Demo or Damo (

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

: Δεμώ, Δαμώ; ) was a Greek woman of the

Roman period The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

, known for a single

epigram An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, sometimes surprising or satirical statement. The word derives from the Greek (, "inscription", from [], "to write on, to inscribe"). This literary device has been practiced for over two millennia ...

, engraved upon the Colossi of Memnon, Colossus of Memnon, which bears her name. She speaks of herself therein as a

lyric poet Modern lyric poetry is a formal type of poetry which expresses personal emotions or feelings, typically spoken in the first person. The term for both modern lyric poetry and modern song lyrics derives from a form of Ancient Greek literature, t ...

dedicated to the

Muses In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...

, but nothing is known of her life.

Identity

Memnonis crus alterum - Pococke Richard - 1743

Demo was evidently Greek, as her name, a traditional epithet of

Demeter In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Demeter (; Attic Greek, Attic: ''Dēmḗtēr'' ; Doric Greek, Doric: ''Dāmā́tēr'') is the Twelve Olympians, Olympian goddess of the harvest and agriculture, presiding over cro ...

, signifies. The name was relatively common in the Hellenistic world, in Egypt and elsewhere, and she cannot be further identified. The date of her visit to the Colossus of Memnon cannot be established with certainty, but internal evidence on the left leg suggests her poem was inscribed there at some point in or after AD 196.Plant 2004, p. 157.

Epigram

There are a number of graffiti inscriptions on the Colossus of Memnon. Following three epigrams by Julia Balbilla, a fourth epigram, in

elegiac couplets The elegiac couplet or elegiac distich is a poetic form used by Greek lyric poets for a variety of themes usually of smaller scale than the epic. Roman poets, particularly Catullus, Propertius, Tibullus, and Ovid, adopted the same form in Lat ...

, entitled and presumably authored by "Demo" or "Damo" (the Greek inscription is difficult to read), is a dedication to the

. The poem is traditionally published with the works of Balbilla, though the internal evidence suggests a different author.Brennan 1998, p. 228. In the poem, Demo explains that

Memnon In Greek mythology, Memnon (; Ancient Greek: Μέμνων, ) was a king of Aethiopia and son of Tithonus and Eos. During the Trojan War, he brought an army to Troy's defense and killed Antilochus, Nestor (mythology), Nestor's son, during a fi ...

has shown her special respect. In return, Demo offers the gift for poetry, as a gift to the hero. At the end of this epigram, she addresses Memnon, highlighting his divine status by recalling his strength and holiness. Demo, like Julia Balbilla, writes in the artificial and poetic

Aeolic In linguistics, Aeolic Greek (), also known as Aeolian (), Lesbian or Lesbic dialect, is the set of dialects of Ancient Greek spoken mainly in Boeotia; in Thessaly; in the Aegean island of Lesbos; and in the Greek colonies of Aeolis in Anat ...

dialect. The language indicates she was knowledgeable in

Homeric Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his authorship, Homer is ...

poetry—'bearing a pleasant gift', for example, alludes to the use of that phrase throughout the ''

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; , ; ) is one of two major Ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odyssey'', the poem is divided into 24 books and ...

'' and ''

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...

''.

Notes

References

Sources

* Brennan, T. C. (1998). "The Poets Julia Balbilla and Damo at the Colossus of Memnon". ''The Classical World'', 91(4): pp. 215–234. * Plant, Ian Michael (2004).
Women Writers of Ancient Greece and Rome: An Anthology
'. London: Equinox Publishing Ltd. pp. 157–158. * Rosenmeyer, Patricia A. (2018).
The Language of Ruins: Greek and Latin Inscriptions on the Memnon Colossus
'. Oxford University Press. pp. 108–110, 123–124, 164–168. {{Authority control 2nd-century Greek women 3rd-century Greek women 2nd-century Greek poets 3rd-century Greek poets 3rd-century women writers 2nd-century women writers Ancient Greek women poets