THE HONEYCOMB OF ERINNA: AN EXAMINATION OF HOMOEROTIC LOVE, LOSS, AND LAMENTATION By Julia Barclay 1

Λέσβιον Ἠρίννης τόδε κηρίον. εἰ δέ τι µικρόν, ἀλλ᾽ ὅλον ἐκ Μουσέων κιρνάµενον µέλιτι. οἱ δὲ τριηκόσιοι ταύτης στίχοι ἶσοι Ὁµήρῳ, τῆς και παρθενικῆς ἐννεακαιδεκέτευς. ἣ καὶ ἐπ᾽ ἠλακάτῃ µητρὸς φόβῳ, ἥ καὶ ἐφ᾽ ἱστῷ ἑστήκει Μουσέων λάτρις ἐφαπτοµένη. Σαπφὼ δ᾽ Ἠρίννης ὅσσον µελέεσσιν ἀµείνων, Ἤριννα Σαπφοῦς τόσσον ἐν ἑξαµέτροις.1

(AP Anonymous, 9.190)

Erinna, a Hellenistic poetess praised in antiquity by those who came after her, spun the majority of her surviving works around the marriage and death of her childhood friend, Baucis, throughout which she is palpably consumed by grief.2 In the above anonymous epigram, the largest of these works, her Distaff, here described as the “honeycomb” of Erinna, is stated to be equal to Homer and superior to in its hexameters. What modern scholarship has taken from this antique statement is the opportunity to analyse the thematic and linguistic relationships between Erinna, Homer, and Sappho, though few studies have performed this task with the intent of reading homoeroticism into the relationship between Erinna and the sole focus of the majority

1 All translations of the original Greek can be found at the end of this paper.

2 Erinna mourns the loss of Baucis both to death and her marriage, most notably in the Distaff, though her epigrams detail more of the relationship between death and marriage as the agent that took Baucis to the underworld, a com- mon motif in Greek myth – particularly in that of Persephone and Demeter. As far as her praise goes, Antipater of Thessalonica featured Erinna in his canon of in female poets and Meleager weaves her into his Garland of poets. 2 of her surviving poetry, Baucis.3 In comparison to Homer, it is clear that Erinna adopted both meter and a pattern of lament observed in the and, in Sappho, her use of the Aeolic dialect, themes of feminine separation, and Homeric motifs themselves are explicit. In turn, Erinna’s mo- tivations for applying each of these can be read as homoerotic through a deeper exploration of these elements and a consideration of the erotic perception of Erinna amongst her Hellenistic successors. Accordingly, the following study seeks to rectify this gap of intent in taking from and building upon these previous efforts in scholarship while addressing the use of Erinna’s poetry by her successors in order to highlight the homoeroticism inherent to her work. First, let us account for Erinna’s surviving body of work in a brief assessment of the Distaff and two of her epigrams before we expand upon our comparisons and antique perception. This introductory discussion is necessarily restricted to the 20 extant lines we have from the Distaff, though, as our anonymous epigram affirms, “ὅλον ἐκ Μουσέων κιρνάµενον µέλιτι.”4

