Examples Of Literary Curses Of Sappho

Improved Essays
If Sappho had employed some of the literary devises encountered in curses, then her compositions would be also affiliated with other literary curses. Besides Homer, many other archaic poets seem to have used traditional formulae of cursing, thus to have composed poetic curses. The catalogue of poets of archaic literary curses includes the composer of the Strasburg epode (115 W), Archilochus (see for example 26, 107, 108, 177, 200 W), Alcaeus (129 V), Theognis (see for example 341-350, 600-602, 869-872, 891-894, 1087–90 W), Hipponax (128 W) and, perhaps, Simonides (537, 538 PMG) . Many of them resemble a prayer and some of them are close to the language and style of the poetry of invective.
Very few of the existing literary curses exhibit any examples of the use of magical language.
…show more content…
Many of the existing curses resemble a prayer in both form and content (Archilochus 26 W, Alcaeus 129 V,

Related Documents

  • Decent Essays

    The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver tells a story about a family who moves to Africa as missionaries in hopes to be able to help the village they stay at, Kilanga. During their time in the Congo, they will go through some unexpected troubles that will forever change the Price family. Throughout the book, the author uses some biblical allusion that helps relate the story to the Bible. In the novel, Leah states that her "father [was] as tall as Goliath and pure of heart as David" (Kingsolver 49).…

    • 320 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Love for certain factions ultimately caused extreme hatred for opposite factions, as exemplified in the example above of the individual who hated all other factions but Blue. The ultimate hope was that these Underworld gods or demons would exercise their powers in support of what the person who wrote the curse tablet wanted (Futrell 203). At that time curse tablets were used as a form of everyday magic, and they even started to cause concern for the Empire later when officials tried to stop these practises (Futrell 204). Many curses were not just solely for charioteers, they included horses (above), venatores, and were also used for successes in both love and business (Futrell 203). The tablets were additionally known to include a combination of both Greek words and even some Latin ones (as seen…

    • 534 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Poisonwood Bible Essay An allusion is an expression designed to call something to mind indirectly. Whether to subliminally persuade someone, or to make a comparative point, allusions are an effective literary device. Barbara Kingsolver is an American woman who spent parts of her childhood in the Congo. She uses this first hand experience to fill her most popular book, the Poisonwood Bible with allusions. This story takes place at a time when the Congo is fighting for, and achieving independence from imperialistic countries.…

    • 1036 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Throughout history, the presence of violence justified by the credence in godly figures is exemplified, especially in Aeschylus’ The Oresteia, and Homers’, The Odyssey. Although both archaic works concern the ideologies and practices of faith in the Greek mythological gods, the reasoning for violent actions and their means of justification differ in their aspiration for and fulfillment of vengeance, their justification through the divine, and their means of punishment. In The Oresteia, Orestes, the son of Agamemnon, was exiled from the House of Atreus by his mother, Clytemnestra, the Queen of Argos. Upon the return of Agamemnon from the Trojan War, Clytemnestra and her lover, Aegisthus, murdered Agamemnon due to his sacrifice of Iphigenia,…

    • 1250 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    1. The person that is saying the quote here is Macbeth and he is talking to Angus and Ross. As Macbeth still thinks that the current Thane of Cawdor at the time was alive, he asks Angus and Ross why he was named the Thane of Cawdor. There are numerous literary devices associated with this quote with the obvious being the use of metaphor; however, more specifically, metonymy is used since the “robes” can be related with the Thane. Alliteration is also used with the first words “The” and “Thane”.…

    • 1576 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Tragedy Aristotle developed a Concept of Tragedy using Sophocles’s plays and other tragedies. He defined tragedy as “an imitation of an action of high importance, complete and of some amplitude; in language enhanced by distinct and varying beauties; acted not narrated; by means of pity and fear effecting its purgation of these emotions.” (Kennedy and Gioia 1160). The main character in a tragedy is called the tragic hero. According to Aristotle, the tragic hero has certain qualities that made them a tragic hero.…

