Not Each Other's Type, Anacreon fr. 358

Not Each Other’s Type

Name: Anacreon Date:  582 – 485 BCE Region:  Teos [modern Turkey] Citation: Athenaeus, Deipnosophists 13.72

According to Athenaeus, Anacreon wrote this poem to Sappho, because he was smitten by her:

Golden Haired Love

Attacked me with a purple ball.

He keeps trying to get me

To play with him.

But she who inhabits posh Lesbos [Sappho]

Takes one look at my silver hair,

Laughs at me

And swoons over someone else—a girl!

 

σφαίρῃ δεὖτέ με πορφυρῇ βάλλων χρυσοκόμης Ἔρως νήνι ποικιλοσαμβάλῳ συμπαίζειν προκαλεῖται. ἡ δ᾽ ἐστὶν γὰρ ἀπ᾽ εὐκτίτου Λέσβοὐ τὴν μὲν ἐμὴν κόμην λευκὴ γάρ καταμέμφεται, πρὸς δ᾽ ἄλλην τινὰ χάσκει.

Globo, age, me purpureo petens auricomus Amor, huic, varie me prensans, ut colludam provocat. at illa, est enim ex bene habitata Lesbo, meam quidem comam, cana cum sit, vituperat, et alli cuipiam inhiat.  Translated into Latin by Johann Schweighäuser

Anacreon [575 – 495 BCE, modern Turkey] was a Greek poet who lived during the 6th century BCE. He was born in Teos [modern Turkey] during a period of intense conflict between the Ionian and Persian forces, and did not remain in his homeland for long. Sources indicate that he found success and fame for his poetry in Samos and Athens, but little is known about his life beyond anecdotes written hundreds of years after his death.  His poetry was exceedingly popular, to the extent that an entire genre of poetry was dedicated to his style of writing; the Anacreonta are a collection of poems written in imitation of his writing style composed by Greek authors throughout the centuries. Despite Anacreon’s immense popularity and influence on literature, only fragments of his poetry remain today.

M/M: Like Superheroes to Those In Need: Ptolemy and Galetes, Aelian VH 1.30

Πτολεμαῖος ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐρώμενον εἶχε Γαλέτην ὄνομα, ἰδεῖν κάλλιστον. ἀμείνων δὲ ἦν ἄρα τούτῳ τῷ μειρακίῳ ἡ γνώμη τῆς μορφῆς. πολλάκις γοῦν αὐτῷ καὶ ὁ Πτολεμαῖος ἐμαρτύρει, καὶ ἔλεγεν ῾ὦ [p. 13] ἀγαθὴ κεφαλή, κακοῦ μὲν οὐδεπώποτε οὐδενὶ γέγονας αἴτιος, πολλοῖς δὲ καὶ πολλὰ ἀγαθὰ προυξένησας.᾿ ὅ μὲν οὖν ἵππευε σὺν τῷ βασιλεῖ τὸ μειράκιον: ἰδὼν δὲ πόρρωθεν ἀγομένους τινὰς τὴν ἐπὶ θανάτῳ, οὐ ῥᾳθύμως εἶδεν, ἀλλ᾽ ἔφη πρὸς τὸν Πτολεμαῖον ῾ὦ βασιλεῦ, ἐπεὶ κατά τινα δαίμονα τῶν ἀγομένων ἀγαθὸν ἐπὶ ἵππων ἐτύχομεν ὄντες, φέρε, εἴ σοι δοκεῖ, τὴν ἔλασιν ἐπιτείναντες καὶ συντονώτερον ἐπιδιώξαντες Διόσκοροι τοῖς δειλαίοις γενώμεθα, σωτῆρες ἐσθλοὶ κἀγαθοὶ παραστάται, τοῦτο δὴ τὸ λεγόμενον ἐπὶ τῶν θεῶν τούτων. ὃ δὲ ὑπερησθεὶς αὐτοῦ τῇ χρηστότητι καὶ τὸ φιλοίκτιρμον ὑπερφιλήσας, καὶ ἐκείνους ἔσωσε καὶ ἐπὶ πλέον προσέθηκε τῷ φίλτρῳ τοῦ κατ᾽ αὐτὸν ἔρωτος.

