{"title":"Alcaeus, Pittakos ‘son of “Hyrras”’, and the Lesbian aristocracy, or ‘How to do things with words’","authors":"Alexander Dale","doi":"10.1017/s007542692300068x","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This paper offers a reassessment of the representation of Pittakos, tyrant of Lesbos, in Alcaeus’ verse. I begin by examining the textual evidence for Pittakos’ father, Hyrras, before progressing to re-evaluate the evidence for the aristocratic clans of Lesbos as attested in the Lesbian poets. Building on this, and with reference to the patronymic/gentilic Arkheanaktidās seemingly used of Pittakos in Alcaeus, I relate the preponderance of patronymic forms found in Alcaeus’ verse to the iambic and comedic use of ‘characterizing’ patronymics in -(ι)δᾱς. I then argue that both ῎Υρρας and Ἀρχϵανακτίδας are to be interpreted via a cross-cultural and bilingual rhetoric of kingship, with the latter being in essence a calque of a Lydian intermediary of the Luwian designation ura- handawati -, ‘great king’, with ὔρρας and its derivatives in Alcaeus a nominalization of the Luwian adjectival stem ura -, ‘great’. This argument is then related to the increasing evidence for Lesbos as a central locus for Graeco-Anatolian cultural exchange. The end result is a comprehensive reassessment of historical reconstructions emanating from the texts of Sappho and Alcaeus, as well as a reassessment of Alcaeus’ poetic objectives in his attacks on Pittakos, ‘son of Hyrras’.","PeriodicalId":46515,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF HELLENIC STUDIES","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7000,"publicationDate":"2023-11-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"JOURNAL OF HELLENIC STUDIES","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s007542692300068x","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"CLASSICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Abstract This paper offers a reassessment of the representation of Pittakos, tyrant of Lesbos, in Alcaeus’ verse. I begin by examining the textual evidence for Pittakos’ father, Hyrras, before progressing to re-evaluate the evidence for the aristocratic clans of Lesbos as attested in the Lesbian poets. Building on this, and with reference to the patronymic/gentilic Arkheanaktidās seemingly used of Pittakos in Alcaeus, I relate the preponderance of patronymic forms found in Alcaeus’ verse to the iambic and comedic use of ‘characterizing’ patronymics in -(ι)δᾱς. I then argue that both ῎Υρρας and Ἀρχϵανακτίδας are to be interpreted via a cross-cultural and bilingual rhetoric of kingship, with the latter being in essence a calque of a Lydian intermediary of the Luwian designation ura- handawati -, ‘great king’, with ὔρρας and its derivatives in Alcaeus a nominalization of the Luwian adjectival stem ura -, ‘great’. This argument is then related to the increasing evidence for Lesbos as a central locus for Graeco-Anatolian cultural exchange. The end result is a comprehensive reassessment of historical reconstructions emanating from the texts of Sappho and Alcaeus, as well as a reassessment of Alcaeus’ poetic objectives in his attacks on Pittakos, ‘son of Hyrras’.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Hellenic Studies (JHS) is recognised internationally as one of the foremost periodicals in the field of classical scholarship. It contains articles on a wide variety of Hellenic topics including Greek language, literature, history and art and archaeology in the Ancient, Byzantine and Modern periods, as well as reviews of recent books of importance to Greek studies.