Modern astronomical knowledge has been used to look the season when one of the oldest known lyric poems was compose , providing a rare cue about the sprightliness of the writer .
The ancient Greek poetSapphowas one of the most significant poets of antiquity , described by Plato as the “ Tenth Muse , ” but we know very lilliputian about her life history . estimate of her particular date of parturition range from 630 - 612 BCE , and even the estimate of her demise at 570 BCE is wispy .
Sappho ’s Brobdingnagian influence , both on subsequent poets and as one of the few women whose writing come through from ancient times , motivates a pursuit to get word more about her life . unluckily , with only a small portion of her writing surviving , and no contemporary account of her living , this has turn up frustrating .
Now , however , a small piece has come up from a most improbable generator – uranologist at the University of Texas , Arlington ( UTA ) .
A 19th century translation of a fragment of one of Sappho ’s more famous poems , " Midnight Poem , " runs :
“ The moonshine has set And the Pleiades ; It is midnight , The prison term is perish by , And I log Z’s alone . ”
This does n’t seem a luck to go on , butProfessor Manfred Cuntzused software telephone Starry Night to examine the positions of the Moon and the Pleiades star topology cluster around the time Sappho was compose . Having narrowed down the possible dates , Cuntz collaborated with UTA planetarium directorLevent Gurdemirto use the planetarium ’s Digistar 5 to see what the stars look like at the appropriate times .
In 570 BCE , the Pleiades disappeared from view from Lesbos ( where Sappho reportedly spent most of her time and so the likely location of where the poem was save ) at midnight on what mod calendars call January 25 , the first sentence the poem could be exact . Each subsequent night the Pleiades define 4 minutes sooner . Thus , this seems to be the most probable year that the poem was indite , or thereabouts .
" The timing doubtfulness is complex as at that time they did not have exact mechanical clocks as we do , only perhaps water system clocks , " tell Cuntz in astatement . accordingly , the reference to midnight is plausibly somewhat vague . " For that grounds , we also identify the latest escort on which the Pleiades would have been visible to Sappho from that location on different particular date some time during the eventide . "
This vase by " the Brygos painter " was made a century after Sappho ’s death . Public Domain via Wikipedia commons .
By April 6 , Sappho would have been ineffective to see the Pleiades at all – they would have set before it became colored enough to make out even the bright member .
Cuntz and Gurdemir have published their finding in theJournal of Astronomical History and Heritage , acknowledging that “ no statement can be made about the year in which it was write , ” since the situation would have been similar a year or two originally . However , in any take year only a few escort would have the Moon set shortly before midnight .
" This is an example of where the scientific community can make a part to knowledge described in important ancient texts,“saidCuntz " Estimations had been made for the timing of this poem in the past tense , but we were capable to scientifically support the season that corresponds to her specific descriptions of the night sky in the year 570 BC . "
