The representation of Aphrodite in late-archaic Greek melic: the songs of Simonides, Bacchylides and Pindar

Abstract

The research project now presented focuses on the study of the representation of Aphrodite in late archaic Greek melic poetry (6th-5th centuries BC) and its three most famous poets, Simonides, Bacchylides and Pindar, in order to analyze and translate into the Portuguese language their songs that sing of the goddess. In the two previous research projects to which this is related, and from which two books sprung (Fragmentos de uma deusa, 2005; Lira, mito e erotismo, 2010), I studied the representation of Aphrodite in early archaic melic or lyric poetry, the solo or choral songs performed to the accompaniment of the lyre, from the late 7th century to the mid-6th. Thus, I turned to the six major of the genre: Alcman, Sappho, Alcaeus, Stesichorus, Ibycus, Anacreon. In this third cycle of research on the theme of the representation of Aphrodite, I am interested in studying the three major late melic poets, thereby closing the ring the divine character and on the two main themes correlated to her image: myth and eroticism. Here is the corpus of this project: SIMONIDES [Page, 1962]- Frs. 541 and 575; BACCHYLIDES [Snell, 1958]- epinício 5; dithyramb 17; Frs. 20B, 61; PINDAR [Snell, 1964; Snell-Maehler, 1987]- Olympian Odes 1, 7 and 10; Nemaean Ode 8; Isthmian Ode 2; Phytian Odes 2, 4, 5, 6 and 9; paeans 2, 5 and 6; Frs. 122, 123, 217. The perspective of the study will be the same that I've been following in my previous works, articulating interdisciplinary data, such as the social-historical contexts of the texts and their authors, the elements concerning the transmission of the texts to us, and the mythical-religious and cultic aspects relating to Aphrodite, to the literary data that is privileged, since interpretative analysis of the verses is at the heart of the study. (AU)