From Sappho to Aphrodite: Fragments

Name: Sappho Date: d. 570 BCE Region: Lesbos [modern Greece] Citation: Fragment 55, 13

Fragment LV (Cox 1925 version # 84)

Dormivi in somnis una cum Cypride

Προσελεξάμης όναρ κυπρογενεία

I have lain beside Aphrodite in dream...

Fragment XIII: (Cox 1925 version #56)

Sappho, cur omniopulentiam Venerem…?

Πσάπφοι τί τὰν πολύολβον Ἀφρόδιταν; 

Sappho, why does [no verb] many-gifted Venus?

 --Translated from the Greek by Johannis Christianus Wolfius

 

Sappho [d. 570 BCE, modern Greece] was universally applauded by the ancient world as the “Tenth Muse.” Because she was one of the earliest Greek lyric poets, there is very little definitive information on Sappho’s life.  It is generally agreed that Sappho was a wealthy noblewoman from the island of Lesbos who had three brothers and a daughter named Kleis. She used her prominent social position to support a cohort of other women artists, and composed many poems about them, expressing her love for them, praising their beauty, and celebrating their marriages. Whereas earlier Greek poetry was epic poetry with serious themes of gods, warfare, and the state, Sappho’s lyric poetry was emotional, intimate and personal. Her poetry centered around womanhood and womanly love, providing rare insight into the time period. The modern terms “sapphic” and “lesbian” reveal the longevity of her impact upon modern culture. Unfortunately, although her poetry was universally revered by the Greeks and Romans alike, Sappho’s works only exist as fragments, adding mysterious allure to her larger-than-life status but unfortunately hindering our understanding of her life and thoughts.