More of Sappho

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=220 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div>  <A NAME="quick_jump_to_erotic_tales_1"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.blue1water.com/id1296.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.blue1water.com/id1296.htm"><U><I><B><IMG SRC="01823230.jpg" border=0 width="35" height="35" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></I></U></A><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#99CCFF" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="http://www.blue1water.com/id1296.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.blue1water.com/id1296.htm"><U><I><B>Quick Jump to Erotic Tales</B></I></U></A></FONT></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <A HREF="http://www.blue1water.com/spa/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.blue1water.com/spa/"><U><I> Spanish .</I></U></A><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF6633" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="http://www.blue1water.com/spa/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.blue1water.com/spa/"><U> Pages <IMG SRC="1251e140.jpg" border=0 width="30" height="20" ALT="Spain" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></FONT></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.blue1water.com/spa/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.blue1water.com/spa/"><U>Páginas en Español</U></A><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#FF6633" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="http://www.blue1water.com/spa/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.blue1water.com/spa/"><U> </U></A></FONT></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.blue1water.com/spa/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.blue1water.com/spa/"><U><I>cuentos eróticos</I></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.blue1water.com/spa/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.blue1water.com/spa/"><U><I>And many thanks to Iruntxu for her translations to Spanish. </I></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.blue1water.com/spa/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.blue1water.com/spa/"><U><I>She just needs to learn to keep her fingers on the keyboard,</I></U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <div> sssssssssss</div> <bR> <div> <I><B>Art & Photos</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B><IMG SRC="00920150.gif" border=0 width="32" height="21" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">   </B></I><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#00FFFF" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><A HREF="http://www.blue1water.com/art/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.blue1water.com/art/"><U><I>New Arts Image Section</I></U></A></FONT></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.blue1water.com/art/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.blue1water.com/art/"><U>(Working to improve and expand)</U></A></div> <bR> <div> sssssssssss</div> <div> <I><B>Image Libraries</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="http://www.blue1water.com/art/id419.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.blue1water.com/art/id419.htm"><U>Q - 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Soyd   </B></I></U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <A HREF="http://www.blue1water.com/id1296.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.blue1water.com/id1296.htm"><U><I>Tales of decadence, debauchery,</I></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.blue1water.com/id1296.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.blue1water.com/id1296.htm"><U><I>lust, passion, desire, seduction,</I></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.blue1water.com/id1296.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.blue1water.com/id1296.htm"><U><I>etc. etc. etc. I think you get the</I></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.blue1water.com/id1296.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.blue1water.com/id1296.htm"><U><I>idea. - Mild to Wild . . . . . .</I></U></A></div> <bR> <div> sssssssssss</div> <bR> <bR> <div> sssssssssss</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <A HREF="index_quick_jump_to_erotic_tales.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Knowledge Box Archive "><U><IMG SRC="00b65670.jpg" border=0 width="101" height="103" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="index_quick_jump_to_erotic_tales.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Knowledge Box Archive "><U><I>Back to Top </I></U></A><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><A HREF="index_quick_jump_to_erotic_tales.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Knowledge Box Archive "><U><I> </I></U></A></FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#66FFFF" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><A HREF="index_quick_jump_to_erotic_tales.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Knowledge Box Archive "><U><I><B>^</B></I></U></A></FONT></div> <div> <A HREF="index_quick_jump_to_erotic_tales.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Knowledge Box Archive "><U>Knowledge Box Archive </U></A></div> <bR> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <B>Knowledge Box Archive </B><B> </B><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#FFCC99" FACE="Arial" >    </FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#CCCC66" FACE="Arial" >|   <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Knowledge Box Archive "><U><B>home</B></U></A></FONT></div> <div>                                                   </div> <div> <IMG SRC="005f4010.png" border=0 width="500" height="1" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> More of Sappho</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Knowledge Box Archive "><U><B><IMG SRC="0086e320.jpg" border=0 width="110" height="50" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"> back to Directory </B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Knowledge Box Archive "><U><B>back to Directory / hist</B></U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <I>     </I><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#CC33FF" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><I>Sappho Poems</I></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <I>Sappho was born in the late 600s BCE on Lesbos, one of the larger islands in the Aegean, near Lydia (now Turkey). Lesbos was important for trade between mainland Greece and the kingdoms of Asia; it was also a cultural center. Sappho was probably from an aristocratic family of the city of Mytiline; she probably married and had at least one daughter. She may have spent some time in exile in Sicily.