[λε]υκᾶν µαινοµέν[οισιν ἐσάλατο π]οσσὶν ἀφ᾽ ἵ[π]πω[ν]· [αἰ]αῖ ἐγώ, µέγ᾽ ἄυσα· φ[ίλα. τὺ δ᾽ ἔοισα] χελύννα, [ἁλ]λοµένα µεγάλας [ἔδραµες κατὰ] χορτίον αὐλᾶς. [τα]ῦτα τύ, Βαυκὶ τάλαι[να, βαρὺ στονα]χεῖσα γόηµ[ι]· [τα]ῦτά µοι ἐν κρα[δίαι . . .] παίχνια κεῖται θέρµ᾽ ἔτι· τῆν[α δὲ τοῖσιν ἀθ]ύροµες ἄνθρακες ἤδη, δαγύ[δ]ων τε χ[ιτῶνεσ . . . ] ίδες ἐν θαλάµοισι νύµ[φαι]σιν [ . . . . ] έες· ἅ τε πὸτ ὄρθρον µάτηρ ἀείδ̣ οισα [. . .]οισιν ἐρείθο̣ ις̣ τή̣ νας ἦλθε [ . . . ] µένα̣ ἀµφ' ἁλίπαστον, ἇι µ̣ ικρᾶι στ[ . . . ] µέγαν ̣φόβον ἄ[ ]γαγε Μορµώ, τᾶς ̣ἐν µὲν κορυφᾶι µεγάλ' ὤατα, ποσσὶ δὲ φοιτῆι τέτρ̣ α̣ σιν· ἐκ δ' ἑτέρας ἑτέραν µετεβάλλετ' ὀπωπάν.

3 Of the studies treating Erinna sourced in this study alone, the intent behind each generally concerns a study of Homer, Erinna and their usage of lament with Marilyn Skinner, “, the Trojan Women, and Erinna,” The Clas- sical World 75 (1982): 265-269, similar themes between Sappho and Erinna in John Rauk, “Erinna’s Distaff and Sappho Fr. 94” Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 30 (1989): 101-116, and Diane J. Raynor, “The Power of Memory in Erinna and Sappho” in Ellen Greene, Women Poets in and Rome (University of Okla- homa Press: Norman, 2005), as part of a greater discussion of women and women poets in antiquity in Sylvia Barnard, “Hellenistic Women Poets” The Classical Journal 73 (1978): 204-213, Josephine Balmer trans. Classical Women Poets (Bloodaxe Books: Newcastle, 1996), Laurel Bowman, “The ‘Women’s Tradition’ in Greek Poetry.” Phoenix 58 (2004): 1-27, Jane Snyder, The Woman and the Lyre: Women Writers in Classical Greece and Rome (Bristol Classical Press: Bristol, 1989), and Sarah Pomeroy, Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves: Women in Clas- sical Antiquity (Shocken Books: New York, 1975), and themes in Erinna alone with Marilyn B. Arthur, “The tortoise and the mirror. Erinna, PSI 1090.” The Classical World 74 (1980): 53-66, in Averil Cameron and Alan Cameron, “Erinna’s Distaff” The Classical Quarterly 19 (1969): 285-288, Giuseppe Giangrande “An Epigram of Erinna” The Classical Review 19 (1969): 1-3, Elizabeth Manwell, “dico ergo sum: Erinna’s Voice and Poetic Reality” in Ellen Greene, Women Poets in Ancient Greece and Rome (University of Oklahoma Press: Norman, 2005), and Eva Stehle, “The Good Daughter: Mother’s Tutelage in Erinna’s Distaff and Fourth Century Epitaphs.” In André Lardinois and Laura McClure, Women’s Voices in Greek Literature and Society (Princeton University Press: Princeton, 2001). Though several of these briefly mention the potentials of Erinna’s sexuality, Marilyn B. Skinner, Sexuality in Greek and Roman Culture (Wiley Blackwell: Chichester, 2014) alone stands out in its intentional address of Erinna’s sexu- ality as expressed in her work and discussions of her in antiquity.

4 “…it is entirely infused with honey by the Muses.” 3

ἁνίκα δ' ἐς λέχος ἀνδρὸς ἔβας, τόκ̣ α πάντ̣ ' ̣ ἐλέλασο, ἅσσ' ἔτι ν̣ ηπιάσασ̣ α τεᾶς παρὰ µατρὸς ἄκουσας, Βαυκὶ φίλα· λάθαν [ . . . ] ε[ . . . ] Ἀφροδίτα. τῷ τυ κατακλαίοισα τα[̣ . . . ]ε λείπω· οὐ̣ ̣γάρ µοι πόδες ἐντὶ λιπῆν ἄπ̣ ο̣ δῶµα βέβαλοι, οὐδ̣ '̣ ἐσιδῆν φαέε[σσι θέλω νέκυν, οὐδὲ γοᾶσαι γυµναῖσιν χαίταισιν, ἐπεὶ φοινίκεος αἰδώς5

