7. Towards a Conclusion: The Farmer and His Wife Only reapers, reaping early In among the bearded barley,Hear a song that echoes cheerly,From the river winding clearly … Alfred, Lord Tennyson, “Lady of Shallot” Perhaps the most important fact to arise out of this examination of the Hesiodic festival (WD 582-596) is that this passage integrates seasonal themes that may… Read more
Appendix 1. Commentary on WD 582-596 West’s indispensable comments ad loc. may be supplemented with a few remarks which I append here; a fuller discussion of textual points will be found in chs. 5 and 6. For a discussion of the correspondences of meter and phraseology between WD 582-593, Shield of Herakles 393-401 (Solmsen), and Alcaeus fr. 347a (LP), see also Nagy 1990a. 462-463, especially n. 121… Read more
Appendix 2. On Zephyros (WD 594) The detail of the west wind Zephyros seems to be well planned as it matches the atmosphere of relaxation and replenishment which WD foresees for this period. In Homer Zephyros can be beneficent towards crops. Odyssey 7.119-122 relates that the wind blows favorably in the paradisal fairyland of Phaeacia, encouraging the eternal growth and ripening of fruit: [1]… Read more
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
