"Matteo" <matteo.olivi...@tele2.it> ha scritto nel messaggio
news:f9748ee3-506e-4558-9359-2836d6e5ef46@2g2000hsn.googlegroups.com...
> Hello,
>
> I'm writing a thesis on the forms of relation between greek tyrants
> and the non-hellenic world.
> One of the topics is the tyranny of Pyttacus in Mytilene; during his
> reign he approvede laws to reduce the exposition and use of luxury
> items among the aristocrats of Lesbos. The fact is of interest because
> these artifacts were imported from Lydia.
> This information relates, I believe, to a (or some) poem/s of Sappho
> in which she describes the rich artifacts and goods used amog the
> aristocrats of Lesbos; also I recall (but I may be wrong) she even
> expresses her distress for the prohibitive laws imposed by the tyrant.
> I remember distinctly mention, in Sappho, of gloden tiaras, the rich
> headresses made in Lydia.
> Problem is I only remember these vague notions about the Sapphic poems
> and I can't look them up to verify and eventually quote them in my
> work.
>
> Is there anyone familiar enough with the Lyrics of Sappho to
> understand what poem/s I'm referring to and help me in my research?
>
> Thaks, good day
>
> Matteo
I'm no expert on Sappho, but a JSTOR search on "Sappho Lydia"
turns up a paper
........
Shifting Helen: An Interpretation of Sappho, Fragment 16 (Voigt)
Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer
The Classical Quarterly, New Series, Vol. 50, No. 1 (2000), pp. 1-6
........
On p. 5 the author says:
"It has often been observed that for Sappho Lydia
symbolizes the centre of beauty and elegance..."
The footnote there refers also to fragments 39,
98a, and i32 V, and to p. 352 of a paper by E. M. Stern.
Sappho fr. 16 LP. Zur strukturellen Einheit
einer Lyrik, Mnemosyna 23 (1970), 348=61.
William C. Waterhouse
Penn State