Timofey Myakin

The publication contains the first translation of Sappho's "Song to Kypris" (Sapph. Fr. 26 Neri–Cinti) into Russian. The translation is prepared on the basis of the latest papyrological discoveries, and is founded on the latest edition of the songs and fragments of Sappho by Camillo Neri and Frederico Cinti (2017). The new translation is accompanied by a comprehensive scientific commentary.

In the article, I prove that the dialogical ritual obscene songs, in which Sappho “scolds” Gorgo and Andromeda, are the closest parallel to Aristotle's poetic dialogue of Sappho with Alcaeus, 70, 145, 99 etc. Campbell; cf. Max Tyr., 18. 9 Hobein). Also I prove that this poetic dialogue was most likely included in the text of the “Rhetoric” in mid-340s., when Aristotle and his young wife Pythias were living in Mytilene. Aristotelian verb tetimekasin indicates that, even in his time, these Sapphic dialogical songs had traditionally been performed in Mytilene during religious festivals. It becomes clear that Aristotle, while quoting this dialogue of Sappho with Alcaeus, seeks to “elevate” Sappho over the obscene songs of the Mytilenean ritual chorus, leaving all the responsibility for aischrologia entirely with Alcaeus

(Russia) SAPPHO. A SONG TO KYPRIS. FR. 26 NERI-CINTI (the first translation into Russian, with the historical and philological commentary) ABSTRACT. The publication contains the first translation of Sappho's "Song to Kypris" (Sapph. Fr. 26 Neri-Cinti) into Russian. The translation is prepared on the basis of the latest papyrological discoveries, and is founded on the latest edition of the songs and fragments of Sappho by Camillo Neri and Frederico Cinti (2017). The new translation is accompanied by a comprehensive scientific commentary.

Монография реконструирует облик подлинной, лесбосской Сапфо, освобождая легендарную поэтессу от позднейших афинских наслоений, связанных с многолетней традицией устного исполнения сапфических песен. Эта задача достигается через сопоставительный анализ фактов археологии, литературной традиции, эпиграфических и папирусных текстов (включая вновь опубликованный в 2004 г. кельнский папирус)

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).

The article offers a new interpretation of the famous poetic dialogue of Alcaeus and Sappho from Aristotle's Rhetoric (Rhet. 1367а, 7–15 Bekker). Both ancient poets (ἀρχαίοι) are represented here as participants in a kind of song-dialogue, which in ancient Greeks is also called the "echoing song" (cf. Pind. Fr. 125, 3 Maehler). As most researchers rightly believe, the resulted poetic dialogue was deduced by Aristotle as an "example" (παράδειγμα, cf. Arist. Rhet., p. 1357b, 26 Bekker). The rhetorical "example" is considered by Aristotle primarily as a valid and authoritative "better known case" (γνωριμώτερον). This "case" is designed to clarify for the reader or listener certain close to it and very real things or situations that are "less known", and which we can only guess on the basis of the example given with Aeolian poets (Arist. Rhet., P. 1367a, 8-15, compare Rhet., P. 1357a-c). Thus, it is important to establish the exact realities with which the resulting poetic dialogue of the two Aeolian singers is related. And another poem of Alcaeus (this poem is preserved by Hephaestion, an Alexandrian grammarian), similar in poetic size, is also correctly associated with the Aristotelian poetic dialogue of Alcaeus and Sappho. Here Alcaeus is similarly referring to Sappho with the song of conversion, and even, perhaps, calls her by name (Heph. Ench. 14.4, p. 45 Consbruch = Alc. Fr. 384 Campbell). Thus, both Aristotle and Hephaestion, independently of one another, knew certain dialogical songs of Sappho and Alcaeus, in which both poets entered into a living dialogue with each other. Philologists of classics traditionally consider Aristotle's censured replicas of both Aeolian poets as a whole authentic, and  are including them in scientific editions of poetic fragments of Aeolian lyrics (Mandilaras, 1997: 132; Campbell, 1990: 152; Nicosia, 1977: 33; Lobel-Page, 1953: 94). Aristotle himself clearly connects the songs of Sappho with the religious rite (Athen. XV p. 674 Kaibel). The article proves that the dialogical songs in which Sappho "shies" (ἐλέγχει) Gorgo and Andromeda, is the closest parallel to Aristotle's poetic dialogue between Sappho and Alcaeus (cf. Sapph. Fr. 70, 10; Sapph. Fr. 68(a), 8; Sapph. Fr. 71, 3; Sapph. Fr. 145; Sapph. Fr. 178; Sapph. Fr. 133(a); Sapph. Fr. 99(a-b) Campbell). The well-known story of Maximus Tyrius, according to which Sappho ridiculed her "rivals in the love of art" (ἀντίτεχνοι) Andromeda and Gorgos, must necessarily refer to the obscene songs of the ritual chorus (Max Tyr., 18. 9 (p. 230s., Hobein). The article proves that the poetic dialogue of Alcaeus and Sappho was most likely included in the text of "Rhetoric" in the mid-340s. BC., when Aristotle and his young wife Pythias were living in Mytilene. A comparative analysis of Aristotle's text (Arist.Rhet., p. 1398b Bekker) and other ancient texts shows: Aristotelian verb τετιμήκασι means that Sappho songs were performed during religious festivals in Mytilene at the time of Aristotle. Aristotle and his young wife could hear these choral Sapphic songs, which are sounded at the festivities in honor of Artemis. We propose that the dialogical songs of Sappho were associated with the mysteries of Artemis in Mytilene (Myakin, 2016). These mysteries were of an erotic nature and prepared the bride for marriage.