</I></div> <bR> <div> <I><IMG SRC="11687fa0.jpg" border=0 width="135" height="250" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="6" VSPACE="6">Her poetry suggests that she was the center of a closely-knit group of women; we don't know if this was some kind of an academy or a chorus of singers. We do know that Sappho composed epithalmia (marriage songs) for performance by a group. But her preferred form seems to have been songs to be sung or recited by an individual to the accompaniment of a lyre, some perhaps for religious or civic festivals.</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>Almost 200 fragments of Sappho's poetry are extant, but many of these are only a word or a few words. One poem, usually called the "Hymn to Aphrodite," may be complete, but we aren't sure. Even from fragments we can tell that Sappho had the ability to look at herself and others clearly---often ironically---</I></div> <bR> <div> <I> The Roman Catholic Church condemned her work. </I></div> <bR> <div> <I>ALL of Sappho's poetry that could be found was burned in 380 AD by order of St. Gregory of Nazianzus and what remained was searched out and burned by PAPAL DECREE in 1073! A papal order for a woman's works to be destroyed is a rather drastic move for silly woman-talk.</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>Actually, It is a miracle that the 700 lines we have today remain - although hope is still alive that more will come to light since fairly recently an Egyptian papyrus of one of her poems was found.</I></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>Cleis </I></div> <bR> <div> <I>Sleep, darling</I></div> <div> <I>I have a small</I></div> <div> <I>daughter called</I></div> <div> <I>Cleis, who is</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>like a golden</I></div> <div> <I>flower</I></div> <div> <I>        I wouldn't</I></div> <div> <I>take all Croesus'</I></div> <div> <I>kingdom with love</I></div> <div> <I>thrown in, for her</I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>XXXXXXX</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I>Don't ask me what to wear</I></div> <div> <I>I have no embroidered</I></div> <div> <I>headband from Sardis to</I></div> <div> <I>give you, Cleis, such as</I></div> <div> <I>I wore</I></div> <div> <I>        and my mother</I></div> <div> <I>always said that in her</I></div> <div> <I>day a purple ribbon</I></div> <div> <I>looped in the hair was thought</I></div> <div> <I>to be high style indeed</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>but we were dark:</I></div> <div> <I>                 a girl</I></div> <div> <I>whose hair is yellower than</I></div> <div> <I>torchlight should wear no</I></div> <div> <I>headdress but fresh flowers</I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>            </I><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#CCFFFF" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><I><B> XXXXXXX</B></I></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <I>Cyprian, in my dream </I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>Cyprian, in my dream</I></div> <div> <I>the folds of a purple</I></div> <div> <I>kerchief shadowed</I></div> <div> <I>your cheeks --- the one</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>Timas one time sent,</I></div> <div> <I>a timid gift, all</I></div> <div> <I>the way from Phocaea</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>          </I><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#CCFFFF" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><I><B>XXXXXXX</B></I></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <I>I took my lyre </I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>I took my lyre and said:</I></div> <div> <I>Come now, my heavenly</I></div> <div> <I>tortoise shell: become</I></div> <div> <I>a speaking instrument</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>            </I><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#CCFFFF" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><I><B>XXXXXXX</B></I></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <I>Leto and Niobe </I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>Before they were mothers</I></div> <div> <I>Leto and Niobe</I></div> <div> <I>had been the most</I></div> <div> <I>devoted of friends</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>           </I><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#CCFFFF" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><I><B>XXXXXXX</B></I></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <I>The Muses </I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>It is the Muses</I></div> <div> <I>who have caused me</I></div> <div> <I>to be honred: they</I></div> <div> <I>taught me their craft</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>             </I><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#CCFFFF" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><I><B>XXXXXXX</B></I></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <I>No Word </I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>I have had not one word from her</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>Frankly I wish I were dead.</I></div> <div> <I>When she left, she wept</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>a great deal; she said to</I></div> <div> <I>me, ``This parting must be</I></div> <div> <I>endured, Sappho.  I go unwillingly.''