Sappho Studies

This paper, appearing in the Festschrift for Professor Franco Montanari (Finglass, P., Rengakos, A. and Zimmerman, B. (eds.), More than Homer Knew – Studies on Homer and his Ancient Commentators in honour of Franco Montanari, de Gruyter, Berlin 2020: 269–92), discusses the state allusion and intertextuality in Archaic poetry, examining the reception of epic poetry in Sappho. Against the communis opinio, the article suggests there is no good case of direct interaction between Sappho and Homer, and suggests an alternative model of intertextual resonance for a world without written texts.

Resumo: O artigo estuda a coralidade da poesia mélica (ou lírica) de Safo (Lesbos, c. 630-580 a.C.), na Grécia arcaica (c. 800-480 a.C.), e sua relação com o universo das parthénoi-as virgens ou moças ainda não casadas-, um dos elementos mais característicos e nítidos em seu corpus de fragmentos preservados. Para tanto, parte de um dos mais recentes, a "Canção sobre a velhice", publicada em 2005, que provocou a rediscussão da dimensão coral das canções de Safo, e da natureza do grupo feminino de parthénoi a ela associado. O objetivo é reavaliar a relação entre a poeta e sua comunidade, pensando seu papel como líder das jovens e a função da coralidade na vida das jovens. Palavras-chave: Safo; poesia grega arcaica; mélica; coralidade; virgens.



Abstract: The article studies the chorality of Sappho's (Lesbos, c. 630-580 bc) melic (or lyric) poetry, in archaic Greece (c. 800-480 bc), and its relation to the world of parthénoi-the maidens, the unmarried girls-that is one of the main and most visible elements of her surviving corpus of fragments. In order to do so, it focuses on one of the most recently discovered fragments of Sappho, the "Old age song", published in 2005, for it has provoked a reassessment of the relations between the poet and her community, of her role as leader of the maidens and of the function of chorality in the life of the parthénoi.

TIMOTHEY MYAKIN

ABOUT THE LESBIAN POETS, ABOUT HERMES, THE GOD OF FERTILITY, AND ABOUT THE MYSTERIES OF ARTEMIS IN ANCIENT MYTILENE

This article completes the study of the erotic pre-wedding ritual of the mysteries of Artemis in ancient Mytilene and for the first time in history of classical philology reconstructs a ritual in which many of Sappho's songs could sound really (for example,  Sapph.fr. 1, 2, 31 Voigt). The inscriptions of the ancient Mytilene show that the mysteries of Artemis were of ancient origin, and retained great importance for the citizens of Mytilene both in the Hellenistic and in the archaic epoch. According to these inscriptions, during the mysteries, those who passed them completely transferred themselves to the power of the goddess (eltheto pros tan/ … Artemin ypo: SEG, 2006, № 881, 2–5). The verb elthein used here in conjunction with the preposition pros has such meaning only in inscriptions associated with mystery cults, as well as in epitaphs (IG II(2), № 3661, 4; Les Graffites d'Abydos, № 439; Griechische Vers-Inschriften, № 864, 1-3 etc.). One could think of human sacrifice, however, as indicated by the same inscriptions, before us are the mysteries of the goddess of fertility. The main role in them was played by a priestess "carrier of dew" (er(s)oforon t(o)n agiotaton my(s)tarion, IG XII (2) № 255, 4). According to the lesbian historian Scamon, the goddesses of this dew in Lesbos were considered the daughters of the mythical hunter Acteon, who was turned into a deer by the goddess Artemis and became her companion (cf. Suda:  f 787, l 568 A). As the inscriptions indicate, Artemis was revered in ancient Lesbos not only as a goddess of hunting, but also as a goddess-assistant in childbirth and in the course of her mysteries, she was called the goddess-stifler (mysterio Pnistias: IG XII (2) № 484, 11 ss). Cf. IG XII (2), № 136, 4-7; IG XII (2), № 255, 4). Artemis, along with Apollo, was also honored as a teacher-goddess, whose patronage was entrusted to children (IG XII (2) № 92, №  93). Comparative analysis  of epigraphic, literary and new archaelogical data shows that the girls of Sapphic thiasos  during the erotic prewedding ritual of mysteries of Artemis to have sacrificed their virginity to the goddess of Artemis (cf. Sapph. Fr. 99 (a-b) Campbell; SEG XX, № 717, 84-97; Ps-Aesch. 10 etc.). Lesbian poets (Sappho or Alcaeus) hint at this erotic ritual in the famous “hymn to Artemis”, where the god Eros is drawn as walking on the ground and “bending” to a girl, which he wants to master (Alc. Fr. 304, 5-10 L.-P. ; Sapph. Fr. 44a, 9 ss. Campbell). The priestesses of Artemis performing this defloration during the ritual were called “lombai” or “Hermai” (faletes: Hesych. L 1257 L. cf. Suda f 50 A.). In a poorly preserved fragment 99 A-B (Campbell) , Sappho, calling on Apollo to “glorify his sister,” speaks of the daughters of Polyanaktide as “adopters of the artificial phallus” (olisbodokois, Sapph. Fr. 99 Campbell, col. I 2-5).  In this case, the older girls of Sapphic thiasos in the course of these mysteries of Artemis seem to have acted as these “lombai’’, i.e. as Hermes, the phallic deity of fertility (cf. Sapph. Fr. 141, Fr. 150 V; cf. Hermes as «mousopolos» in TAM III/1 35, A1). A famous coin minted in Eres, the native city of Sappho in 3 c. BC e., argues in favor of the correctness of our hypothesis. On one side of this coin is Sappho, who holds an artificial phallus in her hands ((inscription on the coin: SAFFO (in Greek)), on the other side of the coin - the god Hermes (Papadzoglou 2013, 67). New archaelogical discoveries, made in Klopedi (North Lesbos), also testify in favor of this hypothesis. This article, which is written in Latin, I dedicate to the bright memory of Ivan Lunyak, an outstanding Russian philologist and Latinist, who has initiated the scientific study of Sappho's poetry in Russia exactly 130 years ago  with his remarkable Latin book "Quaestiones Sapphicae" (Iohannes Luniak. Quaestiones Sapphicae. Kazaniae, 1888).

