 | ||
The Brothers Poem or Brothers Song is a poem by the archaic Greek poet Sappho, first published in 2014. It was discovered by Dirk Obbink, the head of Oxford University's Oxyrhynchus Papyri Project, on a papyrus from a private collection. Most of the poem survives, though the beginning has been lost. The fragment is one of a series of poems by Sappho about her brothers. It mentions two, Charaxos and Larichos, by name: this is the only extant mention of these names in Sappho's own writings, though they were previously known from other ancient sources. These mentions, as well as the language used, identify the poem as being one of Sappho's works.
Contents
The poem has been the object of both scholarly and popular attention, and its discovery was reported in the international media. Scholars have tended to be critical of the literary value of the poem, but consider it valuable as a historical source. Much of the scholarship on the poem has focused on the question of who the speaker and the addressee in the poem are, and whether Charaxos and Larichos are the historical or fictional brothers of Sappho; other discussions have suggested reconstructions of the missing initial paragraphs, and discussed how the poem draws on epic, particularly the homecoming stories told in the Odyssey.
Preservation
In 2014, five new fragments of papyrus, containing the remains of nine separate poems – three previously unknown – by Sappho, were published by Dirk Obbink, Simon Burris, and Jeffrey Fish. The most impressive of these new fragments was the newly discovered Brothers Poem, five stanzas of which are preserved on a fragment of papyrus known as P. Sapph. Obbink, published by Obbink. Nine lines of a second poem, called the Kypris poem by Obbink, are also preserved on the same papyrus. The papyrus fragment measures 176 mm × 111 mm, and preserves part of a papyrus roll which was originally a critical edition of Book I of Sappho's poetry. The handwriting in which the fragment is written dates to the third century AD.
The papyrus was reused as cartonnage – a material similar to the modern papier-mâché made with linen and papyrus – which Obbink suggests was used as a book cover. This fragment has been described as "the best-preserved Sappho papyrus in existence". The fragment was part of David Moore Robinson's collection from 1954, which he left to the University of Mississippi. It was later sold at auction in 2011 to a collector in London, and it was this anonymous owner who gave Obbink, the head of Oxford University's Oxrhynchus Papyri Project, access to the papyrus and permission to publish it. A second piece of papyrus, Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 2289, published by Edgar Lobel in 1951, preserves enough of the Brothers Poem to show that at least one stanza preceded the well-preserved portion.
Poem
The Brothers Poem is in Sapphic stanzas and is 20 lines (five stanzas) long. The complete poem was at least one stanza longer, and Gauthier Liberman suggests that it was seven stanzas long. It is in the genre of homecoming prayers; one of a series of Sappho's poems concerned with homecomings, along with fragments 5, 15, and 17.
The poem contains two parallel sections, about two of Sappho's brothers, Charaxos and Larichos. Sappho hopes that Charaxos will return successfully from his trading voyage, and that Larichos will grow up and become a man. It is addressed to an unknown listener: Obbink suggests that the two most likely candidates are Rhodopis, a courtesan said by the Greek historian Herodotus to have been the lover of Charaxos, and Sappho's mother, to whom Sappho addressed other poems. However, different scholars have suggested a variety of other possible listeners, including Sappho's sister-in-law, her brothers Eurygios or Larichos, or her nurse.
The Brothers Poem has been compared to Homer's Odyssey, with Charaxos, Larichos, and Sappho representing Odysseus, Telemachus, and Penelope respectively. Melissa Mueller suggests that Sappho here is deliberately reworking the Homeric story, privileging the fraternal relationship between Sappho and Charaxos over the conjugal one between Penelope and Odysseus.
Authorship
When Obbink published the Brothers Poem, he attributed it to Sappho based on its metre (Sapphic stanzas), dialect (Aeolic), and references to Charaxos and Larichos, known from other sources to have been Sappho's brothers. The papyrus itself is ancient, carbon dated to between the first and third centuries AD, which is consistent with the handwriting. It is possible that the text is an ancient forgery, though there is evidence that the Brothers song was included in at least some Hellenistic editions of Sappho; however, a classical imitation of Sappho is still possible. However, as we know from evidence provided by Herodotus that poems which were attributed to Sappho in the fifth century BC mentioned Charaxos; it therefore is likely that the poem is at least authentically from archaic Lesbos.