    • 1450 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the text ”The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe and the poem ”A Poison Tree” by William Blake, the authors create a similar theme. The authors created these themes about death, anger, and revenge. Although the authors had an end result that was similar, they did not achieve this outcome the same way. The authors maintained similar aspects of their texts; however, they used a variety of literary techniques to approach and slowly build up the theme.…

    • 935 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Grief In Homer And Sappho

    • 1331 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Homer and Sappho contend that the best way to cope with grief is to transform that emotion into rage towards the entity that has wronged them because the actions spurred by anger helps an individual gain what they want most. Both authors agree that regardless of the form of love an individual feels, the stages of grief that they cycle through are clear: initially, individuals experience the sting of grief and attempt to protect themselves against its harsh effects by shunning reality, once their pseudo reality is shattered, their grief transforms into anger towards the entity that has wronged them. In the case of Homer’s hymn To Demeter, the goddess attempts to assuage her grief over the abduction of her daughter by In relation to Homer’s…

    • 1331 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    An example of peripety in Shakespeare's play is the contrast between Lady Macbeth and Macbeth. In the beginning, Macbeth was so upset when he killed Duncan. He talked about the blood on his hands, and how even Posiedon's water couldn't clean them. Lady Macbeth says its no big deal and some soap and water will do. Later, Lady Macbeth spazzes out when she realizes all the murders that have been done.…

    • 86 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    THE GLOBEL NEWS THE Scottish curse “Truth or superstition?” The "Curse of Macbeth" AKA “The Scottish curse” according to theatrical superstition, is the large amount of “bad luck” that occurs during the production and acting out of Shakespeare’s famous play “Macbeth” The opening scene of Macbeth was a very spooky scene already.…

    • 534 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Humanities in Ancient, Classical, and Hellenistic Greece The history of Greece is filled with ethos and color through all the ages and societies of the past. Ancient, Classical, and Hellenistic Greek are three civilizations rich in their expression of the humanities. While these cultures are very similar is some ways due to the fact that the people resided in the same country, many of their beliefs and practices were different from one another as they expanded on and learned from the period before them. Things such as science and philosophy, the arts, religion, and daily life, appear in all three of these ages in differing ways.…

    • 1651 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Theme Of Revenge In Iliad

    • 1466 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The Homer’s Iliad is one of the greatest pieces of Ancient literature. It has a lot of prominent motives that are influential and could be traced even in the modern literature. As a matter of fact, it has a lot of interesting concepts; however, one of the most dominant ones is the topic of justice and vengeance. The war itself is just a personal motivation of Agamemnon to deal with Troy and to punish them for their deeds in the past, the Greeks just want revenge, even though the Troy Priest of Apollo Chryses asks for a forgiveness. The gods play also one of the central roles in the poem.…

    • 1466 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    In Athens, the old-fashioned and traditional way of life is what one would consider the proper and just speech. Contrary, unjust speech is not accepted in the court of law because it does not appeal to the gods. Unjust speech is seen as boosting self-indulgence and is seen as a threat to the city (Clouds, pg.151). Throughout Aristophanes’ Clouds there is a battle between what is new and old, just and unjust. This is clear in Clouds, considering that Pheidippides would be considered “New”, overturns the old, which would be considered “Strepsiades”.…

    • 1689 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Ethics are not necessarily to do with being law-abiding. I am very interested in the moral path, doing the right thing.”-Kate Atkinson. In the classic Greek play Antigone written by Sophocles, one woman goes up against the law, to pay respects to her family, fights for the rules of God and to follow her own moral path. The theme of this play is ‘Do what is right regardless of the consequences.’…

    • 650 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Oh, Ohhh - the agony! I am agony - where am I going where on earth?where does all this agony hurl me? where’s my voice? - winging, swept away on a dark tide - My destiny, my dark power, what a leap you made!”(line 1444-1449) these are the words spoken by a king now broken in his darkest hour. In the play Oedipus The King, written by Sophocles, Oedipus represents the tragic theme that making rash decisions without reason and overstepping one’s limits to defy those of superior status can cause suffering to not only oneself but those around them. Oedipus, through bringing a plague upon his people, condemning himself to a life of misery, and dooming his family to lives of shame and grisly deaths, acts as the great conductor of doom for the people of the city of Thebes.…

    • 712 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays