Appendix 3. On the Fountain, Sexual Mischief, and the Migration of Reapers The fountain or well was one of the few places where a woman might encounter an unrelated man and consequently a likely locus for sexual mischief: see Richardson, pp. 179-180 on Homeric Hymn to Demeter 98 f. Hesiod’s κρήνη may well be a sexual detail, not merely a topographical one. In demotic song the βρύση,… Read more
Appendix 4. Commentary on WD 448-452 Cf. West ad loc. Also cf.: 448. φράζεσθαι: infinitive as imperative = ‘heed’ as at WD 86 ἐφράσαθ’, ὥς·. φωνήν: the crane’s ‘voice’ is actually a strident “krooh” (Field guide, p. 101), or κλαγγή, cf. below on 449. Φωνή is even so appropriate, for it refers to ‘the resonant voice’ (as opposed to αὐδή, which refers to the ‘articulate… Read more
Appendix 5. Commentary on WD 486-490 See West ad loc. Also cf.: 486. ἦμος: looks forward to τῆμος (488), cf. on 582, above (Appendix 1). κόκκυξ κοκκύζει: the noun κόκκυξ was derived by onomatopoeic reduplication, like τέττιξ (see on 582, above). Κοκκύζω is used of cuckoos but often of cocks crowing also: see Ussher 1973. 77 on Ecclesiazusae 31. The bird’s cry, “κόκκυ” in Greek… Read more
Appendix 6. Commentary on Athenaeus 8.360B = carmen populare 848 (PMG) Cf. Campbell, pp. 446-448 ad loc. The song as preserved in Athenaeus exhibits an uncouth admixture of “highbrow” literary elements (cf. below) and traits that stem from popular, or oral, tradition, namely rhyme and assonance, repetition and anaphora (on which cf. Campbell, p. 447; on repetition, usually symmetrical, in ancient folksong, cf. Dover 1971. xlix f.,… Read more
Appendix 7. Harvest Songs a) For the ancient evidence of harvest and other work-songs, cf. J. C. B. Petropoulos 1989.159-164, especially 162-163, to which add Simonides fr. 543.21-22 (PMG) (a βαυκάλημα), and Sappho fr. 102 (LP) (a loom-song?). b) Richardson 1986. 62, 67-68 notes a number of Chian harvest songs, some of which are katalogia. The following is a harvest song from the village of… Read more
Appendix 8. The Avdemi Songs In relation to the Avdemi songs it may not be entirely far-fetched to envisage even a ritual basis loosely comparable to the ancient Adonia, which were celebrated during the Dog Days. Detienne, [1] as supplemented by Winkler, [2] has shown that such technical contrasts as male “withering”/sterility and female moistness/hyper-fertility were a… Read more
Canicular Period(Acute Phase: July 19-27) Conditions Description Ancient testimonia Modern equivalent data Astronomical Sirius rises on July 19, visible by day; mid-point of solar year; earth and sun in greatest proximity Hes. WD 582-588 Same conditions Meteorological Imbalance of dry and wet: drought; cool northerly winds intensify around… Read more
Bibliography This list includes all works which are cited but not found in the Abbreviations. Alexiou, M. L. 1974. The ritual lament in Greek tradition. Cambridge. Argenti, Philip P., and Rose, H. J. 1949. The folk-lore of Chios, i. Cambridge. Athanassakis, Apostolos N. 1983. Hesiod, Theogony, Works and Days, Shield, transl., intro., and notes. Baltimore and London. Read more
1. Introduction Toward the end of Alcman IP, the choir of maidens makes a strangely emphatic exclamation about the presence of Hagesichora. The identity of this figure is mysterious, and the significance of the passage is unclear: οὐ γὰρ ἁ κ[α]λλίσφυροςἉγησιχ[ό]ρ[α] πάρ’ αὐτεῖ,Ἀγιδοῖ …. αρμένειθωστήρ[ιά τ’] ἅμ’ ἐπαινεῖ The appearance of the adjective καλλίσφυρος contributes to the mystery. It is the only… Read more
2. σφυρόν in the Iliad One way of approaching the importance of the epithet καλλίσφυρος is a consideration of the meaning and use of the noun σφυρόν which lies at its root. This noun is not particularly obscure in meaning, and yet it appears infrequently in Greek verse. It occurs not at all in Hesiod or in extant lyric poetry and only five times in Homer, all… Read more