«Mercedes Matamoros: una lectura de Safo en La Habana de 1900», AURORA LUQUE, en Literatura Hispanoamericana del siglo XX: mímesis e iconografía, Guadalupe Fernández Ariza (coord.), col. Thema, Universidad de Málaga, Málaga 2003 ISBN 84-7496-993-X

A partir del corpus textual de la poeta Safo y de sus retraducciones al español y usando el concepto de retraducción en su sentido amplio de «nueva traducción de un texto ya traducido», se exploran en este trabajo las razones no siempre fáciles de dilucidar del hecho de retraducir y otras cuestiones que afectan a las retraducción, como el envejecimiento, la periodicidad, la pertinencia y la interacción de los textos retraducidos tanto con la producción filológica como con el canon literario en cada época.
[Texto publicado en Retraducir: una nueva mirada. La retraducción de textos literarios y audiovisuales, Francisco Ruiz Noguera y Juan Jesús Zaro eds., Miguel Gómez Ediciones, Málaga 2007, ISBN 9788488326713]

This new companion (edited by Patrick Finglass and Adrian Kelly) aims to incorporate the newest finds of Sappho's poetry into an overall study of her importance in the ancient world and her reception into the modern. The cast list and proposed structure can be found in the attached document.

H διδακτορική διατριβή με τίτλο «Η Σαπφώ στην Αρχαία ελληνική και την Βυζαντινή Λογοτεχνία» της Μαρίας Γ. Γιαννίκου, με επιβλέποντα τον καθηγητή Ι.Ν. Περυσινάκη, πραγματεύεται την επιβίωση ποιημάτων της Σαπφώς στην αρχαία ελληνική, τη λατινική και την βυζαντινή λογοτεχνία. Βασικοί στόχοι της δ. διατριβής είναι η ανίχνευση και η ερμηνεία της πρόσληψης της Σαπφώς στη μεταγενέστερη λογοτεχνία (η σημασία των ποιημάτων της Σαπφώς και η μετασημασία, μετωνυμία που αποκτούν στο περιβάλλον υποδοχής), και ο εντοπισμός των δυνάμεων-αιτιών που συνετέλεσαν στην επιβίωση της ποίησής της ή στην αποσιώπηση ή παρερμηνεία των ποιημάτων της. Η ερμηνεία των μαρτυριών των σχετικών με τα ποιήματα της Σαπφώς, αλλά και των έργων που διασώζουν τις σχετικές μαρτυρίες, ακολουθεί χρονολογικά τα γραμματειακά είδη. Κάθε έργο στο οποίο εντοπίζεται επίδραση ή απήχηση της Σαπφώς αναλύεται εξαντλητικά, ειδικότερα τα σημεία που απηχούνται, ενώ ταυτόχρονα ερμηνεύεται το σχετικό κάθε φορά απόσπασμα της Σαπφώς. Επίσης ερευνάται διαχρονικά το ίδιο θέμα της Σαπφώς σε μεταγενέστερα έργα, διαφορετικού λογοτεχνικού είδους. Συχνά εντοπίζονται μαρτυρίες που δεν έχουν καταχωρισθεί στις εκδόσεις της Σαπφώς (Γαληνός, Παυσανίας, Ερμείας, Μ. Ψελλός, κ.ά.), ή δεν έχουν χρησιμοποιηθεί στην ερμηνεία της. Το πλήθος των απηχήσεων της Σαπφώς στην Αρχαία, Μέση και Νέα κωμωδία αναδεικνύει ήδη από τον Αριστοφάνη τη σχέση της κωμωδίας με τη λογοτεχνική κριτική της αρχαιότητας για την Σαπφώ. Σημαντικοί σταθμοί πρόσληψης της Σαπφώς είναι τα θέματα της Σαπφ?ς του Αντιφάνη και του Δίφιλου, της Λευκαδίας του Μενάνδρου και της ES του Οβίδιου, που αντανακλούν τις ερμηνευτικές τοποθετήσεις Ελλήνων και Λατίνων ποιητών και συγγραφέων απέναντι στο έργο της. Από την έρευνα προκύπτει, ότι οι αναφορές του Πλάτωνα (Φα?δρος) και του Αριστοτέλη (?ητορικ?) στην Σαπφώ επηρέασαν περισσότερο από οποιαδήποτε άλλη μαρτυρία τους μεταγενέστερους (νεοπλατωνικοί, Περιπατητικοί κ.ά.). Βασικοί παράγοντες για τη συνεχή και αδιάλειπτη μετάδοση της σαπφικής ποίησης υπήρξαν η εγκωμιαστική ποίηση (Ιμέριος, Μ. Ιταλικός, N. Χωνιάτης, Eυστ. Mακρεμβολίτης), και η επιστολική παράδοση (Ιουλιανός, Μ. Ψελλός, Μ. Χωνιάτης, Θ. Υρτακηνός). Οι αναφορές του Μ. Ψελλού και της Ά. Κομνηνής, η οποία φαίνεται ότι γνωρίζει την Σαπφώ από πηγές που είναι σήμερα χαμένες, ακολουθούν υποδείξεις του ρήτ. Μενάνδρου, του Ερμογένη, του Ιουλιανού, του Κλαυδιανού, του Ευστάθιου και του Μ. Ιταλικού. Η ποίηση της Σαπφώς, όπως φαίνεται από την ?λεξιάδα της Άννας Κομνηνής, τους Σχολιαστές της ?ητορικ?ς και τον Μ. Ψελλό, ήταν ευθέως γνωστή τον 12ο αι. μ.Χ. Η Ά. Κομνηνή που βασίζεται στη ?ητορικ? του Αριστοτέλη, προβάλλει την Σαπφώ ως γυναικείο και λογοτεχνικό πρότυπο και μέσω της Σαπφώς διεκδικεί για τον εαυτό της την επιστήμη του γράφειν, όπως έκαναν αργότερα και οι ποιήτριες της Δύσης (16ος αι.).
