(click on image for full vase) SAPPHO from A. M. Miller, Greek Lyric. An Anthology in Translation (Indianapolis: Hackett, 1996) pp. 51-63 (modified). Copyrighted material. Do not cite or download except for study purposes.
Sappho was a contemporary of Alcaeus (c. 600 B.C.) and, like him, lived in the city of Mytilene on the island of Lesbos. Next to nothing is known about her life, although the extant fragments refer to a brother (no. 3) and perhaps to a daughter (no. 25). She is said to have spent time in exile, which suggests that her family (or her husband's family) was involved in Mytilene's factional politics. Sappho's poetic concerns, however, are almost entirely private. Her chief theme is erotic passion as experienced within the context of a close-knit circle of female friends (cf. nos. 1, 4, 6, 9-11,14,15, 24); in addition, a number of fragments (e.g., nos. 18-23) appear to be from wedding songs (epithalamia). In later centuries Sappho was much admired for the grace, charm, and passion of her poetry; an epigram attributed to Plato hails her as the tenth Muse. In the Alexandrian period Sappho's poems were arranged into nine books, largely according to metrical form. Nos. 1-7 are all in the stanza form known as Sapphic (see General Introduction, note 3).
Immortal Aphrodite on your richly crafted throne, daughter of Zeus, weaver of snares, I beg you, do not with sorrows and with pains subdue my heart, O Lady,
but come to me, if ever at another time as well, hearing my voice from far away, you heeded it, and leaving your father's house of gold, you came,
yoking your chariot. Graceful sparrows brought you swiftly over the black earth, with a thick whirring of wings, from heaven down through the middle air.
Suddenly they were here, and you, O Blessed, with a smile on your immortal face asked me what was wrong this time, and why I called you this time,
and what in my maddened heart I wanted most to happen. "Whom shall I persuade this time to welcome you in friendship? Who is it, Sappho, that wrongs you?
For if she flees now, soon she shall pursue; if she refuses presents, she shall give them; if she does not love, soon she shall love even against her will."
Come to me now as well; release me from this agony; all that my heart yearns to be achieved, achieve, and be yourself my ally in arms.
Dionysius of Halicarnassus, a literary critic of the first century B.C., quotes this poem in his treatise On Literary Composition (173-79) as an example of what he calls the "polished and exuberant" style. It is the only one of Sappho's poems to have survived in its entirety; it may have stood as the first poem in the first book of the Alexandrian edition. In formal terms it is a prayer (of the kletic type; see note on Alcaeus 2), and most of the standard elements of the prayer are present: (a) an invocation (1-2), including such conventional elements as genealogy and honor)fic epithets; (b) an initial statement of the request (3 5); (c) a lengthy "reminder" of previous assistance rendered by the goddess (5-24); and (d) a second and fuller statement of the request (25-28).
with sorrows and with pains The poem as a whole makes it clear that the suffering here alluded to is that which arises from unrequited passion.
He seems to me equal to the gods, that man who sits across from you and listens close at hand to your sweet voice
and lovely laughter. Truly it sets my heart to pounding in my breast, for the moment I glance at you, I can no longer speak;
my tongue grows numb; at once a subtle fire runs stealthily beneath my skin; my eyes see nothing, my ears ring and buzz,
the sweat pours down, a trembling seizes the whole of me, I turn paler than grass, and I seem to myself not far from dying.
But everything can be endured, because . . .
Quoted in Ch. 10 of On the Sublime, a work of literary criticism that probably dates from the first century A.D. The author of this work (traditionally known as Longinus) remarks that Sappho "wants to display not a single emotion, but a whole complex of emotions. Such things are what happens to all lovers, but it is in selecting the most important of them and then arranging them into a single whole that she demonstrates her excellence." The implied situation in the poem, the identity of "that man" and his relation to the young woman addressed as "you," and the exact nature of the speaker's "complex of emotions" have all been matters of extensive scholarly debate. Although its text and meaning are uncertain, the inclusion of line 17 in Longinus' quotation seems to indicate that the poem was not complete in four stanzas (as otherwise might be surmised on formal grounds).
Some say a host of horsemen is the most beautiful thing on the black earth, some say a host of foot-soldiers, some, a fleet of ships; but I say it is whatever one loves.
Wholly easy it is to make this intelligible to everyone, for she who by far surpassed all humankind in beauty, Helen, forsook her husband,
noblest of men, to sail away to Troy; neither of child nor of beloved parents did she take thought at all, being led astray by . . . [one line missing]
. . . for pliant . . . . . . lightly . . . . . . now has brought Anaktoria to my mind, though she is absent:
I would rather see her lovely step and the glancing brightness of her face than Lydian chariots and foot soldiers arrayed in armor.
