How can the first line of Sappho 1 scan as a Sapphic line? The -dit- of Aphrodita is short by nature. How could it be otherwise?
Thanks,
William
Sappho 1
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Re: Sappho 1
The ι is not short by nature, quite the contrary, it's long by nature (ῑ) - so it's an open syllable that is heavy due to the fact that it includes a vowel that's long by nature. So the LSJ "Ἀφροδίτη [ῑ], ἡ".
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Re: Sappho 1
A curious fact: As far as I can tell, in Homer, the Hymns, and Hesiod (including the Shield and the fragments in the OCT 3rd ed.) occurs at the end of the hexameter, with a single exception, 9.389. -ίτη/ης/ηι/ην occupies the final spondee, with long ι. (Many proper names follow this pattern, which would give the aoidos the flexibility to compose the first part of the verse and then relax slightly by concluding the verse with an epithet + the proper name.) So, too, Mimnermus. In contrast to Sappho 1,"Ἀ- has to be treated as a light/short syllable in hexameter; otherwise "Ἀφροδίτη/ης/ηι/ην wouldn't scan.
Bill Walderman