Context
Sappho's poetry from the first book of the Alexandrian edition – i.e. those poems in Sapphic stanzas – appear to have been either about the family and religious or cultic practices, or about passion and love. The Brothers Poem is one of those which is focused on the family. Mueller suggests that it was part of a series of poems on the subject of homecomings, along with fragments 5, 15, and 17; of these, fragment 5 may be about Charaxos, though the name of the brother in that poem is not mentioned. Deborah Boedeker suggests that these poems were part of a cycle about Charaxos, Sappho's seafaring brother. Fragment 15, which is likely to also be about Charaxos, seems to mention Doricha, who ancient testimonia called Charaxos' lover. André Lardinois suggests that four other surviving fragments of Sappho, 3, 7, 9, and 20, may all have been connected with the story of Charaxos and Doricha.
Missing stanzas
The Brothers Poem is missing at least one initial stanza. The exact number of stanzas missing is unknown, but it may have been as many as three. Gauthier Liberman suggests that the poem was originally seven stanzas long, while Leslie Kurke argues that it is likely that only one stanza is missing. Fragments of the first two lines of the stanza immediately before those preserved on the 2014 papyrus survive as part of one of the Oxyrhynchus papyri. Various suggestions have been put forward as to the content of the missing initial stanzas. Mueller suggests that the identity of the addressee of the poem may have been given in these lines. Joel Lidov has proposed that the unknown addressee actually speaks in the missing stanzas.
Obbink has provided a reconstruction of a single initial stanza of the brothers poem. He argues that the mention of Larichos at the end of the poem appears suddenly, and that he was therefore probably mentioned in the missing beginning of the poem. Athenaeus says that Sappho often praised Larichos for being a wine-pourer in the Prytaneion at Mytilene; this wine-pouring may have been mentioned here. Obbink also suggests that the opening of the poem originally contained a mention of the death of Sappho's father when she was young, which was the source of Ovid's anecdote at Heroides 15.61–62. However, Kurke has argued that the missing stanza discussed Charaxos, giving the complete poem a symmetry of three stanzas discussing each of the brothers.
Characters
The poem names two characters, Charaxos and Larichos. Ancient biographers of Sappho called both Charaxos and Larichos Sappho's brothers. However, modern scholars are uncertain whether they were in fact Sappho's actual brothers, or were fictional characters. André Lardinois argues that it is likely that they were fictional characters.
The addressee of the poem is not named in the surviving text, but many suggestions have been posed as to their identity. Dirk Obbink suggests that the most likely is "a concerned friend/family member", specifically Sappho's mother. Various scholars, such as Leslie Kurke and Gauthier Liberman have supported this suggestion. However, a number of scholars have objected to the proposal, for instance by arguing that Sappho's mother could have gone to pray to Hera for her son's safe return herself, and therefore it does not make sense for her to send Sappho to do so on her behalf.
Melissa Mueller and Leslie Kurke both argue that the addressee is probably meant to be female, based on Sappho's use of the word θρυλεω to describe their speech: meaning "chattering" or "babbling", the word has negative connotations which would make Sappho unlikely to use it to address a man. Lardinois, in contrast, believes that the addressee is more likely male. Anja Bettenworth has argued that the addressee is of a lower social status than Sappho, again based on the use of θρυλεω, while Kurke argues that the addressee is likely to be in a position of authority over Sappho, as Sappho expects them to send her to pray to Hera.
Reception
The announcement of the discovery of the Brothers Poem, along with fragments of eight other poems – the largest discovery of new material by Sappho since the Oxyrhynchus papyri – was the subject of significant media attention. James Romm, writing in the Daily Beast, called it "a spectacular literary discovery", while Tom Payne in the Daily Telegraph said that it was "more exciting than a new album by David Bowie". Other commentators, however, expressed concern about the provenance of the papyrus, with Douglas Boin in the New York Times criticising the failure to properly discuss the papyrus' provenance as "disturbingly tone deaf to the legal and ethical issues".
Though classicists were excited by the discovery of the poem, considering it the "most spectacular" of the 2014 finds, it was not considered one of Sappho's best works. Martin West originally considered the work to be "very poor stuff" and "frigid juvenilia", though he later toned down his criticism of the poem. Liberman wrote that the poem is clumsy, displaying signs of hasty composition. However, the poem is considered valuable for the historical and biographical information contained within it. It is the first fragment of Sappho discovered to mention the names "Charaxos" and "Larichos", both described as brothers of Sappho by ancient sources but not in any of her previously known writings. Before the poem was found, scholars had doubted that Sappho ever mentioned Charaxos.