Thursday 18 June 2015

Sapphica

55.4-5:
                              ἀλλ’ ἀφάνης κἀν Ἀίδα δόμωι
φοιτάσηις πεδ’ ἀμαύρων νεκύων ἐκπεποταμένα. 

Cf. Il.5.845, on which Leaf and Bayfield note:
"The Tarnkappe or Nebelkappe of northern mythology, not elsewhere mentioned in Homer. It is familiar, however, from the legend of Perseus, and alluded to in Scutum Her. 227, Ar. Ach. 390 and Plato, Rep. X. 612 B. 
It is a piece of the oldest folk-lore. The name here evidently preserves something of its original sense, the Invisible (Ἀϝίδης).
It is of course not necessary to suppose that the poet conceives Athene as literally putting on a cap; he iobly employs the traditional-almost proverbial-way of saying that she makes herself invisible to Ares."

A fifth-century BCE grave stele from Thessaly (Pelasgiotis) shows the early form of the theonym, with its digamma.

81.4 Δί̆κᾰ: The LGPN knows a few other bearers of the name Δίκα, all of whom are 1st c. BC/AD, but only one Δίκη. Cf. 82a Μνᾱσιδίκᾱ.

The Dual
Students new to Sappho and Alcaeus may be puzzled by the frequent nominal forms that end in -ω. Snaps to those who ask whether these forms are duals. The dual number is very rare in Sappho and Alcaeus. In short, any such ending is much more likely to correspond to the Attic-Ionic genitive singular -ου.

That end in -ω: none for sure (unlikely in Alc.135).
Alc.43 begins νῶ μέν, which might be either νῶι the dual first person pronoun (Wilamowitz) or a genitive singular of νόος 'in fancy (would...)' (Lobel).

That end in -οιν: ἄμφοιν (Alc.S262.20/298.20), which cannot help but be a dual (cf. ambo, duo, but also ἀμφοτερ- Sapph.148.2, Alc.208a col. ii line 5, incert. 12 obelized)

That end in -αιν: none for sure (in Alc.152.10 and Sapph.23.12, 59.3, and 87(2).8 the context is too damaged).
There are 587 instances of words (or parts of words) that end in -ε, but no secure dual forms (e.g. Alc.301.3).

Alc.143 col. ii, line 6 is one such unlikely possibility: πώγωνε 'a pair of beards'.
]..[ / ]δ̣αμασ.[ / ]λάοις λυ.[ / ⸏]τ̣οὶς οὐκ[ / (5) ἦ μάλ’ ἄξ.[ / πώγωνε [ / φοίταν δ̣ῆ.[ / ⸏περιστρ̣ό̣φιδ’.[ / καππεπάδμ[ / (10) θ̣έρμαν σποδ[ / φοίταις ὀν π[ / |θ| μ̣ά̣σλ̣ητ[ / γ̣[ /. . .

Alc.S262.20/298.20 (better, I think, line 21, given the four-line stanzas) is of particular interest: χέρρεσ]σι δ ἄμφοιν, which might be evidence for compensation for the elimination of the dual through the use of ἄμφω. Cf. IThesp.38 (= Buck, no 39) ϝαγάνω δύο (line 19) and ἐν Κρείσυι λέβετε δύο ∶ ὀ ∶ βελίσκω- /ν δαρχμαὼ δύο (lines 27-28); δύο στατῆρσι Hdt.1.54.1 and δύο στατέρανς on the Gortyn Lawcode.

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