</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>I said, ``Go, and be happy</I></div> <div> <I>but remember (you know</I></div> <div> <I>well) whom you leave shackled by love</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>``If you forget me, think</I></div> <div> <I>of our gifts to Aphrodite</I></div> <div> <I>and all the loveliness that we shared</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>``all the violet tiaras,</I></div> <div> <I>braided rosebuds, dill and</I></div> <div> <I>crocus twined around your young neck</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>``myrrh poured on your head</I></div> <div> <I>and on soft mats girls with</I></div> <div> <I>all that they most wished for beside them</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>``while no voices chanted</I></div> <div> <I>choruses without ours,</I></div> <div> <I>no woodlot bloomed in spring without song...''</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>              </I><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#CCFFFF" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><I><B>XXXXXXX</B></I></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <I>Prayer to Our Lady of Paphos </I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>Dapple-throned Aphrodite,</I></div> <div> <I>eternal daughter of God,</I></div> <div> <I>snare-knitter! Don't, I beg you,</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>cow my heart with grief! Come,</I></div> <div> <I>as once when you heard my far-</I></div> <div> <I>off cry and, listening, stepped</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>from your father's house to your</I></div> <div> <I>gold car, to yoke the pair whose</I></div> <div> <I>beautiful thick-feathered wings</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>oaring down mid-air from heaven</I></div> <div> <I>carried you to light swiftly</I></div> <div> <I>on dark earth; then, blissful one,</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>smiling your immortal smile</I></div> <div> <I>you asked, What ailed me now that</I></div> <div> <I>me call you again? What</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>was it that my distracted</I></div> <div> <I>heart most wanted? ``Whom has</I></div> <div> <I>Persuasion to bring round now</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>``to your love? Who, Sappho, is</I></div> <div> <I>unfair to you? For, let her</I></div> <div> <I>run, she will soon run after;</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>``if she won't accept gifts, she</I></div> <div> <I>will one day give them; and if</I></div> <div> <I>she won't love you --- she soon will</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>``love, although unwillingly...''</I></div> <div> <I>If ever --- come now! Relieve</I></div> <div> <I>this intolerable pain!</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>What my heart most hopes will</I></div> <div> <I>happen, make happen; you your-</I></div> <div> <I>self join forces on my side!</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>                </I><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#CCFFFF" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><I><B>XXXXXXX</B></I></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <I>Sounds of grief </I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>Must I remind you, Cleis,</I></div> <div> <I>that sounds of grief</I></div> <div> <I>are unbecoming in</I></div> <div> <I>a poet's household?</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>and that they are not</I></div> <div> <I>suitable in ours?</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>              </I><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#CCFFFF" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><I><B>XXXXXXX</B></I></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <I>To Aphrodite </I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>You know the place: then</I></div> <div> <I>Leave Crete and come to us</I></div> <div> <I>waiting where the grove is</I></div> <div> <I>pleasantest, by precincts</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>sacred to you; incense</I></div> <div> <I>smokes on the altar, cold</I></div> <div> <I>streams murmur through the</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>apple branches, a young</I></div> <div> <I>rose thicket shades the ground</I></div> <div> <I>and quivering leaves pour</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>down deep sleep; in meadows</I></div> <div> <I>where horses have grown sleek</I></div> <div> <I>among spring flowers, dill</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>scents the air. Queen! Cyprian!</I></div> <div> <I>Fill our gold cups with love</I></div> <div> <I>stirred into clear nectar</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>                </I><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#CCFFFF" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><I><B>XXXXXXX</B></I></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <I>To any army wife </I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>To any army wife, in Sardis:</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>Some say a cavalry corps,</I></div> <div> <I>some infantry, some again,</I></div> <div> <I>will maintain that the swift oars</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>of our fleet are the finest</I></div> <div> <I>sight on dark earth; but I say</I></div> <div> <I>that whatever one loves, is.</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>This is easily proved: did</I></div> <div> <I>not Helen --- she who had scanned</I></div> <div> <I>the flower of the world's manhood ---</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>choose as first among men one</I></div> <div> <I>who laid Troy's honor in ruin?</I></div> <div> <I>warped to his will, forgetting</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>love due her own blood, her own</I></div> <div> <I>child, she wandered far with him.