2. Sappho - Summary If Not, Winter PDF

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Leo Papajohn and Alyssa Romo Gabriel Bloomfield 9/30/19 Sappho Study Guide Background Info on Sappho and Her Poetry Sappho was an Ancient Greek poet who lived on the island of Lesbos between the late seventh century BCE and the early sixth century BCE (https://www.ancient.eu/Sappho_of_Lesbos/). Her poetry is distinctive for being some of the earliest lyric poetry and its intense introspective and emotional nature and homosexual themes. To understand Sappho and her poetry, it is critical to understand lyric poetry (since Sappho’s poetry is of the lyric style). The word “lyric” comes from the word for “lyre,” an Ancient Greek musical instrument. Lyric poetry then refers to poetry that was meant to be sung alongside music from a lyre (though some lyric poetry could also be sung alongside a flute, melic poetry, or without any music, meter). Moreover, Sappho’s lifetime coincided with the introduction of the written script into Greek culture; this was the first time in Greek history that performers like Sappho could physically record their performances. It is interesting to consider how much Sappho’s poetry is crafted towards her audience and her performance’s entertainment value. When reading Sappho, one must keep in mind that most of her poetry is lost (and none of her music has survived). Furthermore, what poetry we do have is heavily fragmented (only one survives in full). In some sense, the reader then becomes a type of archaeologist, straining to construct a fuller understanding of Sappho and her contemporary society and culture through tiny ‘artifacts’ of poetry. Sappho’s Position in Ancient Greek Literary Tradition Another lens through which it is useful to interpret Sappho is her place in the Ancient Greek literary tradition, specifically in her relation to the Homeric epics. Sappho, like most of the Ancient Greeks, was aware of the Homeric epics; in some of her fragments, she references characters or events from the Iliad, for example. By doing this, she taps into a shared culture and tradition, evoking shared cultural conceptions and themes. Sappho does not use these epics in only this way, however. She also reinterprets Homer, in poem 16 by suggesting that “some men” misinterpret Homer’s tales. In some cases, Sappho also identifies herself with characters from the Homeric epics, such as with Agamemnon and Menelaus in fragment 17. While Sappho exists in the same Ancient Greek tradition as the Homeric epics, it is important to distinguish the two in fundamental ways. Firstly, at the most basic level, they exist in two distinct literary styles. The Homeric poems are epic poetry and utilize the meter of dactylic hexameter. Sappho’s poetry, however, is lyric (as stated above) and has no particular meter. Epic poetry is in some sense a more ‘historical’ kind of poetry, focusing on events and

stories. The Homeric epics also include intense descriptions of the actions and movements of certain characters, especially warriors, through their of similes. Sappho’s poetry, though, is much more introspective and personal. What we have uses more metaphors rather than similes and does not go into the level of detail that the Homeric epics do in describing events and actions. Rather, Sappho spends more energy (not necessarily language) pinpointing how to describe emotions. Furthermore, the reader is much more aware of Sappho as the narrator in her poetry than he or she is aware of the narrator of the Iliad or the Odyssey. Indeed, in class, we talked a lot about our initial impressions of Sappho, especially as they related to reading the Iliad directly before. Many people spoke to being more aware of Sappho as a narrator and as a character in her poetry, whereas the Iliad gave us less of a sense of Homer’s personality. To us, Sappho seemed much more present in her writing than Homer because she expresses her emotions and desires; her poetry presents as a form of self-expression. We also discussed our impression of Sappho as hyperfeminine and the Iliad as hypermasculine, though this could have been because we read Sappho immediately after reading the Iliad. Sappho also invokes Greek mythology in general in her poetry, citing myths such as that of Tithonus. Furthermore, her descriptions of gods and goddesses such as Aphrodite, Hermes, Hera, Eros, and Ares. In the same way that Sappho drew on Homer’s work to tap into a shared culture, we discussed Sappho’s reference to Greek mythology as a way to personalize universal texts and use them to tell her own story. Sappho probably intended for Greek mythology to bring about certain feelings and responses in her audience. Repeated Themes and Images - Lust - Desire - Sexuality; specifically, homoeroticism - Longing - Nostalgia - Virginity - Power (dynamics; imbalances) -

