Δεδυκε μεν α σελαννα
Deduke men a Selanna (The Moon Has Set)
The moon and the Pleiades have set,
it is midnight,
and the time is passing,
but I sleep alone.
This poem is only 4 lines, which some argue is a fragment of a larger poem, while others argue it is complete, written in hagesichorian meter.
Is it about the Moon goddess yearning for her lover Endymion, or is it about someone sleeping alone, enjoying the moonlight? Who can tell?
The poem is usually attributed to Sappho. And often Sappho is depicted playing the barbitos, which has longer strings and a lower pitch. Here it is.
Sappho, fragment 168 B.
Music: Bettina Joy de Guzman.
Δέδυκε μὲν ἀ σελάννα
καὶ Πληΐαδες, μέσαι δέ
νύκτες, πάρα δ' ἔρχετ' ὤρα,
ἔγω δὲ μόνα κατεύδω
The moon and the Pleiades have set,
it is midnight,
and the time is passing,
but I sleep alone.
This poem is only 4 lines, which some argue is a fragment of a larger poem, while others argue it is complete, written in hagesichorian meter.
Is it about the Moon goddess yearning for her lover Endymion, or is it about someone sleeping alone, enjoying the moonlight? Who can tell?
The poem is usually attributed to Sappho. And often Sappho is depicted playing the barbitos, which has longer strings and a lower pitch. Here it is.
Sappho, fragment 168 B.
Music: Bettina Joy de Guzman
Barbiton/ Barbitos lyre: Luthieros Music Instruments
Sound engineer: Benj Clarke
Graphic Designer: Claudia Kabisch
Artwork: Dr. Cora Beth Fraser,
Open University Associate Lecturer on undergraduate and postgraduate Classics modules; Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