(Erinna, Distaff, 21-40)

In beginning to quantify the relationship between Erinna and Baucis as homoerotic, the Distaff provides us with personal language demonstrating their closeness as our poetess refers to her childhood friend as “φίλα,” “dear one” and she clearly holds their memories together equally dear. In listing their childhood antics, Erinna weaves the image of two young girls attached at the hip in their youth – in playing tortoise outside, clutching their dolls, even fearing the Ancient Greek boogeyman, Mormo.6 We begin to read some semblance of homoeroticism in the Distaff where Erinna describes playing young brides in their chambers, a memory which Snyder has taken in tandem with our poetess’ Sapphic qualities to be a potentially erotic scene.7 We will re- turn to this motif in our discussion of Sappho’s influence on Erinna’s work, but suffice it to say here that their relationship was undoubtedly close. In the remainder of our extant lines, we come to understand that Baucis’ marriage drew her away from Erinna, leaving her alone and unable to attend her funeral or properly mourn a death that is not explicitly mentioned in these lines of the Distaff. As such, Baucis’ marriage is the impetus of separation, a credible statement as she would have left Erinna’s company and their childhood together to live in her new husband’s household.8 What Erinna first mourns in the Distaff is that Baucis forgot the memories Erinna immortalized through verse, only later mourn- ing an assumed death she could not attend.9 There have been various reasons supplied for Erin- na’s inability to appear at Baucis’ funeral; some argue that she was a priestess in a cult that pro- hibited funeral attendance, others suggest it was her age as an unmarried woman, or even the fact that she was not a blood-relative of Baucis – whatever the reason, though, we should note here that she blushes in shame at her incapability, which could indicate the depth of her emotion.10

5 The original Greek and suggested fragments here are according to the PSI IX 1090 edition.

6 For a deeper analysis of the tortoise game and its various connotations as expressed in the Distaff, see Arthur, “The tortoise and the mirror,” 53-66.

7 Snyder, The Woman and the Lyre, 95.

8 Skinner, “Briseis, the Trojan Women, and Erinna,” 269.

9 For more detail on these conclusions, see Rauk, “Erinna’s Distaff and Sappho,” 114.

10 For more on Erinna’s blush as an indication of the depth of her feelings, see Rauk, “Erinna’s Distaff and Sappho,” 115. 4

With the context of Erinna’s epigrams we receive greater detail regarding Baucis’ death and its inextricable link to the marriage Erinna mourns in the Distaff.

Στάλα καὶ Σειρῆνες ἐµαὶ καὶ πένθιµε κρωσσέ ὅστις ἔχεις Ἀίδα τὰν ὀλίγαν σποδιάν, τοῖσ ἐµὸν ἐρχοµένοισι παρ᾽ ἠρίον εἴπατε χαίρειν, αἴτ᾽ ἀστοὶ τελέθωντ᾽ αἴθ᾽ ἑτεροπτόλιες· χὤτι πατήρ µε νύµφαν εὖσαν τάφος · εἴπατε καὶ τό, χὤτι πατήρ µ᾽ ἐκάλει Βαυκίδα, χὤτι γένος Τηνία, ὡς εἰδῶντι, καὶ ὅττι µοι ἁ συνεταιρίς Ἤρινν᾽ ἐν τύµβῳ γράµµ᾽ ἐχάραξε τόδε

(Erinna, AP 7.710)

