L&R - Sappho

• Poem 2

  Here, the cold water sings

  Through the branches of the apple trees,

  The whole place is covered with

  The shadows of roses

  And sleep flows down

  From the trembling leaves

  
  

  Notes of interest;

  1. The natural beauty of Lesbos is a running theme
  2. Sappho is encouraging Aphrodite to help her with the promise of Lesbos' natural beauty
  3. The island itself is personified with pouring down sleep from its leaves.
  4. Lesbos seems to be the perfect place for Sappho and her work.
  5. Yet we know she was probably exiled with her family to Sicily for a while.
• Poem 118

  Come to my divine Lyre,

  Speak to me,

  Find your voice!

  
  

  Notes of interest;

  1. Sappho was a musician, as well as a poet.
  2. Plato referred to her as the 10th muse
  3. Her poetry was probably recited at male and female symposia
  4. Sappho would have provided musical accompaniment to her poetry through her instrument - the lyre
  5. Sappho is credited with the invention of the plectrum
• Poem 160

  Now, for my companions,

  I will sing these songs beautifully

  
  

  Notes of interest;

  1. There is discussion over whether her poems would have been performed as a monody (solo) or as part of a chorus.
  2. We should therefore not assume that Sappho's poems are autobiographical.
  3. She also frequently refers to her companions - they might have been her students, fellow poets, members of a religious cult, lovers or just friends.
  4. One likely scenario is that Sappho was a mentor of a group of young girls called a thiasos, a religious group which would perform rituals.
• Poem 57

  What farm girl, in her farming clothes

  Charms your mind?

  Does she even know how to pull up her ragged dress over her ankles?

  
  

  Notes of interest;

  1. Sappho was influential in the development of lyric poetry, where love is the principal theme, and would be performed with a lyre.
  2. Sappho came from an aristocratic Lesbian society, with her rustic nature stressed through the repetition of farming.
• Poem 39

  Embroidered sandals covered her feet,

  Beautiful Lydian workmanship

  
  

  Notes of interest;

  1.Sappho often references luxuries in her poetry
• Poem 98a

  My mother said that,

  In her day, it was all the rage for

  A woman to tie up her hair

  With a purple headband,

  But that, if her fair was

  More yellow than a flaming torch,

  Then she should wear garlands

  Of flowers in bloom

  Recently...

  A decorated headband

  From Sardis...

  
  

  Notes of interest;

  1. Sappho references Sardis, the rich capital of the Lydian empire to the east.
  2. Lesbos would mimic trends in mainland Greece and in Persia through traders.
  3. Expensive dyes and colours were a symbol of wealth, with purple in particular being so.
• Poem 168b

  Gone are the moon and the Pleiades,

  And, in the middle of the night,

  Time passes

  And I sleep alone.

  
  

  Notes of interest;

  1. Although we only have fragments, Sappho is able to illustrate intensity in this brevity.
  2. The darkness is indicative of the loneliness of the lover.
• Poem 1 - Hymn to Aphrodite

  If you ever heard my voice before

  From far away and came at my request,

  Leaving your father's golden chambers,

  Yoking your chariot:

  Swift, beautiful sparrows,

  Their close-packed wings

  Whirling across the dark earth,

  Brought you from the heavens

  Down through the spreading sky

  Quickly they came

  
  

  Notes of interest;

  1. This is the only complete poem of Sappho found.
  2. The topos is the hymn to a goddess.
  3. Their is a change of focus from Aphrodite to the sparrows, and back again.
  4. The description is similar to the journeys of the gods to earth in Homeric poetry.
• Poem 22

  I call upon you, Abanthis,

  take up your lyre and sing of Gongyla

  While desire again circles you, my darling.

  For her dress aroused you,

  As you gazed at it,

  And I am thankful for that,

  For the holy queen, Cyprian Aphrodite,

  once found fault with the way

  I prayed.

  
  

  Notes of interest;

  1. The shifting narrator topos allows Sappho to portray multiple perspectives of a relationship.
  2. Abanthis, Gongyla and the narrator all seem to have a role in this relationship.
  3. Potentially this is Sappho showing her role as a mentor to young girls.
  4. Abanthis' desire begins as poetic but becomes sexual.
• Poem 16

  The most beautiful sight in the whole world

  Is, according to some,

  A group of cavalry,

  Others say infantry.

  And still others a fleet of ships.

  I think it is the one you love.

  
  

  It's easy to explain

  So that everyone understands:

  Helen, the most beautiful woman on earth,

  Abandoned her husband.

  
  

  Notes of interest;

  1. There is a juxtaposition between an army and a beautiful woman.
  2. There is a repetitive metaphor to begin the poem.
  3. Sappho uses hyperbole to compare armies with one girl.
  4. The link to Helen and the escape to Troy is also hyperbolic and an example of how Sappho uses mythology.
• Poem 96- Notes of interest

  • Flowers play a key role - the fertility of nature and changes in nature
  • Apples are symbolic of love in the ancient world. The golden apple was the prize awarded by Paris in the beauty contest which kickstarted the Trojan war
  • Roses are used to give fragrance to the poetry and some scholars have argued they suggest female genitalia
• Poem 96 - Extract

  But now she stands out among Lydian women!

