The Study of historical and philological papyrology: case studies “new Sappho” and “newest Sappho”
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Abstract
This thesis investigates how a recently discovered papyrus fragment is analyzed by examining closely two new Sappho papyri found within the last decade, known as the “Newest Sappho” and “New Sappho” respectively. The former consists of a set of fragments discovered in 2014 by Dirk Obbink which contains both the Brothers Song and Kypris Song; the latter denotes another set of fragments including the Tithonus Song, published by Martin Gronewald and Robert Daniel in 2004. The investigation of the new discoveries will be divided into two case studies: the first will be focused on the P. Sapph. Obbink fragment and its Brothers Song, exploring the possibility that the Brothers Song is not necessarily Sappho’s work, but rather an example of an ancient imitation. The second case study will be focused on Sappho’s Tithonus Song, as preserved in P.Köln. inv. 21351+21376. My investigation for this section will proceed first by identifying the actual length of the Tithonus Song – examining where the poem begins and where it ends, and continue by addressing how Sappho interprets old age in her poem. Each of the two case studies will be divided further into two methodologies – a papyrological and philological approach – which will govern my analysis, addressing certain problems and issues that are unique to each find. Evaluation of the two new Sappho fragments will also demonstrate that issues concerning the texts are not isolated to the paleography, history, and content of the documents. My investigation will show that our handling of new papyrological discoveries affects the continued study of Sappho and her lyric works.