Νύµφας Βαυκίδος εἰµί, πολυκλαύταν δὲ παρέρπων στάλαν τῷ κατὰ γᾶς τοῦτο λέγοις Ἀίδᾳ · ῾βάσκανος ἔσσ᾽, Ἀίδα᾽. τὰ δε τοι καλὰ σάµαθ᾽ ὁρῶντι ὠµοτάταν Βαυκοῦς ἀγγελέοντι τύχαν, ὡς τὰν παῖδ᾽ ῾Υµέναιος ἐφ᾽ αἷς ἀείδετο πεύκαις τᾶσδ᾽ ἐπὶ καδεστὰς ἔφλεγε πυρκαϊᾶς, καὶ σὺ µέν, ὦ ᾽Υµέναιε, γάµων µολπαῖον ἀοιδάν ἐς θρήνων γοερὸν φθέγµα µεθαρµόσαο

(Erinna, AP 7.712)

In accordance with her character in the Distaff, both of these epigrams describe Baucis as a young bride, “νύµφη,” first from the voice of Baucis herself interpreted posthumously by Erinna, and from the voice of the gravestone in the second – both addressing the imagined passer-by of this hypothetical tomb.11 For more substance to the closeness of these two women, Erinna de- scribes herself in relation to Baucis as her συνεταιρίς, a word I have translated to be “close friend,” though there is more to be said on the cultural contexts of the root word, ἑταίρα.12 In the Archaic period, ἑταίρα would have indicated an adult female companion, though the Hellenistic period introduces an element of eroticism into the phrase as it becomes a word associated with high-class courtesans.13 In Plato’s Symposium in the Classical period, Aristophanes adopts anoth- er form of the word in ἑταιρίστρια to connote female companions attracted to other women.14 As

11 I say, “hypothetical tomb” here as there is no evidence to suggest that these epigrams were ever inscribed on a physical object; for more on this see Raynor, “The Power of Memory in Erinna and Sappho,” 67.

12 The feminine form of this word occurs very rarely, though the masculine form, itself rare, is used in Sappho’s fr. 44 to describe the male companions of during his wedding to – so, perhaps, this only indicates Erinna’s similar friendship to a betrothed individual.

13 Raynor, “The Power of Memory in Erinna and Sappho,” 61.

14 Plato, Symposium 191e. 5 such, I do not want to completely separate the form Erinna uses here from these erotic implica- tions, as she would have been aware of all three interpretations.15 With our second epigram we can more clearly tie marriage and death together as equal points of separation between Erinna and Baucis, as our poetess asserts that the pine-torches lit over the young bride’s wedding ceremony were also used to light her funeral pyre. This is, per- haps, hyperbolic and it does makes use of the common “bride of death” trope observed in Greek folktale, though the close relationship between Baucis’ death and her own wedding is consistent across Erinna’s surviving work.16 So, we can maintain our understanding that marriage and death were synonymous modes of separation, at the very least, within Erinna’s mind. A dual purpose for these epigrams surfaces as well, though it is more explicitly stated in the second, as Hymen performs that which Erinna admitted her inability to perform in the Distaff – a funerary lament. Accordingly, not only are these works a funerary testament to the death of Baucis, but they stand as an expression of Erinna’s effort to lament her childhood friend through verse as she could not have done in reality.17 We can now work to contextualize the first statement in our introductory anonymous epi- gram; her relationship to Homer. Beyond her outstanding use of , Erinna’s adoption of Homeric lament in the Distaff allows us to characterize Erinna’s grief as that of a woman mourning her beloved, as Andromache’s lamentations in the Iliad provide a clear paral- lel. Andromache participates in three separate lamentation scenes over her husband, Hector, and the Distaff’s similarities to the lament set in Book 22 allow us to read a similar relationship be- tween Erinna and Baucis. In Book 22, lines 477-514, Andromache defines a pattern of epic lament that requires a direct address to the deceased, the voicing of pain and sorrow, the recollec- tion of an earlier happier time, and an acknowledgement of the effects of this death upon the speaker.18 Here, Andromache calls upon Hector directly, voices her own misfortune at being left behind, reflects on happy memories with their son, Astyanax, and bitterly acknowledges her in- ability to dress Hector in funerary garments. Erinna’s Distaff follows this pattern in much the same fashion; she calls upon her dear Baucis, bewails her, recalls their happy childhood together, and blushes in shame at her failure to properly lament her death.19 Erinna, then, utilizes this pat- tern of lament set by Homer in order to characterize herself alongside Andromache, as, like her, Erinna calls to a beloved that is no longer with her, looks back on their time together with long-