</I></div> <div> <I>So Anactoria, although you</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>being far away forget us,</I></div> <div> <I>the dear sound of your footstep</I></div> <div> <I>and light glancing in your eyes</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>would move me more than glitter</I></div> <div> <I>of Lydian horse or armored</I></div> <div> <I>tread of mainland infantry</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>             </I><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#CCFFFF" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><I><B>XXXXXXX</B></I></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <I>Words </I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>Although they are</I></div> <div> <I>only breath, words</I></div> <div> <I>which I command</I></div> <div> <I>are immortal</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>                </I><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#CCFFFF" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><I><B>XXXXXXX</B></I></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <I>Anactoria </I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>Yes, Atthis, you may be sure</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>                                Even in Sardis</I></div> <div> <I>Anactoria will think often of us</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>of the life we shared here, when you seemed</I></div> <div> <I>the Goddess incarnate</I></div> <div> <I>to her and your singing pleased her best</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>Now among Lydian women she in her</I></div> <div> <I>turn stands first as the red-</I></div> <div> <I>fingered moon rising at sunset takes</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>precedence over stars around her;</I></div> <div> <I>her light spreads equally</I></div> <div> <I>on the salt sea and fields thick with bloom</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>Delicious dew pours down to freshen</I></div> <div> <I>roses, delicate thyme</I></div> <div> <I>and blossoming sweet clover; she wanders</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>aimlessly, thinking of gentle</I></div> <div> <I>Atthis, her heart hanging</I></div> <div> <I>heavy with longing in her little breast</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>She shouts aloud, Come! we know it;</I></div> <div> <I>thousand-eared night repeats that cry</I></div> <div> <I>across the sea shining between us</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>                </I><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#CCFFFF" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><I><B>XXXXXXX</B></I></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <I>Blame Aphrodite </I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>It's no use</I></div> <div> <I>Mother dear, I</I></div> <div> <I>can't finish my</I></div> <div> <I>weaving</I></div> <div> <I>        You may</I></div> <div> <I>blame Aphrodite</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>soft as she is</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>she has almost</I></div> <div> <I>killed me with</I></div> <div> <I>love for that boy</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>                </I><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#CCFFFF" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><I><B>XXXXXXX</B></I></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <I>Although they are </I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>Although they are </I></div> <div> <I>only breath, words </I></div> <div> <I>which I command </I></div> <div> <I>are immortal</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>And their feet move </I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>And their feet move </I></div> <div> <I>rhythmically, as tender </I></div> <div> <I>feet of Cretan girls </I></div> <div> <I>danced once around an </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>altar of love, crushing </I></div> <div> <I>a circle in the soft </I></div> <div> <I>smooth flowering grass</I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>XXXXXXX</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I>Awed by her splendor </I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>Awed by her splendor </I></div> <div> <I>stars near the lovely </I></div> <div> <I>moon cover their own </I></div> <div> <I>bright faces </I></div> <div> <I>when she </I></div> <div> <I>is roundest and lights </I></div> <div> <I>earth with her silver</I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>XXXXXXX</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I>Before they were mothers </I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>Before they were mothers </I></div> <div> <I>Leto and Niobe </I></div> <div> <I>had been the most </I></div> <div> <I>devoted of friends</I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>XXXXXXX</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I>Drapple-thorned Aphrodite, </I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>Dapple-throned Aphrodite, </I></div> <div> <I>eternal daughter of God, </I></div> <div> <I>snare-knitter! Don't, I beg you, </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>cow my heart with grief! Come, </I></div> <div> <I>as once when you heard my far- </I></div> <div> <I>off cry and, listening, stepped </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>from your father's house to your </I></div> <div> <I>gold car, to yoke the pair whose </I></div> <div> <I>beautiful thick-feathered wings </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>oaring down mid-air from heaven </I></div> <div> <I>carried you to light swiftly </I></div> <div> <I>on dark earth; then, blissful one, </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>smiling your immortal smile </I></div> <div> <I>you asked, What ailed me now that </I></div> <div> <I>me me call you again? What </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>was it that my distracted </I></div> <div> <I>heart most wanted? "Whom has </I></div> <div> <I>Persuasion to bring round now </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>"to your love? Who, Sappho, is </I></div> <div> <I>unfair to you? For, let her </I></div> <div> <I>run, she will soon run after; </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>"if she won't accept gifts, she </I></div> <div> <I>will one day give them; and if </I></div> <div> <I>she won't love you -- she soon will </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>"love, although unwillingly..." </I></div> <div> <I>If ever -- come now! Relieve </I></div> <div> <I>this intolerable pain! </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>What my heart most hopes will </I></div> <div> <I>happen, make happen; you your- </I></div> <div> <I>self join forces on my side!