Luxury imports in Lesbos and lyrics of Sappho
Matteo
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
ozandy
news:f9748ee3-506e-4558...@2g2000hsn.googlegroups.com...
Best I can do. From the site
http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/sappho/sappho1.htm
[begin quote from site]
The Poems of Sappho, Part II
19
... Po`das de'
poi'kilos ma'slhs e?ka'lupte, Lu'dion ka'lon e?'rgon.
A broidered strap of beautiful Lydian work covered her feet.
Her shining ankles clad in fairest fashion
In broidered leather from the realm of Lydia,
So came the Goddess.
This fragment is very likely from an invocation to Aphrodite. It is from the
Scholiast on Aristophanes' "Peace," 1174; Pollux about A.D. 180 also
mentions it.
[end quote]
I searched for Lydia and Lydian in the rest of this site and there was
nothing which met your description. But perhaps there are other fragments.
Good luck
Andy
William C Waterhouse
"Matteo" <matteo....@tele2.it> ha scritto nel messaggio
news:f9748ee3-506e-4558...@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