15 Skinner, Sexuality in Greek and Roman Culture, 244.

16 For more on the “Bride of Death” trope in Greek folktale, see Arthur, “The tortoise and the mirror,” 64; for an epigram putting Erinna herself in the role of bride to Hades, see AP 7.13 attributed to Leonidas or Meleager.

17 I should acknowledge here that the authorship of these epigrams is debated, as, though they are attributed to Erin- na within the , there is no mention of Erinna being an epigrammist in extant discussions about her antiquity – she is primarily noted for her hexameters and the Distaff. It is equally possible, then, that another poet wrote these epigrams in admiration of Erinna and styled them after her Distaff – though, I would argue that this still maintains the intention of our discussion in that the antique perception of Erinna has her consumed by the death of her dear friend, a compliment to what will follow in our ongoing discussion. For further discussion on the authorship of these epigrams, see Rauk, “Erinna’s Distaff and Sappho,” 103-104.

18 This pattern is identified and further explained in Skinner, “Briseis, the Trojan Women, and Erinna,” 266.

19 These same parallels are drawn in Skinner, “Briseis, the Trojan Women, and Erinna,” 267. 6 ing, and feels deep emotion at her inability to perform traditional funerary rites. I would argue that this is a deliberate effort on Erinna’s part as lamentation was traditionally the duty of women in the Greek world, specifically the closest female relative – in the Iliad, Andromache holds the most important role in the lament as wife of the deceased, and, in reality, Erinna could not have performed this role.20 And so, unable to physically attend the funeral of Baucis, Erinna places herself in the role of primary mourner in verse, paralleling her experience of loss to that of An- dromache – as a woman lamenting the death of a beloved. In order to further define Erinna’s lamentations of Baucis as those of a lover for her de- parted beloved, we can now turn to the second comparison made by our anonymous epigram for the Sapphic qualities adopted in her poetry. Sappho’s lyrics feature several instances of farewell and lament between our Lesbian poet and a member of her circle, though fragment 94 stands out much like Andromache’s lament in Book 22.21 Here, Sappho bids farewell to a female compan- ion who has left her to be married, a familiar motif in Erinna’s work, and she adheres to a similar pattern of lament observed in the Iliad. Sappho acknowledges her own grief in wishing herself dead in the first line, addresses the girl who tearfully left her – though she remains unnamed – and tells her to remember their pleasant times together.22 Though this unnamed figure has not left Sappho on account of death, but marriage, we still have Erinna’s dual separation from Baucis by death and marriage – and both poets acutely express their separation from and loss of their re- spective beloveds. To discuss the homoeroticism inherent to Erinna’s relationship with Baucis through her usage of Sapphic themes, though, we must first define the relationship that Sappho expresses here as homoerotic in its own right. Sappho displays a great deal of intense emotion for other women in her poetry which is easily characterized as erotic in their similarities to the amorous poetry of her male contemporaries.23 In regard to fragment 94, Sappho clearly demonstrates a close relationship between herself and the individual leaving her, and her description of woven garlands donned between them allows for eroticism to be read into this relationship.24 Garlands have been identified both in the material and literary record as a courtship gift exchanged be- tween male pederastic lovers, and I would argue that the garlands exchanged between Sappho

20 Maria C. Pantella, “Helen and the Last Song for Hector,” Transactions of the American Philological Association 132 (2002): 24.

21 Additional laments for lost companions in Sappho can be found in fragments 16 and 96; for further discussion on these laments, see Kathryn Gutzwiller, “’ Lock of Berenice: Fantasy, Romance, and Propaganda,” The American Journal of Philology 113 (1992): 375, and Raynor, “The Power of Memory in Erinna and Sappho,” 61.

22 For an assertion that this unnamed girl is leaving Sappho to be married, see Rauk, “Erinna’s Distaff and Sappho,” 101.

23 Pomeroy, Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves, 53; Alcman, Fragment 3 is one such example.

24 For an undeniably homoerotic usage of garlands in poetry, see Anacreon, Fragment 397 PMG which reads, “they put over their chests woven garlands of lotus.” 7 and her departed companion served the same purpose.25 To bring this assertion to the forefront, though, we need only address the remainder of this fragment as Sappho describes our departed individual letting lose her longing on a soft bed in an undeniably erotic scene.26 In this fragment, then, Sappho’s character is that of a woman who loved another who has set off to be married, a definitive end to the relationship shared between them, and though this is a relationship she may forget, Sappho urges her to remember it. We can read much subtler nods to eroticism in Erinna’s work in the scene where she and Baucis play young brides together in their room, which echoes Sappho’s own description of her beloved’s longing, and in her characterization of herself as Baucis’ συνεταιρίς. What Erinna has truly taken into her Distaff, though, is a similar motif of loss, memory, and inability as she, now alone like Sappho, grieves for Baucis. Erinna recognizes the forgetfulness of her beloved once she had gone to her marriage bed and finishes with a summation of things she cannot perform; no leaving her home, no corpse, no moaning with hair unbound - much like Sappho’s rather fragmentary ending; no holy place, no grove, no dance, no sound.27 Once again, through adopt- ing motifs established by poets before her, Erinna has characterized herself as a woman who is bereaved of her beloved, in Andromache she adopted the identity of a lamenting wife mourning her partner’s death, and in Sappho she has taken on the persona of a woman who has lost her beloved to marriage. To this point, admittedly, we have gone quite a distance from our original anonymous epigram comparing Erinna to Homer and Sappho, taking much more content from our own analyses and those of other scholars – so, a final address of the antique understanding of Erinna beyond our original epigram is due to ground our discussion in the reality of the ancient world. Here, we can turn to Herodas, who was a Hellenistic poet well established amongst the learned elite of Alexandria. In his 6th and 7th mimiambi, Herodas makes a mockery of middle-class housewives as they shop for leather dildos together. The 6th mime states that , “daughter of Erinna,” owns one of these implements and the 7th frames itself upon the antique analogy be-

25 For the material evidence to this claim, see K. J. Dover, Greek Homosexuality (Harvard University Press: Cam- bridge, 1978) 62-63, and for the literary, observe Dimitrios Yatromanolakis, Sappho in the Making (Harvard Univer- sity Press: Cambridge, 2007), 218 for further discussion of Anacreon’s use of garlands in his own homoerotic poetry. Additionally, it must be acknowledged that garlands are also the product of heterosexual courtship and marriage exchange and my analysis is not men to ignore this fact. For more discussion on this, see the chapter on marriage in Marguerite Johnson and Terry Ryan, Sexuality in Greek and Roman Literature and Society: A Sourcebook (Taylor & Francis Group: London, 2005), 61-87.

26 For an analysis of this scene as homoerotic, see Eva Stigers, “Sappho’s Private World,” in Helen P. Foley, Reflec- tions of Women in Antiquity (Gordon and Breach: New York, 1981), 82. In the English translation from Anne Car- son’s If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho (Vintage Books: New York, 2002), this fragment reads in full, “I simply want to be dead. / Weeping she left me / with many tears and said this: / Oh how badly things have turned out for us. / Sappho, I swear, against my will I leave you. / And I answered her: / Rejoice, go and / remember me. For you know how we cherished you. / But if not, I want / to remind you . ]and beautiful times we had. / For many crowns of violets / and roses / ]at my side you put on / and many woven garlands / made of flowers / around your soft throat. / And with sweet oil / costly / you anointed yourself / and on a soft bed / delicate / you would let loose your longing / and neither any[ ]nor any / holy place nor / was there from which we were absent / no grove [ ]no dance / ]no sound.

27 For more a complete study of this parallel between Erinna’s Distaff and Sappho, see Rauk, “Erinna’s Distaff and Sappho Fr. 94.” 8 tween shoes and dildos while punning on Baucis’ name.28 Nossis, another female epigrammatist, is mocked here for the homoeroticism perceived in her work by antique writers, and her charac- terization as Erinna’s daughter hints at a Hellenistic belief in the literary affinity between the two.29 From here, we can read an equal reception of Erinna and Nossis within antiquity that saw homoeroticism in their work, as Herodas’ use of Βαυκίδες in his 7th mime, a word that stands out in its rarity and closeness to the name Baucis, suggests that Hellenistic writers knew she was the object of such homoerotic affection in Erinna’s work.30 Amongst the Alexandrian elite, then, the conception of Erinna was one that characterized her as a woman in love with, or at the very least sexually intimate with, another woman – her dear Baucis. Erinna, then, in being equal to Homer and surpassing Sappho in her hexameters, can be understood in modernity as she was in antiquity as a young woman who mourned the loss of her beloved Baucis in her Distaff and epigrams. In using the pattern set by Homer, she styles herself after Andromache in the dactylic hexameter of her Distaff as a woman bereaved of her partner, recalling happier times and mourning her current state. In Sappho, she draws from the homoerot- ic relationship set by the Lesbian poet as a woman bidding farewell to a past lover as she departs for marriage, once again recalling happier times. In her Distaff and epigrams both, Erinna has taken the public lament observed in Homer’s epic and transformed it into a personal expression of grief in her use of Sapphic themes of separation, using both to reinforce the homoerotic love and desire that she held for Baucis.31 And in the Hellenistic mind, the relationship between Erin- na and Baucis as expressed in her surviving work can be understood as incredibly close and ho- moerotic in nature. In turn, the honeycomb of Erinna can clearly be read as an expression of ho- moerotic love, loss, and lamentation for the young Baucis.

28 Skinner, Marilyn B. “Nossis Thelyglossos,” in Ellen Greene, Women Poets in Ancient Greece and Rome (Univer- sity of Oklahoma Press: Norman, 2005), 127.

29 Skinner, Sexuality in Greek and Roman Culture, 243-244.

30 Skinner, Sexuality in Greek and Roman Culture, 244.

31 Manwell, “dico ergo sum,” 76. 9

Translations: AP Anonymous, 9.190

This is the Lesbian honeycomb of Erinna; and though it is small, it is entirely infused with honey by the Muses. Her three hundred lines are equal to Homer, though by a maiden of nineteen years. Either upon the distaff in fear of her mother, or at the loom, she stood, a handmaiden serving the Muses. As much as Sappho excels Erinna in lyrics, Erinna excels Sappho in hexameters just as much.32

Erinna, Distaff, 21-40

From a white horse, wandering into the mad deep; “Ah!” I shout aloud, “I caught you, dear one” a tortoise, you ran leaping through the yard of a great court. These I lament, wretched Baucis, I groan deeply for you these memories, dear one, still lie glowing in my heart. All we once enjoyed is now embers. In our chambers, clinging to our dolls, playing young brides without care. And near dawn your mother, who allotted wool to workers, came and called you to help with the salted meat. Oh the great fear Mormo brought on us then, as little ones! On its head were huge ears, walking on four feet, turning quickly from one face to another. But when you went to a man’s bed, you forgot all you heard from your mother in childhood, dear Baucis. Aphrodite set forgetfulness in you, and lamenting deeply, I am gone. For my feet are not to leave the house, my eyes cannot behold a corpse, nor

32 All translations in this paper were done by the writer unless otherwise indicated. 10

can I moan with unbound hair, so I am red with shame.

Erinna, AP 7.710

My gravestone! My sirens! My mournful funerary urn! You who carries my few ashes to Hades, tell those passing by my tomb, “be well,” whether they be citizen or strangers; that this grave holds me, a young bride, and say the following, that my father called me Baucis, that, by race, I am Tenian, so that they may know, and that my close friend, Erinna, inscribed this epitaph on my tombstone. Erinna, AP 7.712 I am the tomb of Baucis, a young bride, and passing by the much-lamented grave, over the earth, you say this to Hades; “You are malicious, Hades” and to you, seeing these beautiful letters, they will tell of the most-cruel fate of Baucis how her father-in-law lit the girl upon her funeral pyre with the pine torches, those over which Hymen sang and you, oh Hymen, you changed the tuneful song of marriage into the mournful wail of a funeral. 11

Bibliography:

Arthur, Marilyn B. “The tortoise and the mirror. Erinna, PSI 1090.” The Classical World 74 (1980): 53-66.

Balmer, Josephine trans. Classical Women Poets. Bloodaxe Books: Newcastle, 1996.

Barnard, Sylvia. “Hellenistic Women Poets” The Classical Journal 73 (1978): 204-213.

Bowman, Laurel. “The ‘Women’s Tradition’ in Greek Poetry.” Phoenix 58 (2004): 1-27.

Cameron, Averil and Alan Cameron. “Erinna’s Distaff.” The Classical Quarterly 19 (1969): 285- 288.

Dover, K. J. Greek Homosexuality. Harvard University Press: Cambridge, 1978.

Giangrande, Giuseppe. “An Epigram of Erinna.” The Classical Review 19 (1969): 1-3.

Gutzwiller, Kathryn. “Callimachus’ Lock of Berenice: Fantasy, Romance, and Propaganda.” The American Journal of Philology 113 (1992): 359-385.

Manwell, Elizabeth. “dico ergo sum: Erinna’s Voice and Poetic Reality” in Ellen Greene, Women Poets in Ancient Greece and Rome. University of Oklahoma Press: Norman, 2005.

Pantella, Maria C. “Helen and the Last Song for Hector.” Transactions of the American Philolog- ical Association 132 (2002): 24. 12

Pomeroy, Sarah. Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves: Women in Classical Antiquity. Shocken Books: New York, 1975.

Rauk, John. “Erinna’s Distaff and Sappho Fr. 94” Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 30 (1989): 101-116.

Raynor, Diane J. “The Power of Memory in Erinna and Sappho” in Ellen Greene, Women Poets in Ancient Greece and Rome. University of Oklahoma Press: Norman, 2005.

Skinner, Marilyn. “Briseis, the Trojan Women, and Erinna.” The Classical World 75 (1982): 265- 269.

Skinner, Marilyn B. “Nossis Thelyglossos,” in Ellen Greene, Women Poets in Ancient Greece and Rome. University of Oklahoma Press: Norman, 2005.

Skinner, Marilyn B. Sexuality in Greek and Roman Culture. Wiley Blackwell: Chichester, 2014.

Snyder, Jane. The Woman and the Lyre: Women Writers in Classical Greece and Rome. Bristol Classical Press: Bristol, 1989.

Stehle, Eva. “The Good Daughter: Mother’s Tutelage in Erinna’s Distaff and Fourth Century Epitaphs.” In André Lardinois and Laura McClure, Women’s Voices in Greek Literature and So- ciety. Princeton University Press: Princeton, 2001.

Stigers, Eva. “Sappho’s Private World,” in Helen P. Foley, Reflections of Women in Antiquity. Gordon and Breach: New York, 1981.

Yatromanolakis, Dimitrios. Sappho in the Making. Harvard University Press: Cambridge, 2007.