The Dissertation Sappho in the Ancient Greek and Byzantine Literature, written by Maria G. Giannikou under the supervision of Prof. of Classics I.N. Perysinakis, deals with the perception of the poems of Sappho in the Ancient Greek, Latin and Byzantine Literature. The thesis examines the meaning of Sappho’s poems and the meta-simasia (metonymy) that takes place in the works of later authors. The main aim of this dissertation is tο trace the perception of Sappho’s poems by the later literature and the finding, discovery and localization of the powers that contribute to the survival of her poetry. The interpretation of the poems of Sappho follows chronologically the several kinds of literature. Sappho’s verses are interpreted in any given work in comparison with the works of other authors, where the same theme is located. The objectives of the dissertation are to highlight the most significant ways of perception of Sappho by other scholars, and also to answer questions, such as why a large number of texts (as Galen, Pausanias, Claudian, Hermeias, M. Psellos, etc.) is not recorded in the editions of Sappho’s work, and why a large number of sources focused on the issue of her morality. The hints, echoes, allusions to Sappho, (for example of frr. 1, 44, 94), in the comedies of Aristophanes contribute to the building of the scenes and of the comic characters. Of great importance for the perception of Sappho’s poetry is Antiphanes’ and Diphilus’ Sappho, Menander’s Leucadia and Ovid’s ES. The themes of Sappho, that these poets prefer to project, influence the later literature criticism (Peripatetics etc.). The references of Plato in the Phaedrus and Aristotle in the Rhetoric, together with the literal criticism of Chamaeleon, Hermisianax, Clearchus, Dionysius Hall., Longinus, Demetrius, influenced the references of Hermogenes, Syrianus, Himerius, Anna Komnena, Commentators on the Rhetoric, etc. Our research showed that in addition to the followers of Plato and Aristotle, key factors for the continuous and uninterrupted transmission of the poetry of Sappho were the laudatory poetry (Himerios, M. Italicus, N. Choniates, Eust. Makrembolites), and the epistolary tradition (Julian imperor, M. Psellos, M. Choniates, Th. Hyrtakenos). The references to Sappho and the allusions to her verses in the works of M. Psellos and Anna Komnena, prove the great importance of literary tradition for the survival of her poetry. The poetry of Sappho until the 12th c. was still directly known in Byzantium, as was proved by Anna Komnene, who in her Alexias, based on Aristotle’s Rhetoric, projects Sappho as a woman and literary standard, answering the accusations of Martial. Komnena was the first woman in Europe who claims through Sappho, her own art of writing, as did the women poets of the West (16th c.), who were based on Sappho’s own writing, and not on Ovid’s Sappho to be established in the male-dominated literary status in Europe.

This paper explores the historical realities and the international cultural context which lays hidden behind the veil of Sappho's poetry. Its aim is to show that it is not by accident a possible connection between Sappho's legendary fame as the "tenth muse" (as Plato named her in the Antologia Palatina) and the influence of the Egyptian cultural context, particularly the literary genres and love theme upon her poetry.