Violets Death Fruit Nature Crowns

Class Discussion: Ode to Aphrodite Sappho’s only fully extant poem is popularly called her Ode to Aphrodite. In it, Sappho sings about herself praying to Aphrodite to help her in changing the mind of her romantic interest, who is not interested in Sappho. The poem recalls the theme of divine intervention and free will in the Iliad and Odyssey; Aphrodite describes how she can invert the attitude of

Sappho’s interest, “For if she flees, soon she will pursue./If she refuses gifts, rather will she give them./ If she does not love, soon she will love/even unwilling.” (Carson, If Not Winter, p.5). The poem also paints love as a kind of war in how it describes Aphrodite taking off in what could be a kind of chariot to meet Sappho, and also in the use of the word “ςύμμαχος” which literally means “together in war” or “the one who fights with me.” This poem can also serve as a wonderful example of the introspective, reflective nature of Sappho’s poetry in how she sings about the “hard pains” of heartache and her “crazy heart.” On the other hand, the poem could also have a lighthearted, self-deprecatory or almost satirical tone; love is not really love if it does not come about from free will. Class Discussion: Fragmentation in Old and New Poem 58 In class, we spent a lot of time both trying to understand the literal meaning of Sappho’s fragmented poems and discussing the effect of fragmentation on our impression of Sappho’s poetry in general. We concluded that though the fragmentation can make it difficult to discern the specific subject of her poetry, it also results in amazing suggestiveness and possibilities for differing interpretations. This dynamic was perhaps best understood by comparing the older (discovered in 1922; included in If Not, Winter) and newer (discovered in 2004) texts of Poem 58. We discussed that the older, more fragmented Poem 58 seemed very surrealist and gave us the impression that the subject concerned love even more than youth and old age. However, reading the newer, more complete Poem 58 gave us an entirely different meaning. First of all, the new context and improved syntax were much clearer; we discussed how some of the original words changed meaning completely with new surrounding context. The poem seemed much more generalized and not as introspective; the newly discovered text at the beginning made the poem seem much more vocal–Sappho was giving an address to a group of children rather than only expressing her own emotions. The poem seemed now obviously about old age and maturity rather than strictly love. Moreover, the addition of the story of Tithonos gave us the impression that Sappho was invoking mythology to both “back up” her claims and drive home the broader themes she wants to convey (love, desire, etc). This new addition also made the poem seem more factual than just emotional. THE BEAT GOES ON [“fragment 58”] You, children, be zealous for the beautiful gifts of the violetlapped Muses and for the clear songloving lyre. But my skin once soft is now taken by old age, my hair turns white from black. And my heart is weighed down and my knees do not lift, that once were light to dance as fawns. I groan for this. But what can I do? A human being without old age is not a possibility. There is the story of Tithonos, loved by Dawn with her arms of roses

and she carried him off to the ends of the earth when he was beautiful and young. Even so was he gripped by white old age. He still has his deathless wife. -Sappho (trans. Carson, first published in the New York Review of Books.) In-Class Poem Analysis Poem 16: This poem is an instance in which Sappho invokes the Homeric epics. In particular, she seems to direct the first stanza towards bad readers of Homer, who think that the Iliad is about the ultimate beauty of war. In this poem, Sappho seems to reject this interpretation, citing how the force of love (between Helen and Paris, incited by Aphrodite) is what drives the events of the Iliad, and is thus more beautiful. Sappho uses this Homeric reference to discuss the absence of her own lover, Anaktoria. Sappho describes how she would rather see even just small glimpses of her lover over the “chariots of Lydians or ranks/of footsoldiers in arms.” (fr. 16) The last section of the poem is missing, but it seems to describe the impossibility of Sappho seeing her lover again, and yet how she “prays for a share.” Perhaps this is another reference to the Iliad, Sappho prays to the gods for love as the warriors of the Iliad pray for success in battle. Essay Questions How does Sappho invert, reshape, utilize, or reinterpret the Homeric epics and Greek cultural tradition in general in her poetry? How does Sappho fit into the Greek poetic/cultural tradition? How do fragmentation and translation shape our readings of Sappho’s poetry? How do they work with or against each other? Discuss flowers in Sappho’s poetry? What do they signify or symbolize? How does Sappho use them? How does Sappho change her tone throughout her poetry?...