['' κατά τη Σούδα , ήταν η πρώτη που χρησιμοποίησε το πλήκτρο στην κιθάρα . Συνέθεσε ύμνους , επιθαλάμια , επιγράμματα κτλ.'']
Suda on line
Headword: Σαπφώ
Adler number: sigma,107
Translated headword: Sappho
Vetting Status: low
Translation:
[Daughter] of Simon, though others [say] of Eumenos; others, of Eerigyos; others, of Ekrytos; others, of Semos; others, of Kamon; others, of Etarkhos; others, of Skamandronymos. Her mother was Kleis. She was a Lesbian from Eressos,[1] a lyric poet, who was born in the 42nd Olympiad,[2] when Alkaios also lived, and Stesikhoros, and Pittakos.[3] She also had three brothers: Larikhos, Kharaxos, Eurygios. She was married to a most wealthy man, Kerkylas, who operated from Andros,[4] and she had a daughter by him, who was named Kleis. There were three companions[5] and friends[6] of hers -- Atthis, Telesippa, Megara -- in respect of whom she incurred accusations of a shameful friendship/love.[7] Her pupils were Anagora of Miletus, Gongyla of Kolophon and Euneika of Salamis.[8] She wrote 9 books of lyric poems. And she first discovered the plectrum.[9] She also wrote epigrams and elegiacs and iambics and monodies.
Greek Original:
Σαπφώ, Σίμωνος, οἱ δὲ Εὐμήνου, οἱ δὲ Ἠεριγύου, οἱ δὲ Ἐκρύτου, οἱ δὲ Σήμου, οἱ δὲ Κάμωνος, οἱ δὲ Ἐτάρχου, οἱ δὲ Σκαμανδρωνύμου: μητρὸς δὲ Κλειδός: Λεσβία ἐξ Ἐρεσσοῦ, λυρική, γεγονυῖα κατὰ τὴν μβ# Ὀλυμπιάδα, ὅτε καὶ Ἀλκαῖος ἦν καὶ Στησίχορος καὶ Πιττακός. ἦσαν δὲ αὐτῇ καὶ ἀδελφοὶ τρεῖς, Λάριχος, Χάραξος, Εὐρύγιος. ἐγαμήθη δὲ ἀνδρὶ Κερκύλᾳ πλουσιωτάτῳ, ὁρμωμένῳ ἀπὸ Ἄνδρου, καὶ θυγατέρα ἐποιήσατο ἐξ αὐτοῦ, ἣ Κλεὶς ὠνομάσθη. ἑταῖραι δὲ αὐτῆς καὶ φίλαι γεγόνασι τρεῖς, Ἀτθίς, Τελεσίππα, Μεγάρα: πρὸς ἃς καὶ διαβολὴν ἔσχεν αἰσχρᾶς φιλίας. μαθήτριαι δὲ αὐτῆς Ἀναγόρα Μιλησία, Γογγύλα Κολοφωνία, Εὐνείκα Σαλαμινία. ἔγραψε δὲ μελῶν λυρικῶν βιβλία θ#. καὶ πρώτη πλῆκτρον εὗρεν. ἔγραψε δὲ καὶ ἐπιγράμματα καὶ ἐλεγεῖα καὶ ἰάμβους καὶ μονῳδίας.
Notes:
See also sigma 108.
[1] Eres
os, on the SW coast of Lesbos.
[2] 612-609 BCE.
[3] See delta 1496, sigma 1095, pi 1659.
[4] "Kerkylas from Andros": these names seem to be bawdy puns. "Kerkylas" is unattested elsewhere and is apparently derived from kerkos, penis; Andros, while a real island, also means "of [a] man". Thus, the Suda claims that the famous Lesbian poet was married to "Dick Allcock from the Isle of Man," in Holt Parker's translation (309). Sappho appeared as a character in numerous Greek comedies (see Campbell, 27), and Aly suggests that these may be the original source of "Kerkylas from Andros."
[5] "Companions" translates hetairai, a word which can also mean "courtesans": see epsilon 3265, epsilon 3266.
[6] "Friends" translates philai, which as an adjective means "beloved." See also next note.
[6] LSJ s.v. diabole translate it as 'false accusation, slander'. This begs the question of whether, in any given instance, the accusations made are actually false or true; they are, however, invariably malicious in intent.
[7] "Friendship" translates philia, which can also mean "love."
[8] For the last-named cf. epsilon 3589. On the whole question of Sappho's "pupils," see Parker.
[9] An instrument for striking the lyre: see generally M.L.West, Ancient Greek Music (Oxford 1992) index s.v., esp 65-68. The present claim is a very odd one; Campbell suggests that there may be a confusion with pectis, a type of harp; cf. West, op.cit. 71-2.
References:
Aly, W. "Sappho." RE II.2357-85. 1920
Campbell, David A., ed. and trans. Greek Lyric I: Sappho and Alcaeus. Loeb Classical Library. Harvard University Press, 1982.
Parker, Holt N. "Sappho Schoolmistress," Transactions of the American Philological Association 123 (1993): 309-351.
Williamson,M. Sappho's Immortal Daughters, Boston: Harvard University Press (1995)
Associated internet address:
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