Music and Ancient Greek Verse
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As far as the poems quoted here in their fragmentary form are concerned, we schould point out that those belonging to Sappho have caused several problems related to both language end edition, due to the fact that they have defective metrical cohesion, non-related fragments in terms of meaning or content etc. Even thought the present text does not constitute part of a literary edition, it was nevertheless deemed best to maintain several characteristics of a literary edition such as the use of parentheses, crosses etc. We schould also point out that in several parts (e.g. 118 LP, 16 LP) there is a certain divergence from the original Greek; this "divergence" was made on purpose and was based on some corrections that served the purpose of conveying the meaning moe clearly and properly. The gretest part of Sappho´s poems comes from the collections of E. Lodel - D. Page and E.M. Voigt. (1) Sappho, frag. 114 LP (Numfi): parthenia, parthenia, poi me lipois´ a(p)oixhi; (Parthenia): + ouketi hkso pros se, ouketi hkso+. Translation: (Nymph)- Virginity, Virginity, where do you go and leave me? (Virginity)- Never again shall I come back, never shall I return to you. This fragment constitutes a celebrating dialogic couplet that belongs to the category of the so-called "epithalamia". By the term "epithalamia" (which was established during the Hellenic Era, 3rd century B.C. - 3rd Century A.D.) we generally refer to all wedding songs that stretch back to the ancient years, as well as all kinds of poetry or verse that were inspired by the bride-to-be directly converses with the personification of her virginal life, representing the carefree period of the girl´s childhood that she now has to leave, behind once and for all, since by marrying she is bound to become a woman and from that point on she follows a path with no return to her life a maiden or a girl. Her fear and anxiety of the unknown and the inevitable are obvious. Both the personification of Virginity as well as the fact that it is Virginity that seems to abandon the girl and not the other way round as actually happens in real life, are most impressive. Apart from the element of ingenuity or originality, the couplet also contains several remnats and influence from long-standing wedding customs that seem to have played a significant role in the form of the fragment in question. |
(2) Sappho, fr.: 1a Ed., 134 LP, 18 LP *aerion epeon arxomai Translation: -With a few celestrial words I shall begin. (Parthenia): + ouketi hkso pros se, ouketi hkso+. * Za <.> eleksaman onar Kuprogevha Translation: - I dreamt that I was conversing with Aphrodite. * agi dh xelu dia +moi lege+ fonaessa + de giveo+ Translation: - Play divine lyre; speak to me with your voice. These three lines are given separately, since - as far as theory is concerned - there is no relevance or relation among them whatsoever. Their link and combination for the musical theme contained in the present release were made interntionally in order to serve special metric purposes. In terms of content, we have some form of communication between Sappho and Aphrodite (second line) that constitutes a rather common motif of Sapphic poetry, something which has been thoroughly studied and discussed, as it is not known whether Sappho´s relationship with Aphrodite was a figment of her poetical imagination or a real experience, based on genuine religious visions. In the third line, the poetess converses with (her?) lyre, thus lending life and free will to a conventionally inanimate instrument. She combines music and verse in a remarkable way so that the World - the most efficient means of communication - is performed through Music. |
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The Verse 2 |