Sappho's "Midnight Poem" dated.

osmanthus · 05-14-2016, 12:47 AM

Nifty bit of work. They used advanced planetarium software to figure out when the poem was written. They already knew the year (570 BC) but not that time of year. Turned out to be winter.

:

Physicists and astronomers from the University of Texas at Arlington have used advanced astronomical software to accurately date lyric poet Sappho's "Midnight Poem," which describes the night sky over Greece more than 2,500 years ago.

The scientists described their research in the article "Seasonal dating of Sappho's 'Midnight Poem' revisited," published today in the Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage. Martin George, former president of the International Planetarium Society, now at the National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand, also participated in the work.

"This is an example of where the scientific community can make a contribution to knowledge described in important ancient texts, " said Manfred Cuntz, physics professor and lead author of the study. "Estimations had been made for the timing of this poem in the past, but we were able to scientifically confirm the season that corresponds to her specific descriptions of the night sky in the year 570 B.C."

Faid · 05-14-2016, 05:55 PM

Looks more like an advertising piece for their software, really.

Faid · 05-14-2016, 05:58 PM

Interesting, although somewhat irrelevant: Some believe that the Midnight Poem may represent one of the first attempts of double entendre in poetry.

osmanthus · 05-14-2016, 08:14 PM

Oh?

Faid · 05-15-2016, 03:25 PM

Yes, although it's probably a longshot. Some think that the lyrics also act metaphorically to show the passage of time in general (παρά δ' έρχετ' ώρα): Sappho's youth has faded away like the moonlight, her 'night' has come, and she is still alone in life.

It's true that it's easy to make such an assumption by reading the poem, and, under that light, the connection would seem almost natural- if the poem was written today. Others disagree, however. They point out that ancient poetry was all about meter and the joy of pronouncing words, and their worth was measured with their ability to represent images and convey feelings rather than make you think about their meaning.

Who knows, though. Sappho was certainly remarkable for her time.

05-14-2016, 05:55 PM	#2650076 / #2
Faid just as bad : Mar 2008 : 22,052	Looks more like an advertising piece for their software, really. __________________ Hi!

05-14-2016, 05:58 PM	#2650079 / #3
Faid just as bad : Mar 2008 : 22,052	Interesting, although somewhat irrelevant: Some believe that the Midnight Poem may represent one of the first attempts of double entendre in poetry. __________________ Hi!

05-15-2016, 03:25 PM	#2650232 / #5
Faid just as bad : Mar 2008 : 22,052	Yes, although it's probably a longshot. Some think that the lyrics also act metaphorically to show the passage of time in general (παρά δ' έρχετ' ώρα): Sappho's youth has faded away like the moonlight, her 'night' has come, and she is still alone in life. It's true that it's easy to make such an assumption by reading the poem, and, under that light, the connection would seem almost natural- if the poem was written today. Others disagree, however. They point out that ancient poetry was all about meter and the joy of pronouncing words, and their worth was measured with their ability to represent images and convey feelings rather than make you think about their meaning. Who knows, though. Sappho was certainly remarkable for her time. __________________ Hi!

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