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Ruined by lust: Anacreon, Fr. 44 Gentili (432 PMG)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2009

Christopher Brown
Christopher Brown
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
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Extract

We generally think of the poetry of Anacreon as coming from an entirely different world from that of the iambists, but among the extant fragments there is some indication to the contrary. With fr. 44 Gentili = 432 PMG iamb. 5 West, an epodic passage, we find Anacreon closest in form to the iambists. Here is the text with the full context from the Etymologicum Magnum (p. 523. 4; after West):

τò δ κνύςα ώς λÉγι ‘Hgr;ρωδιανòς ν τ καθολικ (1. 251. 7, 2. 901. 20 Lentz), εί μν πί τοű ϕυτοű, συγκοπή στιν πò τοű κóνυςα, οίον “χαμαίςήλοιο κονύςης” (Nic. Th. 70). εί δ πί τού παρɛϕθαρμÉνου καί ρρυσωμνου, οÙ συγκοπή οτιν, λλ' πò τοű κνύω, ϕ' οǘ κνύος ϕθορá οȋον “κατà κνύος Ȅχευεν, φίλωτο δ κáρηνα” (Hes. fr. 133.3/5 M—W). γίνεται κνύςα, ώς παρà’ ΑνακρÉοντι ν ίáμβω

κνυςή τις ñδη καί πÉπειρα γίνομαι

σ διà μαργοσύνην.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Classical Quarterly , Volume 34 , Issue 1 , May 1984 , pp. 37 - 42
Copyright
Copyright © The Classical Association 1984

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References

1 The most notable example is fr. 82 Gentili = 388 PMG. For a discussion of other passages and an interpretation of fr. 82, see Phoenix 37 (1983), 1–15. The only detailed treatment of fr. 44 is Degani, E. and Burzacchini, G., Lirici greci (Florence, 1977), 263–4Google Scholar, I am much indebted to Professor L. Woodbury and, especially, Professor E. Robbins for valuable advice and criticism.

2 Among the fragments there is support for both suggestions. Fr. 86 Gentili = 385 PMG (the beginning of a poem) may have belonged to a poem of the first type; and a woman's speech is contained in fr. 72 Gentili = 347. 11 ff. PMG. Apart from Partheneia the evidence for poems in the persona of women is very slim (in addition to the Anacreon passages, cf. Ale. fr. 10 Voigt, Theogn. 579–82); such poems are similarly rare in Hellenistic epigram: see von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, U., Hellenistische Dichtung in der Zeit des Kallimachos, ii (Berlin, 1924), 114Google Scholar. On this question in general, see Dover, K. J. in Archiloque (Entretiens Hardt 10: Vandoeuvres-Geneva, 1964), 205 ffGoogle Scholar. We should also acknowledge the remote possibility that fr. 44 is spoken by something other than a human (e.g. a mare speaking to a donkey), but there is no evidence to suggest that Anacreon made any use of the tradition of the beast-fable.

3 cf. Chantraine, , DELG ii. 549Google Scholar, s.v. κνυςóω.

4 See Henderson, J., The Maculate Muse (New Haven and London, 1975), 175 fGoogle Scholar.

5 This view seems to be implied in the Et. Mag. (πί τοű παρεϕθαρμÉνου καί ρρυσωμÉνου), but is probably based on the incorrect understanding of ππειρα (see below).

6 See Headlam, W. and Knox, A. D., Herodas: the Mimes and Fragments (Cambridge, 1922), 359–60Google Scholar, on κνύσα.

7 On the background to this passage see Schwartz, J., Pseudo-Hesiodeia (Leiden, 1960), 369–77, andGoogle ScholarCalame, C., Les chceurs de jeunes filles en Grȉce archaique i (Rome, 1977), 214 ffGoogle Scholar.

8 As the Theocritus passage indicates, the complexion takes on an unhealthy pallor (cf. Sapph. fr. 31. 14 Voigt: χλωροτÉρα ποίας) as opposed to the creamy white colour admired in women: e.g. Sapph. ft. 167 Voigt: ώίω πóλυ λευκóτερον (understanding a word like πρóσωπον); Theocr. 11. 20: λευκοτρα πακτȃς; cf. Ussher, on Ar. Eccl. 63–4Google Scholar. More rarely, a healthy blush was admired: cf. Chaerem, . TrGF 71 F 1. 3–4Google Scholar, with Collard, C., JHS 90 (1970), 31CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

9 Hes. fr. 132M–W: είνεκα μαχλοσύνης στυγερς τρεν λεσεν äνθος;, Theocr. 2. 83: τ δ κáλλος τáκετο

10 Hair was emblematic of a woman's beauty: cf. (e.g.) εύπλóκαμος in epic; Arch. fr. 31 West; Alcm. fr. 1. 51–4 PMG; Sem. fr. 7. 57, 65–6 West and Phocyl. fr. 4. 2 Gentili-Prato (the description is equally applicable to the mare and the woman); A.P. 5. 25 = 1062–5 Page, FGE; Luc. Am. 26. See Calame, , op. cit. ii. 101–2Google Scholar. The loss of hair was a source of grief and shame: cf. Soph. fr. 659 Radt (of Tyro, who is ερασιπλóκαμος at Pind. Pyth. 4. 136). For an ȁνθος seen as hair, cf. Pind. fr. 75.17 Snell-Maehler, Chaerem. TrGFl F13, Arist. GA 783b 17 ff.; for χαίτη) used of plants, see Gow on Theocr. 6. 16.

11 cf. also Theocr. 7. 121, τó τοι καλν ᾱνθοςm πορρεί.

12 See Taillardat, J., Les images d'Aristophane2 (Paris, 1965), 47–8Google Scholar; Bremer, J. M., Mnemosyne 28 (1975), 268–80CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Henderson, J., Arethusa 9 (1976), 163–4Google Scholar. The woman's position is concisely expressed at Ar. Lys. 596, τς δ γυναικς μικρς καιρóς.

13 The usual physical change may be no more than the loss of αίδώς in the eyes: Aesch. fr. 242 Nauck 2 (cf. Anacr. fr. 15. 1 Gentili = 360. 1 PMG, παρθνιον βλπων).

14 , Hipp.Viet. 1. 27Google Scholar; , Arist.Probl. 879 a 33–4Google Scholar; see Giacomelli, A. Carson, Odi et amo ergo sum (Diss. Toronto, 1981), 182 ffGoogle Scholar.

15 See Onians, R. B., The Origins of European Thought 2 (Cambridge, 1954), 110–11, 124 n. 6, 178–9, 183, 233,246Google Scholar.

16 See Taillardat, op. cit. 159–60; Gow on Theocr. 3. 17.

17 The precise nature of the emotion is difficult to pin down: cf. Robbins, E., TAP A 110 (1980), 260 n. 19Google Scholar.

18 See (e.g.) Hes. fr. 275 M–W; Sem. fr. 7. 48–9, 53 (reading ληνής; cf. Gerber, D. E., Phoenix 33 [1979], 19), 106–11 WestCrossRefGoogle Scholar; Aesch, . Cho. 594–601Google Scholar, fr. 243 Nauck2; Soph. fr. 932 Radt; Ar. Lys. 551–4, Thes. 478–501, Eccl. 468–70, 615–20. Cf. Dover, K. J., Greek Popular Morality (Oxford, 1974), 101–2Google Scholar.

19 As early as Arch. fr. 193 West love was seen to afflict the marrow, the liquid life-fluid (Onians, op. cit. 205 f.): see the passages collected by Gow on Theocr. 3.17 and Nisbet-Hubbard, on Hor. Carm. 1. 13. 8Google Scholar. At Hipp, , de Morb. Mul. 1. 7Google Scholar and PI. Tim. 91c we find the belief that the womb is wetted through intercourse. When deprived of that moisture it becomes dry and wanders about the body causing various illnesses: see Geddes, A., Antichthon 9 (1975), 37–8CrossRefGoogle Scholar, and Lefkowitz, M. R., Heroines and Hysterics (London, 1981), 12–25Google Scholar.