</I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>XXXXXXX</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I>He is more than a hero </I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>He is more than a hero </I></div> <div> <I>he is a god in my eyes-- </I></div> <div> <I>the man who is allowed </I></div> <div> <I>to sit beside you -- he </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>who listens intimately </I></div> <div> <I>to the sweet murmur of </I></div> <div> <I>your voice, the enticing </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>laughter that makes my own </I></div> <div> <I>heart beat fast. If I meet </I></div> <div> <I>you suddenly, I can' </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>speak -- my tongue is broken; </I></div> <div> <I>a thin flame runs under </I></div> <div> <I>my skin; seeing nothing, </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>hearing only my own ears </I></div> <div> <I>drumming, I drip with sweat; </I></div> <div> <I>trembling shakes my body </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>and I turn paler than </I></div> <div> <I>dry grass. At such times </I></div> <div> <I>death isn't far from me</I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>XXXXXXX</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I>I have no complaint </I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>I have no complaint </I></div> <div> <I>prosperity that </I></div> <div> <I>the golden Muses </I></div> <div> <I>gave me was no </I></div> <div> <I>delusion: dead, I </I></div> <div> <I>won't be forgotten</I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>XXXXXXX</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I>I took my lyre and said </I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>I took my lyre and said: </I></div> <div> <I>Come now, my heavenly </I></div> <div> <I>tortoise shell: become </I></div> <div> <I>a speaking instrument</I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>XXXXXXX</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I>In the spring twilight </I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>In the spring twilight </I></div> <div> <I>the full moon is shining: </I></div> <div> <I>Girls take their places </I></div> <div> <I>as though around an altar</I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>XXXXXXX</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I>It is the Muses </I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>It is the Muses </I></div> <div> <I>who have caused me </I></div> <div> <I>to be honred: they </I></div> <div> <I>taught me their craft</I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>XXXXXXX</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I>It was you, Atthis, who said </I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>It was you, Atthis, who said </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>"Sappho, if you will not get </I></div> <div> <I>up and let us look at you </I></div> <div> <I>I shall never love you again! </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>"Get up, unleash your suppleness, </I></div> <div> <I>lift off your Chian nightdress </I></div> <div> <I>and, like a lily leaning into </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>"a spring, bathe in the water. </I></div> <div> <I>Cleis is bringing your best </I></div> <div> <I>pruple frock and the yellow </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>"tunic down from the clothes chest; </I></div> <div> <I>you will have a cloak thrown over </I></div> <div> <I>you and flowers crowning your hair... </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>"Praxinoa, my child, will you please </I></div> <div> <I>roast nuts for our breakfast? One </I></div> <div> <I>of the gods is being good to us: </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>"today we are going at last </I></div> <div> <I>into Mitylene, our favorite </I></div> <div> <I>city, with Sappho, loveliest </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>"of its women; she will walk </I></div> <div> <I>among us like a mother with </I></div> <div> <I>all her daughters around her </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>"when she comes home from exile..." </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>But you forget everything</I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>XXXXXXX</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I>It's no use </I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>It's no use </I></div> <div> <I>Mother dear, I </I></div> <div> <I>can't finish my </I></div> <div> <I>weaving </I></div> <div> <I>You may </I></div> <div> <I>blame Aphrodite </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>soft as she is </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>she has almost </I></div> <div> <I>killed me with </I></div> <div> <I>love for that boy</I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>XXXXXXX</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I>Must I remind you, Cleis, </I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>Must I remind you, Cleis, </I></div> <div> <I>that sounds of grief </I></div> <div> <I>are unbecmoming in </I></div> <div> <I>a poet's household? </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>and that they are not </I></div> <div> <I>suitable in ours? </I></div> <div> <I>[Note: "A poet's household" is more litterally one "dedicated to the Muses."]</I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>XXXXXXX</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I>Of course I love you </I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>Of course I love you </I></div> <div> <I>but if you love me, </I></div> <div> <I>marry a young woman! </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>I couldn't stand it </I></div> <div> <I>to live with a young </I></div> <div> <I>man, I being older</I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>XXXXXXX</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I>Sleep, darling </I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>Sleep, darling </I></div> <div> <I>I have a small </I></div> <div> <I>daughter called </I></div> <div> <I>Cleis, who is </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>like a golden </I></div> <div> <I>flower </I></div> <div> <I>I wouldn't </I></div> <div> <I>take all Croesus' </I></div> <div> <I>kingdom with love </I></div> <div> <I>thrown in, for her </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I><B>XXXXXXX</B></I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>Don't ask me what to wear </I></div> <div> <I>I have no embroidered </I></div> <div> <I>headband from Sardis to </I></div> <div> <I>give you, Cleis, such as </I></div> <div> <I>I wore </I></div> <div> <I>and my mother </I></div> <div> <I>always said that in her </I></div> <div> <I>day a purple ribbon </I></div> <div> <I>looped in the hair was thought </I></div> <div> <I>to be high style indeed </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>but we were dark: </I></div> <div> <I> a girl </I></div> <div> <I>whose hair is yellower than </I></div> <div> <I>torchlight should wear no </I></div> <div> <I>headdress but fresh flowers</I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>XXXXXXX</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I>Standing by my bed </I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>Standing by my bed </I></div> <div> <I>in gold sandals </I></div> <div> <I>Dawn that very </I></div> <div> <I>moment awoke me</I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>XXXXXXX</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I>Tell everyone </I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>Tell everyone </I></div> <div> <I>now, today, I shall </I></div> <div> <I>sing beautifully for </I></div> <div> <I>my friends' pleasur</I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>XXXXXXX</B></I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>To any army wife, in Sardis: </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>Some say a cavalry corps, </I></div> <div> <I>some infantry, some again, </I></div> <div> <I>will maintain that the swift oars </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>of our fleet are the finest </I></div> <div> <I>sight on dark earth; but I say </I></div> <div> <I>that whatever one loves, is. </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>This is easily proved: did </I></div> <div> <I>not Helen -- she who had scanned </I></div> <div> <I>the flower of the world's manhood -- </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>choose as first among men one </I></div> <div> <I>who laid Troy's honor in ruin? </I></div> <div> <I>warped to his will, forgetting </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>love due her own blood, her own </I></div> <div> <I>child, she wandered far with him. </I></div> <div> <I>So Anactoria, although you </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>being far away forget us, </I></div> <div> <I>the dear sound of your footstep </I></div> <div> <I>and light glancing in your eyes </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>would move me more than glitter </I></div> <div> <I>of Lydian horse or armored </I></div> <div> <I>tread of mainland infantry</I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>XXXXXXX</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I>Tonight I've watched </I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>Tonight I've watched </I></div> <div> <I>the moon and then </I></div> <div> <I>the Pleiades </I></div> <div> <I>go down </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>The night is now </I></div> <div> <I>half-gone; youth </I></div> <div> <I>goes; I am </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>in bed alone</I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>XXXXXXX</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I>We know this much </I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>We know this much </I></div> <div> <I>Death is an evil; </I></div> <div> <I>we have the gods' </I></div> <div> <I>word for it; they too </I></div> <div> <I>would die if death </I></div> <div> <I>were a good thing</I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>XXXXXXX</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I>We put the urn abord ship </I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>We put the urn aboard ship </I></div> <div> <I>with this inscription: </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>This is the dust of little </I></div> <div> <I>Timas who unmarried was led </I></div> <div> <I>into Persephone's dark bedroom </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>And she being far from home, girls </I></div> <div> <I>her age took new-edged blades </I></div> <div> <I>to cut, in mourning for her, </I></div> <div> <I>these curls of their soft hair</I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>XXXXXXX</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I>We shall enjoy it </I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>We shall enjoy it </I></div> <div> <I>as for him who finds </I></div> <div> <I>fault, may silliness </I></div> <div> <I>and sorrow take him!</I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>XXXXXXX</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I>With his venom </I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>With his venom </I></div> <div> <I>irresistible </I></div> <div> <I>and bittersweet </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>that loosener </I></div> <div> <I>of limbs, Love </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>reptile-like </I></div> <div> <I>strikes me down</I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>XXXXXXX</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I>Without warning </I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>Without warning </I></div> <div> <I>as a whirlwind </I></div> <div> <I>swoops on an oak </I></div> <div> <I>Love shakes my heart</I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>XXXXXXX</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I>Yes, Atthis, you may be sure </I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>Yes, