User:Haukurth/Ode to Aphrodite

User:Haukurth/Ode to Aphrodite
Ode to Aphrodite, Fragment 1 or Sappho 1 is a lyric poem by the Greek poet Sappho.

Preservation
The main witness to the text of the poem is a full quotation by Dionysius of Halicarnassus (1st century BCE) while some lines are quoted by Hephaestion of Alexandria (2nd century CE) and other authors.[1] [2] A papyrus fragment from Oxyrynchus (P. Oxy. 2288, early 2nd century CE) contains scraps of lines 1-21. Because Hephaestion uses the poem to illustrate the Sapphic stanza, it is believed to have been the first poem of book 1 in the Alexandrine edition of Sappho's poems.[1]

Text and textual notes

Stanza 1
', ' , , , ' ' , , Immortal Aphrodite of the broidered throne, daughter of Zeus, weaver of wiles, I pray thee break not my spirit with anguish and distress, O Queen.[3] The first word of the poem, rendered above as ' (poikilthron'), has been the source of substantial scholarly commentary. The most common view is that it refers to Aphrodite's throne and can be translated with words such as "ornate-throned" (Campbell), "elaborate-throned" (Chandler p.3) or "splendour-throned" (Edwin Arnold, quoted in Whorton p. 57). Another view holds that ' (thron') here refers not to the common word (thrnos), meaning "throne", but to a rare neuter word , occurring in the Iliad and the second Idyll of Theocritus. This would potentially lead to ' meaning "of the rich or flowery robe".[4] A third view is that the reading (poikilphron), found in some manuscripts, should be preferred, giving a meaning of "mind" rather than "throne" for the second part of the compound.[5] That multiple adjectives are used to describe the goddess at the beginning of the poem is reminiscent of the use of epithets at the beginning of some of the Homeric Hymns but contrary to those, Sappho addresses Aphrodite directly rather than in the third person.[6]

Stanza 2
' ', , But come hither, if ever before thou didst hear my voice afar, and listen, and leaving thy father's golden house[3] The adjective "golden" can be taken to refer either to the house of Zeus, as in Whorton's translation above, or to "chariot" in the third stanza.[7] Sappho here starts referring to an earlier occasion where Aphrodite listened to her request. It was customary in songs of prayer to remind the deity invoked of a past benevolence, in the hope that it would be repeated.[8]

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Stanza 3
' ' ' ' . camest with chariot yoked, and fair fleet sparrows drew thee, flapping fast their wings around the dark earth, from heaven through mid sky.[3] The flight of the sparrows is described in terms familiar from Homeric poetry.[9]

Stanza 4
' ', , ' , ', , Quickly arrived they ; and thou, blessed one, smiling with immortal countenance, didst ask What now is befallen me, and Why now I call,[3]

Stanza 5
, ', ', ; and What I in my mad heart most desire to see. 'What Beauty now wouldst thou draw to love thee? Who wrongs thee, Sappho?[3]

Stanza 6
, , ' , , . For even if she flies she shall soon follow, and if she rejects gifts shall yet give, and if she loves not shall soon love, however loth.' [3]

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Stanza 7
, , , ' . Come, I pray thee, now too, and release me from cruel cares ; and all that my heart desires to accomplish, accomplish thou, and be thyself my ally.[3]

Notes
[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] Campbell 1982:5255 Wharton 1907:64 Whorton 1895:50 Throna and Sappho, passim Winkler p. 581 Page p. 17 Page p. 7 Frnkel p. 177

[9] Page p. 8.

References
Campbell, D. A. (ed.) (1982), Greek Lyric 1: Sappho and Alcaeus (Loeb Classical Library No. 142), Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass., ISBN0-674-99157-5 Whorton 1895

Article Sources and Contributors

Article Sources and Contributors

User:Haukurth/Ode to Aphrodite Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=258000758 Contributors: Haukurth

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