20 Arist. GA 783b9 ff. attributes baldness in men to loss of moisture through sex; it seems reasonable that dehydration would be thought to affect women similarly. Since hair was considered a form of skin (Arist. GA 782a 31 ff.), it seems probable that loss of moisture would not only affect the hair but the skin in general.

21 See Ciavolellà, M., La malattia d'amore dalV antichita al medioevo (Rome, 1976), 51–9Google Scholar, and Florilegium 1 (1979), 222–41 (esp. 230 ff.)Google Scholar. I am grateful to Professor A. Carson for drawing my attention to these works.

22 Schwartz, op. cit. 376 f., rightly argues from fr. 132 M–W that the μαχλοσύνη is the reason for Hera's punishment. This version seems to be markedly different from the familiar myth, best known from Bacch. 11. Attempts (e.g. by Burkert, W., Homo Necans [RGVV 32: Berlin-New York, 1972], 190Google Scholar, and Henrichs, A., ZPE 15 [1974], 298–301)Google Scholar to reconcile the fragments with the usual version are forced to make the lust a concomitant of the Proetides' madness and wandering, but this seems flatly contradicted by fr. 132 M–W. Apollodorus' appeal to the authority of Hesiod (Bibl. 2. 2. 2 = fr. 131 M–W) in recounting the conventional version is not a reference to the present passage but to the version told in connection with the Aeolidae (fr. 37. 10 ff. M–W) and possibly current in the Melampodia: cf. Lὅffler, I., Die Melampodie (Beitrage zur klass. Phil. 7: Meisenheim am Glan, 1963), 37–9Google Scholar.

23 It may be that the purpose of the destruction of the ἅνθος was to stop the sexual appetite. It is interesting to note that the libido of mares was thought to be stopped by cutting their manes, the focal point of their vanity: cf. Arist. HA 572b 7 ff., Ael. NA II. 18, Colum. 6. 35.

24 e.g. Horn, . II. 24. 30 (Paris)Google Scholar; Stes. fr. 223 PMG (the daughters of Tyndareus); Panyas. fr. 25 Matthews (Smyrna); cf. Davies, M., JHS 101 (1981), 57 fGoogle Scholar. There is certainly no evidence to suggest that lust marred the beauty of Paris and Helen, who remained the paradigms of human beauty; the effects of lust seem to have been viewed strictly in moral terms. It is only in the case of someone like Phaedra, whose heaven-sent desire (cf. Soph. fr. 680 Radt; , Eur.Hipp. 28)Google Scholar is unfulfilled, that physical problems ensue (, Eur.Hipp. 198 ff.)Google Scholar.

25 ππειρα seems to be the feminine of ππων a formation parallel to πίειρα, from πίων: cf. Chantraine, DELG s.v. ππων, and Risch, E., Wortbildung der homerischen Sprache 2 (Berlin-New York, 1974), 56Google Scholar. ππειρος seems to be a two-termination adjective formed from the feminine stem.

26 The gloss may have arisen through misunderstanding a passage like Ar. Eccl. 896, where ππειρα is used ironically by an old woman (cf. Σ ad loc.): see Degani-Burzacchini, op. cit. 264, and Henrichs, A., ZPE 39 (1980), 16 n. 16Google Scholar. The more usual abusive term for an ‘overripe’ woman is σαπρá: cf. Ar. Eccl. 884 (with Ussher's note), and Taillardat, op. cit. 53.

27 ώραία regularly denotes a girl who has reached marriageable age: see LSJ s.v. III. 1.

28 It seems that ππων implies a more advanced stage of ripeness with some suggestion of softness (cf. πσσω): cf. LSJ s.v. 1 b and 2.

29 Arch. fr. 196a26–8 West, Delectus. The text has been printed with West's punctuation of line 26, which reflects his belief (ZPE 26 [1977], 46–8)Google Scholar that δίς τóση) is to be taken independently of ππειρα. Yet this view is not altogether satisfactory, and Henrichs, art. cit. 11–13, may be right in arguing that Sis δίς τóοη intensifies the adjective.

30 παρθνος indicates an unmarried young girl (cf. Calame, , op. cit. i. 65 f.)Google Scholar, who was usually thought to be innocent of sex (see below).