  Like the rosy-fingered moon

  Among all the stars after sunset!

  The light spreads over the salty sea

  And the flowery fields!

  The beautiful dew falls,

  The roses and

  The tender chervil

  And the flowering melilot

  Bloom.

  She paces up and down,

  She remembers gentle Atthis,

  And the longing consumes her flighty soul!
• Poem 1

  "If she runs from you,

  soon she will pursue;

  if she does not accept gifts now

  soon she will be giving them

  if she does not love you now,

  she will love you soon

  even if she does not want to."

  Come to me again now, Queen,

  Release me

  From this great distress;

  Accomplish for me

  What my heart wishes to accomplish!

  Be my ally.

  
  

  Notes of interest;

  1. Sappho gives Aphrodite a voice here.
  2. The goddess will be the ally to Sappho here.
  3. The narrator has been spurned, and wants their lover to feel the same.
• Poem 110

  The doorkeeper has size twenty-seven feet,

  His sandals are made from five hides,

  Ten shoemakers toiled over them

  
  

  Notes of interest;

  1. Sappho uses humour in her poetry
  2. This poem might have been performed in the happy context of a wedding
  3. A doorman would guard newly-weds' bedroom door to prevent any unwelcome guests
  4. Some scholars have suggested that Sappho is suggesting the size of the doorkeeper's penis with the size of feet reference
• Poem 31

  He seems to me equal to a god,

  That man who sits facing you

  Hearing your sweet voice

  Close to him

  And your charming laughter,

  Which for me, honestly strikes terror into the heart in my breast

  When I see you,

  Even for a moment,

  I can no longer speak.


  Notes of interest;

  1. Sappho links love and death as her topos
  2. The physical symptoms of her frustration are painful
  3. The poet's unrequited desire is self-destructive
  4. This is one of the only references to men in Sappho's poetry, and he is a bystander really
• Poem 102

  Sweet mother!

  I cannot weave my web,

  I am smitten by a boy

  Because of slender Aphrodite.

  
  

  Notes of interest;

  1. Love is all-consuming
  2. The Greek woman recognises her obligation to society is weaving, yet she cannot complete this due to love.
  3. She calls out for help from her mother, as this feeling is new to her.
• Poem 111

  Raise the roof,

  Hymenaeus!

  Lift it higher, carpenters,

  Hymenaeus!

  The bridegroom is coming,

  like Ares,

  bigger by far than the biggest man.

  
  

  Notes of interest;

  1. Sappho describes male desire in a more crude and simplistic way.
  2. There is humour in the hyperbole of the man's size.
  3. The comparison to Ares implies the nerves of the woman in her first experience of sex.
  4. Sappho shows how women have the power to create desire in men here.
• Poem 24a

  ...

  You will remember

  What we did

  When we were young,

  Many beautiful things

  ...

  
  

  Notes of interest;

  1. Some have speculated this is a reference to homoerotic sex between girls before marriage
  2. The reference to 'beautiful things' is purposefully vague
• Poem 94

  Remember all the wreaths

  You placed around your head,

  Violets, roses, crocuses

  And... next to me

  And the intricate garlands

  Made from flowers

  You placed around

  Your lovely neck

  You perfumed yourself

  With so much perfume

  You anointed yourself

  As if you were a queen

  And on a soft bed

  You satisfied your desire

  
  

  Notes of interest;

  1. One of Sappho's most erotic poems
  2. There is description of the lover from head to neck and down
  3. Sappho describes a passionate relationship now ended
• Poem 105a

  Just like the sweet apple reddening at the highest height

  Of the highest branch,

  missed by the apple pickers -

  No, they did not completely miss!

  They just couldn't reach.

  
  

  Notes of interest;

  1. The woman's virginity is compared to an apple
  2. The men cannot reach the woman's virginity, perhaps due to her sexuality
• Poem 105c

  Just like the hyacinth on a mountain,

  Trodden by the feet of the shepherds,

  And on the ground, a purple flower...

  Notes of interest;

  1. The metaphor of the hyacinth is used now for the woman's virginity
  2. Although still beautiful, it has now been trodden by the shepherds feet
• Poem 112

  Lucky bridegroom, your marriage

  Has worked out well for you,

  Just as you dreamed that it would

  You have the girl of your dreams.

  "You look beautiful, your eyes...

  Honey-sweet, love is poured

  Over your beautiful face

  ...

  Aphrodite has honoured you

  Above all others.

  Notes of interest;

  1. This is a beautiful expression of a bridegroom's joy at marriage
  2. The repetition of 'you' suggests an element of regret or sadness from the narrator that the girl has gone to him and not her