sappho social context

• Loeb 1 - Aphrodite, the goddess of the embroidered throne 


  Kletic hymn, Sappho in a thiasos of Aph. Talks to her in imperatives, “Come to me again” “Release me”

  Mutually beneficial relationship “Be my ally”

  Sappho assumes Aph’s voice like a prophet and Aph responds directly to Sappho to reassure her

  • “who, Sappho is hurting you now?”
• Loeb 2 - Come to me, leave Crete behind!


  Kletic hymn - thiasos of Aph. Talks to her in imperatives “come to me, leave Crete behind!”
• Loeb 15 - Cypris 


  Kletic hymn - in Aph thiasos

  References Doricha, a hetariara who worked in the city of Naucratis in Egypt. Sappho’s brother went to Egypt and was enamoured with Doricha, and bought her freedom

  “He returned to his long-lost love” - could Charaxos or someone else
• Loeb 16 - The most beautiful sight in the whole world 


  Comments on society’s obsession with warfare? Prefers the object of her affection to “a group of calvary”/”infantry”/”a fleet of ships” which others think are the “most beautiful” sights in “the whole world”

  
  

  Lydian influence in Lesbos - referenced the “chariots of the Lydians” in Lesbos
• Loeb 17 - Come, Queen Hera


  Kletic hymn to Hera.

  Outline -> invocation, naming god; argument; petition

  Possibly for her brother Charaxus, who was a naval merchant sailing to other countries to purchase luxury goods

  Talks in imperatives “come, Queen Hera”, “let your charming form appear” - unknown authority

  There was a temple of Messon in Lesbos for all three gods
• Loeb 11 - I call upon you, Abanthis


  Sappho as schoolmistress (Calame) - teaching others how to express love, in a thiasos for Aphrodite -> “take up your lyre and sing of Gongyla”, “my darling”
• Loeb 31 - He is as blessed as a god 


  Poem preserved because the husband would not feel threatened by Sappho. Doesn’t matter that Sappho desires her
• Loeb 32 - Who gave their works


  Could refer to the transience of the oral poetry
• Loeb 39 - Embroidered sandals 


  Sappho looks to Lydian influence on Lesbos in style - “beautiful Lydian workmanship”

  Sappho moves in elite circles -> concerned with the “embroidered sandals” and the fashion and style they represent.
• Loeb 55 - When you die 


  Could be addressing a poetic rival “no share of the roses from the Pierian muses”, someone creating works

  May be about herself but Sappho will be remembered - “10th muse” Plato
• Loeb 57 - What farm girl


  Sappho’s class is made evident in her deprecation of this “farm girl”. Mocks her “farm clothes”

  Judgemental of people who do not abide by class divide hence the OOHA who is infatuated with a “farm girl”

  Mocks her - “does she even know how to pull up her ragged dress over her ankles?” -> calling her dumb, her ankles are thick because of working, and thin ankles were desirable - mocking her

  Would be performed to people of Sappho’s class who would laugh and mock, theme of judgement in Sappho’s humour
• Loeb 81 - Put garlands around your lovely hair, O Dika!


  Sappho valuing appearance and attractiveness - garlanded over ungarlanded. Links to Calame’s view of Sappho preparing the ritual of marriage - as schoolmistress
• Loeb 94 - Honestly, I want to die 


  Feeds into Calame’s view - motif of Sappho’s women leaving her symbolic of her thiasos

  The debate over who “we” is also feeds into Calame’s view. If “we” incl. Aph, then it references her thiasos Sappho cultivates. If “we” is her husband, references that Sappho acts as a pit stop until marriage

  • "For you know that we bboth looked after you"
  • "I want to remind you.../That we had good times"
• Loeb 96 - Often she turned her thoughts here 


  Starts off with “...Sardis” the capital of Lydia
• Loeb 98a - My mother said 


  A changing of fashion and expectation and a sense of nostalgia - “my mother said in her day, it was all the rage for a woman to tie up her hair with a purple headband”

  References recent fashion, someone wearing “a decorate headband from Sardis”
• Loeb 104a - Hesperus!


  Supports Calame’s view - Sappho singing to a mentee
• Loeb 105a - Just like the sweet apple 


  Sappho’s thiasos = Calame’s view here - comforting a young girl that she will be chosen for marriage -> “No, they did not completely miss you! They just couldn’t reach.”
• Loeb 110 - The doorkeeper 


  Linked to the societal expectations of weddings and their ceremony.

  Would have been sung by the people who would gather outside the bridal chamber -> chorus?
• Loeb 114 - Virginity 


  Feeds into Calame’s view of Sappho in a thiasos, mentoring young women. Her voice is given to an adolescent woman and her anxiety over sex
• Loeb 118 - Come my divine lyre 


  Use of imperatives - “Come” “Speak” “Find your voice”, codependent relationship. Sappho commands but waits for the lyre’s response. Look to each other for inspiration.
• Loeb 121 - If you care about me 


  Sappho says she “never wants to be the older one in a relationship, refuting the view that she is in relationships with younger women
• Loeb 132 - I have a beautiful daughter 


  Could be a commission or literal - Kleis could be her daughter
• Loeb 148 - Wealth without virtue 


  Says a “blend” of wealth and virtue “is the height of happiness” - linked to Epicurus’ belief that happiness is the end goal

  DIFFERENT to Plato and Seneca who see virtue as the end goal
• Loeb 160 - Now, for my companions


  Sappho’s songs not for everyone - just her “companions” - preconditioning us to see her as high standard