This poem takes the form of an argument in which Sappho addresses the question, "What is the most beautiful thing in the world?" Her procedure is methodical: a brief priamel (see below) which serves to highlight her own general definition (1 4); a mythological paradigm or example to confirm the validity of that definition (5-14); the substitution of a particular person for the general category "whatever one loves" (15-18); and a final return to the thought of the opening lines (ring-form), thus creating an effect of closure (19-20). The rhetorical device known as the priamel highlights a point of particular interest by setting it against the background of other (related or contrasting) items to which it is preferred.
. . . honestly I wish I were dead. She wept as she was leaving me,
shedding many tears, and said to me: "Oh, what terrible unhappiness is ours! Sappho, I swear I'm leaving you against my will."
And to her I made this answer: "Go, and fare well, and remember me, for you know how we cared for you.
If not, why then I want to remind you . . . . . . and the happiness we had.
Many the wreaths of violets, of roses and crocuses together . . . . . . you put on beside me,
many woven garlands, fashioned from flowers, you put around your tender neck;
with much costly perfume fit for a queen you anointed yourself,
and on soft beds . . . . . . tender . . . ... you assuaged your longing....
There was neither . . . . . . nor shrine . . . from which we were absent,
no grove . . . or dance . . ."
The temporal scheme in this fragment is a complex one, involving three distinct stages linked (implicitly or explicitly) by memory: (1) the present moment in which Sappho "wishes she were dead" as she remembers (2) the earlier time when the young woman was going away and she tried to comfort her by recalling (3) the still earlier times of happiness that they shared. It should be noted, however, that some scholars attribute the first line not to Sappho herself but to the young woman whose past departure Sappho is describing (ancient Greek texts used no quotation marks).
. . . Sardis . . . . . . often turning her mind in this direction . . .
. . . she regarded you as a goddess made manifest, and in your song she took most delight.
But now among Lydian women she shines forth as sometimes, after sunset, the rosy-fingered moon
surpasses all the stars; its light is spread alike over salt sea and fields of many flowers;
the dew is shed in loveliness; roses bloom, and tender chervil, and flowery melilot;
and often, pacing to and fro, she remembers gentle Atthis with yearning; doubtless her delicate heart is heavy for your fate.
To go there. . . . much ... sings ... in the middle.
It is not easy for us to equal goddesses in attractiveness of form, but you have . . .
Addressed to a young woman named Atthis (cf. 16), whom Sappho wishes to console by assuring her that she has not been forgotten by an absent friend, a young woman who is now living in Lydia (cf. 1, 6). Atthis is menhoned in nos. 11 and 24 as well.
Sardis the capital of Lydia. in this direction i.e., toward Lesbos (presumably), where Sappho and Atthis are to be imagined.
. . . the herald came . . . Idaios, the swift messenger these words: [one line missing] "and of the rest of Asia fame imperishable; Hektor and his companions are bringing a flashing-eyed maiden from holy Thebe and from fair-flowing Plakia, graceful Andromache, in their ships over the salt sea; and there are many golden bracelets and robes
of crimson ... ... trinkets of cunning make, and silver drinking cups unnumbered, and ivory." Thus he spoke; and Hektor's dear father leapt up nimbly; and the news reached his friends throughout the spacious city. At once Ilos' descendants hitched up mules to the smooth-running carriages, and onto them the whole crowd climbed, women and slender-ankled girls together; but separately the daughters of Priam . . . and young men yoked horses to chariots . . . . . . and greatly . . . . . . charioteers . . . [several lines missing] . . . like gods . . . . . . holy . . . all together . . . set out ... ... to Ilion, and the flute's sweet music and ... ... were mingled, and the clatter of castanets, and clear-voiced girls sang a holy song, and a wondrous echo reached the sky . . . and everywhere in the streets were . . . bowls and cups . . . myrrh and cassia and frankincense were mingled. The older women all raised a joyful shout, and all the men sent forth a lovely high-pitched cry, calling on Paian the far-shooter, skilled in the lyre, and they praised in song the godlike Hektor and Andromache.
This fragment, which describes how Andromache was brought to Troy as a bride by the Trojan prince Hektor, is the only example of Sappho's narrative poetry that has survived. It has been suggested that the poem may have been intended for performance at a wedding celebrahon. Hektor The eldest son of Priam, and husband of Andromache. As the greatest of the Trojan warriors to fight in the Trojan War, Hektor represented Troy's only hope for victory, and with his death at the hands of Achilles the city's doom was sealed. Idaios a Trojan herald; he appears as a minor character in the lliad. Asia i.e.,Asia Minor. Thebe, Plakia According to lliad 6. 395-97, Andromache was the daughter of Eetion, king of Thebe "under wooded Plakos." Ilos' descendants i.e., the Trojans. Ilos was the mythical founder of Troy (Ilion). 33 Paian another name for Apollo. |