A riddle on the riddle. Sappho of Lesbos and the riddle on the letter

Abstract

Traditional riddles have an important philosophical function, since they show both the limits of the knowledge about the world and self-knowledge. From a philosophical perspective, in this paper I will analyze the riddle on the letter that appears in Antiphanes’ comedy Sappho (Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae X.450e-451b = fr. 194 KA). In order to do this, I will present first some preliminary remarks on the riddle tradition in Ancient Greece, focusing mainly on Aristotle and Clearchus’ definitions of the riddle, the recurring devices using to disguise the solutions and the connection between riddles and humor. Then, I will examine some fragments of comedies in which well-known intellectual women or anonymous women appear on the scene uttering riddles. These sources will provide a frame to analyze, in the third place, the riddle of Antiphanes’ Sappo. Although it has been noticed that the solution of the riddle shows the importance of epistolary writing and the practice of silent reading, I would like to suggest that it could also refer to riddles themselves and to the way in which they are transmitted and solved.