31 cf. Degani, E., A + R 19 (1974), 122Google Scholar, who notes that τρην is rarely used of people, but more regularly modifies a word like ἅνθος (e.g. Hes. fr. 132M–W); cf. especially Aesch, . Suppl. 998Google Scholar, τρειν' πώρα (of virginity). The phrase καλήτρεινα παρθνοσ at Hippon. fr. 119 West.

32 Although marriage is not mentioned directly in the extant portion of the poem (γμου, however, has been plausibly supplemented in line 5), it is implied by χτω (25; = γαμείτω: cf. Degani-Burzacchini, op. cit. 15), the fear of becoming a γείτοσι χρμ(a) (34; cf. Hes. Erga 701 with West's note), and by the concern for the nature of the offspring (cf. Woodbury, L., TAP A 112 [1982], 245 ff.)Google Scholar. The χρις lost (28) seems to be that which distinguishes girls who have reached the age of marriage: e.g. Hes. fr. 73. 3M–W (cf. Theogn. 1289); Sapph. fr. 108 Voigt; Theocr. 18. 33; Antip, . A.P. 6. 276Google Scholar. 4 = 513 Gow-Page, HE; Phld. A.P. 5. 124. 2 = 3219 Gow-Page, GP; , Plut.Amat. 751 dGoogle Scholar; σ Pind. Pyth. 2. 42 (II 44 Drachmann); cf. also adapts used of a girl who is not yet marriageable, Sapph. fr. 49. 2 Voigt. See Calame, , op. cit. i. 401 and ii. 99, 103Google Scholar. For the promiscuity of Neobule, see line 38, πολλοῢς δ ποιεῖτα[ι ϕίλους, and Degani-Burzacchini, op. cit. 17, on μαινóλις.

33 That the girl can advertise Neobule as a παρθνος makes it unlikely that the narrator is implying a radical difference in age with ππειρα. Moreover, the implication of old age would be at variance with the rest of the passage, since the narrator's attack centres solely on Neobule's promiscuity.

34 Aesch. fr. 264 Nauck 2; Xenarch. fr. 4 Kock; Theocr. 7. 120.

35 The word may have lost its distinctive force. Plutarch, , Lye. 15. 3Google Scholar, clearly uses it synonymously with ώραῖος; γμουν δ δι' àρπαγς οῢ μικρàς οῢδ' ώρους πρς γμον, λλ' κμαςούσασ καί πεπείρους. Strato, , A.P. 12. 251. 3Google Scholar, seems, however, to use the word with something approaching its original force: see Maxwell-Stuart, P. G., Hermes 100 (1972), 236Google Scholar.

36 A.P. 5. 20 = 2400–3 Gow-Page, GP. In not desiring a virgin Honestus is probably expressing an unusual view: cf. , Luc.Am. 25Google Scholar.

37 Similarly, the old woman at , Ar.Eccl. 895 fGoogle Scholar. seems to be presenting herself as a younger woman who is sexually experienced: ού γρ ν νεαῖς τ σοϕν/εστιν, λλ' ν ταίς πεπείρους (-ραις R).

38 By realizing this we can interpret (μιαρώταται at Alc. fr. 347. 4 Voigt (for μαχλóταται at , Hes.Erga 586)Google Scholar in its more usual sense, ‘repulsive to the moral sense’. The acrobatics of modern scholars are unnecessary: see Page, D., Sappho and Alcaeus (Oxford, 1955), 305Google Scholar. Alcaeus seems to be making explicit the condemnation implicit in Hesiod.

30 See West on , Hes.Erga. 699Google Scholar.

40 This aspect of early Greek society has been given far too little weight by many interpreters of Arch. fr. 196 a West, Delectus.

41 cf. Pomeroy, S. B., Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves (New York, 1975), 86Google Scholar; North, H. F., ICS 2 (1977), 36–7Google Scholar.

41 See the interesting remarks of Denniston, J. D., Euripides Electra (Oxford, 1939), xviii–xixGoogle Scholar.

43 The most extensive example is Sem. fr. 7 West; for Archilochus, cf. , Plut.de Curios. 520Google Scholar b = test. 140 Tarditi.