This article brings new arguments to consider the songs of Sappho as an important historical source of archaic religions of ancient Lesbos. Thanks to the texts published in 2014, we see that Sappho's lyrics were often are executable by girlish chorus. This choir sang at religious festivals and weddings (Sapph. Fr. 17, Fr. 94, Fr. 44, Fr. 104-114 Campbell). We argue that modern classical scholar mistaken when they think that the verb form θρύλησθα in sapphic "Song of brothers" – is a verb form of the present time. In fact, it is a form of imperfect without augument. This form of imperfect at Sappho can be formed from both verbs which begin with a vowel (ἀμειβόμαν, Sapph. Fr. 94, 6 Campbell), and from verbs that begin with a consonant (κέλετ(o)' ὀυ γάρ, Sapph. Fr. 7, 2 Campbell). This imperfect is often found in the songs of Sappho. We have done a great job with ancient Greek inscriptions of Mytilene, as well as with the ancient papyrus, where there are texts of Sappho. For the first time in classical studies we have conducted in the article a comparative analysis of epigraphic, archaeological and literary data relating to the mysteries of Artemis in ancient Mytilene. The involvement of Sappho to the cult of Artemis, who was the goddess of childbirth in Mytilene too, was justified by us. Previously we have shown in our articles that unique sapphic epithet ἰόκολπος is too attested on Attic altar (IV BC), which was erected by the priestess of Artemis Agrotera in gratitude for successful delivery (IG II(2), №4573, cf. Sapph. Fr. 30, 2-5; Fr. 21, 13 Campbell). The presence of sapphic epithet in the inscription on the altar of the goddess of childbirth means that Artemis was worshiped as the goddess of fertility in Mytilene as well. Now it is concluded that some fragments of Sappho (Sapph. Fr. 44a, Sapph. Fr. 99 (a-b) Campbell) refer to the archaic ritual of erotic mysteries of Artemis. We conclude that the Artemis was worshiped as the goddess of women's health and fertility in Mytilene. Erotic ritual, in which a priestess of Artemis uses an artificial phallus, is considered as a pre-wedding sacrifice that the bride makes for Artemis. This sacrifice was apparently considered necessary in the archaic time to the bride gave birth successfully (similar ritual is attested and in ancient Sparta, and in the inscriptions of ancient Cyrene too). During the mysteries of Artemis this goddess was revered as a goddess of childbirth in
Mytilene. That is why the mystery of Artemis at Mytilene was also called Mysteries of the Suffocating Goddess (IG XII, pars II, № 484, 11–12).
Keywords: Sapphic’s religious community in the light of new findings, mysteries of Artemis in ancient Mytilene, Mysteries of the Suffocating Goddess, the initiaiton of girls, religion of archaic Lesbos, cult of the goddess Artemis in archaic Lesbos.

This book is some sense summarizes a long-lasting discussion about the character of religious community, which was headed by poet Sappho in Lesbos. Since the epithet ‘ιοκολπος (,,with a violet breast“) is attested not only, as is commonly believed, in Sappho's lyrics, but also in an inscription of Athenian Artemis Agrotera's altar (IG II (2), Ν 4573), we can better understand the religious outlook of the poetess as well as the working of the Sapphic guild on Lesbos. A comprehensive analysis of the sources allows us to conclude, that the poetess probably was a priestess of Artemis Agrotera as well as of Artemis Thermia, who was an ancient aquatic divinity of the island. We argue that the poetess had performed songs in a festival of this divinity and that the cult of Artemis in the thiasos of Sappho experienced strong Lydian influence during the life of the poetess. In addition Sappho was linked with Artemis by other varied ties of sacred service.

Abstract:
Since the epithet ιοκολπος (,,with a violet breast“) is attested not only, as is commonly believed, in Sappho's lyrics, but also in an inscription of Athenian Artemis Agrotera's altar (IG II (2), Ν 4573), we can better understand the religious outlook of the poetess as well as the working of the Sapphic guild on Lesbos. A comprehensive analysis of the sources allows us to conclude, that the poetess probably was a priestess of Artemis Agrotera as well as of Artemis Thermia, who was an ancient aquatic divinity of the island. We argue that the poetess had performed songs in a festival of this divinity (Thermiake Panagyris) and that the cult of Artemis in the thiasos of Sappho experienced strong Lydian influence during the life of the poetess. In addition Sappho was linked with Artemis by other varied ties of sacred service.