[Allen Tice]

Today, January 4, 2021, I received my copy of the latest Arion with my translation of the famous "Midnight Poem" - (the δέδυκε poem) on page 95 of the Fall 2020 issue with some of my thoughts on its origin on page 175 in the author's biography section.

The Midnight δέδυκε poem might be by Sappho [Ψαπφω] or it might not. The question is actually unresolved and fiercely contested in a scholarly way. When I visited Eressos where Sappho was born on western Lesvos, I could fancy many things that do not constitute proof. The Wikipedia link above gives a fairly good summary of the problems with this well-known and evocative fragment. (It could even be from a Greek portside "night club" in the Hellenistic period.)

I owe a debt of thanks to both our own Aaron Poochigian as well as to the brilliant late British classicist M. L. West (hats in the air for both, sit down) for some advice from each.

I feel real good.

Here's a link to the Arion site. http://www.bu.edu/arion/

As of tonight, Arion hasn't updated its cover to Raphael's painting, The School of Athens.

[Aaron Poochigian]

That's great, Allen. I love "Arion."

Congratulations!

[Allen Tice]

I ought to mention the translation's title. It is called "Very Late, In Spring," though earlier forms bore other titles that reflected the suspicion that it was a part of a seductive come-hither vamp sung by a Hellenistic artiste somewhere at any of a hundred Greek nite spots anywhere in the classical world, especially in a seaport. As such, it could have been framed as a twist on the universally known theme of the lonely woman from the Odyssey epic. Of course, such a use in an ancient "cabaret" would have easily slipped into a transgression of her signature marital fidelity. Maybe Hephaestion (the source) heard it sung when in his cups, and liked it as much as we do. If it had been sung by someone other than Sappho, that still doesn't necessarily tell us anything about who might have actually composed it. A gifted friend of hers, anyone. That's all speculation.

I've been working on this one for a long time. The title comes from some work done by me using an Internet astronomy site long before I was aware of the similar calendar work by Mebius, I. S.; Herschberg, J. E. (1990). "ΔΕΔΥΚΕ ΜΕΝ Α ΣΕΛΑΝΝΑ". Mnemosyne. 43 (1) that is mentioned in the Wikipedia article on the Midnight Poem.

I also thank our Julie Steiner, with whom I have corresponded on this song fragment. Thank you, Aaron. Earlier drafts were posted on Eratosphere.

Thanks to all the commentators. Arion is just plain sumpthin' else! I apologize if my thread title is too flippant.

[Julie Steiner]

Συγχαρητήρια !

[Allen Tice]

.... which in the common speech means Congratulations ! I'm blushing.

Now, if we could only find a second genuine gold-plated reference to this (Ovid doesn't count here, to me anyway) beyond Diskin Clay's very sensitive sense of smell that might, might, might, might (or not!) place the song in common awareness in fairly early Athens, we could all .... no, I won't write that dopey thing about hats again. It's a deep mystery, and the precise text we have is much disputed.

I too have slept alone. I too have seen the setting moon and the Pleiades and the Milky Way and even the Northern Lights in lower 48 rural North America. Oh singer, who were you??