all early lyric poetry, it was composed to be sung or recited to the accompaniment of music, usually the lyre. Anacreon's verses were primarily in the form of monody, which means that they were to be performed by a single voice rather than by a chorus. In keeping with Greek poetic tradition, his poetry relied on meter for its construction. Metrical poetry is a particularly rhythmic form, deriving its structure from patterns of phonetic features within and between the lines of verse. The phonetic patterning in Anacreon's poetry, like all the Greek poetry of the day, is found in the structured alternation of "long" and "short" vowel sounds. The Ionic dialect also had a tonal aspect to it that lends a natural melodic quality to the recitation. Anacreon's meters include the anacreonteus. The Greek language is particularly well suited to this metrical style of poetry but the sound of the verses does not easily transfer to English. As a consequence, translators have historically tended to substitute rhyme, stress rhythms, stanzaic patterning and other devices for the style of the originals, with the primary, sometimes only, connection to the Greek verses being the subject matter. More recent translators have tended to attempt a more spare translation which, though losing the sound of the originals, may be more true to their flavor.
    [Show full text]
  • Kithara of the Golden Age
    KITHARA OF THE GOLDEN AGE The kithara was the highly advanced, large wooden lyre favoured by only the true professional musicians of ancient Greece, which reached its pinnacle of perfection during the “Golden Age” of Classical Antiquity, circa 5th century BCE. My album "The Ancient Greek Kithara of Classical Antiquity" features the wonderfully recreated Kithara of the Golden Age of Classical Greece - hand-made in modern Greece by Luthieros: http://en.luthieros.com/ Since late 2014, I have been collaborating with Luthieros in their inspirational "Lyre 2.0 Project" - dedicated to reintroducing the wonderful lyres of antiquity back into the modern world, to make these beautiful instruments accessible to each and every modern musician. This new series of recordings hopefully demonstrate why the kithara was so venerated in antiquity, as the instrument of the professional musician - perfect for both accompanying the human voice and for as an incredibly versatile solo instrument. In particular, I attempt to demonstrate the wonderfully reconstructed 2500 year old vibrato mechanism, for which there is an almost overwhelming body of visual evidence to support this theory. THE OVERWHELMING BODY OF VISUAL EVIDENCE FOR THE VIBRATO MECHANISM All original illustrations of the ancient Greek kithara clearly show what appear to be 2 tiers of inverted ‘U’ shaped curved springs beneath the yoke to which the strings are attached, with the top of the arms carved almost wafer thin, (often with projections which could certainly be interpreted as actual articulated hinges), which almost certainly was to allow for lateral movement of the yoke and the attached strings, complete with 2 vertical levers either side of the yoke, which if light lateral pressure was applied, would certainly have an eerie vocal vibrato effect.
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction: Ancient Lyric Poetry Marianina Olcott
    Humanities 1A Reader Introduction: Ancient Lyric Poetry Marianina Olcott ncient lyric poetry, as its name in Greek implies, was originally intended to be accompanied, usually, by the lyre, a stringed instrument shaped like a small harp. Unlike the stately A dactylic hexameters of the Homeric epics, the Iliad and Odyssey, the meters of lyric poetry are more varied and thus well-suited to the more personal themes and intimate psychological states of the short lyric stanza. Thus, the majority of our poems celebrate themes of every day life — love poems, drinking songs , songs of farewell, odes to spring — rather than the heroic exploits of the epics and the tragic situations of the drama, another complex poetic form. As with other poetic forms, the original musical accompaniment, in addition to the complex metrical patterns of the original Greek and Latin lyrics, is but a small part of what has been lost both through time and translation into a modern language. Moreover, many of the longer lyric poems were meant for choral performance. Thus, another dimension, that of the dance, has also been lost to us. The so-called Age of Lyric Poetry in Greece followed the period of Homeric composition, but unlike the Homeric epic, the period of lyric poetry's creative growth, the seventh and sixth centuries BCE, coincided with the widespread adoption and use of writing in Greece. Thus, the Greek lyric poems were written down and spread the fame of their composers throughout Greece of the Archaic Period (circa 650 - 500 BCE). When we turn our attention to Roman lyric poetry, it is generally agreed that the period of its greatness dates from the first century BCE to the end of the first century CE.