 

Ptolemaeus rex amasium habebat Galetem, pulcherrima forma praeditum. Animus vero iuvenis longe formam superabat: persaepe igitur etiam Ptolemaeus testimonium ei perhibebat, inquiens, o benignum caput! nulli tu unquam ullius auctor incommodi fuisti, sed contra multis multa bona procurasti. Hic aliquando cum Rege adolescens equitabat. Quum vero procul aliquos ad supplicium trahi vieret, non oscitanter in haec verba regem affatus est: sed o rex, inquie ad Ptolemaeum, quandoquidem prospera quadam fontium istorum fortuna, in equis nunc sumus, age, si tibi gratum est, calcaribus admotis & velocius persequentes appareamus miseris quasi Dioscuri salvatores & opiferi salutem ferentes, quod communi proverbio de his diis vulgatum est. ille vero maxmimam voluptatem capiens ex eius bonitate & propensum ad misericordiam animum amplectens, tum nocentes servavit, tum amoris vim, quo cum deperibat, confirmavit & auxit.

--Aelian, VH 1.30; Translated into Latin by Joannis Schefferi [Second Edition 1662]

King Ptolemy had a boyfriend named Galetes, who was exceedingly good looking, but the youth’s intelligence was even better than his good looks. Often Ptolemy would declare, “O noble mind, you are have never brought evil upon anyone; rather, you have bestowed many good deeds upon many people.”

One day the youth was riding with the king when he spotted in the distance some men being led to their execution. Unable to bear the sight, he told Ptolemy, “Oh king, since some blessed spirit has led us to be on horseback at this moment, and able to be helpful for those men, (if you’d like) let’s whip up the horses and charge forward to catch up with them, appearing to them as superheroes like the Dioscuri,* and help them out!”

Ptolemy was overjoyed by Galetes’ sympathy, and not only saved the men’s lives, but also fell even more in love with the youth.

* The Dioscuri, "sons of Zeus," are Castor & Pollux, the twin brothers of Helen & Clytemnestra who later become the constellation Gemini

The Theft of A Statue of Sappho: Cicero, In Verr. 2.4.126,127

[126] Nam Sappho quae sublata de prytanio est dat tibi iustam excusationem, prope ut concedendum atque ignoscendum esse videatur. Silanionis opus tam perfectum, tam elegans, tam elaboratum quisquam non modo privatus sed populus potius haberet quam homo elegantissimus atque eruditissimus, Verres? Nimirum contra dici nihil potest.  ...

[127] Atque haec Sappho sublata quantum desiderium sui reliquerit, dici vix potest. Nam cum ipsa fuit egregie facta, tum epigramma Graecum pernobile incisum est in basi, quod iste eruditus homo et Graeculus, qui haec subtiliter iudicat, qui solus intellegit, si unam litteram Graecam scisset, certe non sustulisset. Nunc enim quod scriptum est inani in basi declarat quid fuerit, et id ablatum indicat.

--Cicero, In Verrem 2.4.126

  

The statue of Sappho that you took from the municipal building was such a perfect fit for you that it almost seemed like you were entitled to it.  For the sculpture crafted by Silanian was so perfect, so delicate, and so intricate that not just anybody—not just any country—could have it except the most polished and learned person:  you, Verres! Of course it would make sense for you to take it...[127]

  

But words cannot express how much loss was felt from the theft of the Sappho statue. For not only was the statue exquisitely carved, but there was also a famous Greek epigram of hers inscribed on the base, which any learned scholar of Greece with any amount of sense would have taken it too if he actually understood Greek. Now only the inscription remains, an empty base showcasing what used to be on the pedestal before it was stolen.