UTA Scientists Use Planetarium’s Advanced Software to Date 2,500 Year-Old Lyric Poem
By UT Arlington University Communications
Posted on May 20, 2016, May 20, 2016
UTA Scientists Use

A color-composite image of the Pleiades from the Digitized Sky Survey
Credit: NASA/ESA/AURA/Caltech

Physicists and astronomers from The University of Texas at Arlington have used advanced astronomical software to accurately date lyric poet Sappho's "Midnight Poem," which describes the night sky over Greece more than 2,500 years ago.

The scientists described their research in the article "Seasonal dating of Sappho's " Midnight Poem' revisited," published this month in the Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage. Martin George, former president of the International Planetarium Society, now at the National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand, also participated in the work.

"This is an example of where the scientific community can make a contribution to knowledge described in important ancient texts, " said Manfred Cuntz, physics professor and lead author of the study. "Estimations had been made for the timing of this poem in the past, but we were able to scientifically confirm the season that corresponds to her specific descriptions of the night sky in the year 570 B.C."

Detail from a Pompeii fresco painting of Sappho holding a stylus
Sappho's "Midnight Poem" describes a star cluster known as the Pleiades having set at around midnight, when supposedly observed by her from the Greek island of Lesbos.

The moon has set
And the Pleiades;
It is midnight,
The time is going by,
And I sleep alone.
(Henry Thornton Wharton, 1887:68)

Cuntz and co-author and astronomer Levent Gurdemir, director of the Planetarium at UTA, used advanced software called Starry Night version 7.3, to identify the earliest date that the Pleiades would have set at midnight or earlier in local time in 570 B.C. The Planetarium system Digistar 5 also allows creating the night sky of ancient Greece for Sappho's place and time.

"Use of Planetarium software permits us to simulate the night sky more accurately on any date, past or future, at any location," said Gurdemir. "This is an example of how we are opening up the Planetarium to research into disciplines beyond astronomy, including geosciences, biology, chemistry, art, literature, architecture, history and even medicine."

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