    [Show full text]
  • The Image of a 'Drunken Scythian' in Greek Tradition
    1st Annual International Interdisciplinary Conference, AIIC 2013, 24-26 April, Azores, Portugal - Proceedings- THE IMAGE OF A ‘DRUNKEN SCYTHIAN’ IN GREEK TRADITION Joanna Porucznik, MA University of Liverpool/Uniwersytet Wrocławski, UK/Poland Abstract: Since the Greeks first came into contact with Scythian populations (who should be understood as a great conglomerate of various groups of peoples inhabiting the north Pontic steppes), many negative clichés concerning the Scythians occurred in Greek tradition. One of them is the stereotype of drunkenness among the Scythians and their lack of urbane manners that were commonly accepted by Greek society. This image of a drunken Scythian may have been created in Greek tradition due to the fact that the Scythians (Scythian aristocracy in particular) adopted the Greek tradition of the drinking of wine. This is visible in archaeological material from the northern Black Sea areas, where many amphorae and wine jars have been found in Scythian tombs. However, written sources indicate that the Scythians did not mix wine with water and this did not correspond with Greek customs, according to which drinking unadulterated wine was extremely ‘barbarian’ and inappropriate. This in turn may have become a catalyst behind the concept of drunkenness amongst the Scythians. Key Words: Scythians, Greeks, symposion, wine, the Black Sea Introduction: When studying the issue of the image of the Scythians in antiquity, the first thing that should be mentioned is the fact that the ancient Greeks used the name ‘Scythians’ to describe all nomadic populations inhabited vast territories of the steppes north of the Black Sea. In turn, in the territories of Asia, the Scythians were known as Saka.
    [Show full text]
  • The Image of a 'Drunken Scythian' in Greek
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by European Scientific Journal (European Scientific Institute) 1st Annual International Interdisciplinary Conference, AIIC 2013, 24-26 April, Azores, Portugal - Proceedings- THE IMAGE OF A ‘DRUNKEN SCYTHIAN’ IN GREEK TRADITION Joanna Porucznik, MA University of Liverpool/Uniwersytet Wrocławski, UK/Poland Abstract: Since the Greeks first came into contact with Scythian populations (who should be understood as a great conglomerate of various groups of peoples inhabiting the north Pontic steppes), many negative clichés concerning the Scythians occurred in Greek tradition. One of them is the stereotype of drunkenness among the Scythians and their lack of urbane manners that were commonly accepted by Greek society. This image of a drunken Scythian may have been created in Greek tradition due to the fact that the Scythians (Scythian aristocracy in particular) adopted the Greek tradition of the drinking of wine. This is visible in archaeological material from the northern Black Sea areas, where many amphorae and wine jars have been found in Scythian tombs. However, written sources indicate that the Scythians did not mix wine with water and this did not correspond with Greek customs, according to which drinking unadulterated wine was extremely ‘barbarian’ and inappropriate. This in turn may have become a catalyst behind the concept of drunkenness amongst the Scythians. Key Words: Scythians, Greeks, symposion, wine, the Black Sea Introduction: When studying the issue of the image of the Scythians in antiquity, the first thing that should be mentioned is the fact that the ancient Greeks used the name ‘Scythians’ to describe all nomadic populations inhabited vast territories of the steppes north of the Black Sea.
    [Show full text]
  • A Lyre on the Ground
    Hyperboreus 18:1 (2012) Nina Almazova A LYRE ON THE GROUND To Prof. Dr. Heinz Heinen Among Attic red-fi gured vases from the Hermitage collection is a stemmed plate by the Dish Painter 1 dated to 470–460 BC. The painting in the interior (fi g. 1a) represents a bare-footed short-haired girl wearing a short high- girdled chiton and a diadem or a leaved fi llet. In a dance that resembles running she approaches a lyre lying on the ground and looks backwards. A ribbon is attached to the instrument; over the lyre there is an inscription in purple, all the letters of which are clearly visible: CORFELES. The content of this image has not been much discussed. The most detailed examination is that of Anna Peredolskaya in her Hermitage catalogue of red-fi gured Attic vases.2 Peredolskaya argues that the musical instrument3 decorated with a ribbon points rather to a cult dance with an accompaniment than to running. The glance of the girl is directed backwards, which makes it probable that she is being followed by someone; possibly, she is leading a chorus of young girls. The same explanation is implied by the inscription, which states clearly that the image deals with a chorus performance – though the translation given by Peredolskaya (‘идущая во главе хора’ – ‘leading a chorus’) is inadequate.4 The girl’s headgear which she calls “a golden diadem” points to a festive garment, according to Peredolskaya “a traditional garment of a young dancer”. Peredolskaya points out that the reason for placing the lyre on the ground is obscure.
    [Show full text]
  • Herodotus and the Heroic Age: the Case of Minos
    Herodotus and the Heroic Age: The Case of Minos Myth, Truth, and Narrative in Herodotus Emily Baragwanath and Mathieu de Bakker Print publication date: 2012 Print ISBN-13: 9780199693979 Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: September 2012 DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199693979.001.0001 Herodotus and the Heroic Age: The Case of Minos Rosaria V. Munson DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199693979.003.0008 Abstract and Keywords In the fifth century, traditional myths about gods and heroes of a remote age still constituted a shared cultural language for speaking about a variety of more or less specific current issues of a philosophical, ethical, social, and political nature. Other than tragedy and epinician poetry, we should especially remember the role of myth in Thucydides, whose ‘Archaeology’ sets down his fundamental, and ideologically charged, view of history. It is time to reassess Herodotus' participation in this contemporary coded discourse and examine the ways in which he uses the mythical past as well as the cases when he appears to signal his choice not to use it. One dismissive passage in Herodotus (3.122) confirms the significance of Minos — the focus of this chapter — in fifth-century discourse as a precursor or rival of Athenian thalassocracy (Thucydides and Bacchylides). But two additional mentions, in Books 1 and 7 respectively, connect Minos in more interesting ways to present realities of Greeks and non-Greeks in the East and West. How is the treatment of Minos in the Histories representative of Herodotus' ‘myth-speak’? Keywords: Trojan War, heroic age, thucydides, minos, Polycrates, Hearsay, akoê, Historiê, Protesilaus, Theseus I would like to consider the extent to which Herodotus attributes to myth a legitimate role in a work that memorializes the past.
    [Show full text]
  • Aspects of Myth in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes
    SYMBOLAE PHILOLOGORUM POSNANIENSIUM GRAECAE ET LATINAE XXVII/3 • 2017 pp. 189–236. ISSN 0302-7384 dOI: 10.14746/sppgl.2017.XXVII.3.12 Magdalena JarczYk Gorzów wielkopolski Aspects of Myth in the HomeRiC Hymn to Hermes abstraCt. Jarczyk Magdalena, Aspects of Myth in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes. The article explores the narrative recounted in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes for its aetiological and educational content and message. In particular, it discusses the creation of the lyre, the role of music in paideia and a less explored view of the protagonist’s cattle raid as it relates to war, sports and the education of youth. It then explores the religious context and specific meaning of Hermes slaughtering two of the stolen cows by contrasting his actions with those of Prometheus. keywords: Homeric Hymn to Hermes; myth; lyre; education; cattle raiding; ritual; sacrifice; food offering. Introduction Great Mercury, by Maia sprung From Atlas; god of nimble tongue And understanding; saviour Of our new race, who deigned to teach Man wrestling, grace of body, speech And civilised behaviour The purpose of this paper1 is to put forward an interpretation of a number of aspects of the myth told in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes; an interpretation focused on those motifs in the poem whose role is, in one way or another, didactic. It was written with the conviction that the Hymn is a significant and 1 This paper was originally my diploma (licentiate) dissertation written in 2006 under the supervision of dr Magdalena Stuligrosz and submitted in the Institute of Classical Philology of Adam Mickiewicz University.
    [Show full text]
  • The Mycenaean Bard: the Evidence for Sound and Song*
    THE MYCENAEAN BARD: THE EVIDENCE FOR SOUND AND SONG* In this paper, I concentrate on the Mycenaean bard’s concert lyre (here called phorminx), his singing, and aspects of his professionalism. Prolegomena Most of the Aegean Bronze Age (ca. 2200-200 BCE) has produced images of musicians and singers, as well as depictions and the extant fragments of the instruments themselves. Nonetheless, what we know about Aegean music is dependent on what the Aegean artists felt comfortable about portraying—for instance, there are no images of women playing a musical instrument, and fewer instruments are depicted than have been found.2 In the Early and Middle Bronze Ages harps were popular. Lyres and sistra make their first appearance early in the Middle Minoan period, and both continue into the Late Bronze Age (when both are associated with singing but not together). The earliest extant examples of sistra are in terracotta: a singleton from Archanes, Phournoi (MM IA context; Pl. I), and five from the Ayios Charalambos cave in East Crete (MM II). All six terracotta examples are similar: a short thick handle, and an oval frame which supports two thin, horizontal wooden sticks (restored) on which were strung terracotta disks. The sole extant bronze sistrum comes from a bronze hoard at Mochlos (LM I context); it consists of a bent loop of bronze inserted between two flanges at the top of the handle. Two horizontal bronze pins pierce the loop (with bent ends on the outside, like cotter pins); on these pins were strung metal disks. Not only would the disks make a rattling sound, but the pins would jangle in their sockets and their angled ends would strike the loop.
    [Show full text]
  • Redalyc.MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS and the PAEAN in ARCHILOCHUS
    Synthesis ISSN: 0328-1205 [email protected] Universidad Nacional de La Plata Argentina Corrêa, Paula Da Cunha MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS AND THE PAEAN IN ARCHILOCHUS Synthesis, vol. 16, 2009, pp. 99-112 Universidad Nacional de La Plata La Plata, Argentina Available in: http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=84615528005 How to cite Complete issue Scientific Information System More information about this article Network of Scientific Journals from Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal Journal's homepage in redalyc.org Non-profit academic project, developed under the open access initiative MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS AND THE PAEAN IN ARCHILOCHUS PAULA DA CUNHA CORRÊA University of São Paulo RESUMEN El presente artículo analiza la significación de la relativamente frecuente ocurrencia de la terminología musical en los fragmentos de Arquíloco, tal como auloí y ejecutantes de auloí (fr.58.12,269), liras (fr.54.11, 93a lira + aulos), la trompeta (fr. 214) y el ejecutante de trompa (fr. 269), y la referencia al peán (fr.121) en sus contextos. ABSTRACT This paper intends to examine the significance of the relatively frequent occurrence of musical terminology in the fragments of Archilochus, such as auloi and auloi players (fr. 58.12, 269), lyres (fr.54.11, 93a lyre + aulos), the trumpet (fr. 214) and horn player (fr. 269), and reference to a paean (fr.121), in their contexts. PALABRAS CLAVE: Terminología musical-Peán-Arquíloco KEY WORDS: Musical Terminology-Paean-Archilochus In comparison with other archaic elegiac and iambic poets, the occurrences of musical terminology in the fragments of Archilochus are remarkable for their number and variety.
    [Show full text]
  • “The Boys Are My Gods”: Anacreon's Pederastic Poetry and Its Moral
    “The boys are my gods”: Anacreon’s pederastic poetry and its moral reception Lorenzo BUCCERONI Pindar refers this to Alcaeus and Ibycus and Anacreon and anyone else before him who may have devoted his attention to his favourite boy: for these writers were older than Pindar. They say that when Anacreon was asked why he did not write hymns to gods but to boys, he replied, “Because they are my gods” (tr. D.A. Campbell).1 Through this anecdote, the scholia to Pindar are aiming to prove Anacreon’s unconditional devotion to extolling his beloved boys: he admits that he composes hymns not to gods but to youths, since they are his deities.2 When interpreted literally, the anecdote goes against the evidence that Anacreon composed hymns to gods: one should therefore judge its meaning in relation to Anacreon’s poetics (1) and the time of the anecdote’s origin (2). 1. A mere glance to the poetic fragments enables us to grasp the symbolic value3 of Anacreon’s “boutade”.4 First, his prayers are usually functional to love for boys. The most striking example is the hymn to Dionysius, where the god of wine is requested to be a good counsellor of the young Cleoubulus, so “that he accept my love”.5 Such a prayer sounds not strange in the erotic poetry, as we can easily see from Sappho (fr. 1 V.); but Anacreon takes the gods of love and wine into his own symposium so concretely and intimately that their divine nature, also due to his playful and soft emotional timbre, comes to be almost deconsecrated.6 In a poem whose content is illustrated by Himerius, Anacreon 1 Schol.
    [Show full text]