In Alcman’s Louvre Partheneion, while young choristers, celebrating a rite of passage, alternatively praise two women with animal images, they oppose their own singing ability to that of Hagesichora in conditions of metrical responsion: they define themselves as a γλαύξ (v. 87) and the woman as a κύκνος (v. 101), and so determine an oppositional homometric occurrence. This semantic contrast, built on traditional material, is brought forward by πεληάδες (v. 60), which can be understood either as an ornithological reference, as the scholiasts did, or as an astronomical one, as some modern critics do. The analysis of the context would suggest that the poet’s probable aim is ambiguity, where the ornithological homometric occurrence seems to fit well.
Birds, stars and a homometric occurrence: the case of Alcm. frg. 3 Cal., vv. 87~101
Alessio Faedda
2022-01-01
Abstract
In Alcman’s Louvre Partheneion, while young choristers, celebrating a rite of passage, alternatively praise two women with animal images, they oppose their own singing ability to that of Hagesichora in conditions of metrical responsion: they define themselves as a γλαύξ (v. 87) and the woman as a κύκνος (v. 101), and so determine an oppositional homometric occurrence. This semantic contrast, built on traditional material, is brought forward by πεληάδες (v. 60), which can be understood either as an ornithological reference, as the scholiasts did, or as an astronomical one, as some modern critics do. The analysis of the context would suggest that the poet’s probable aim is ambiguity, where the ornithological homometric occurrence seems to fit well.
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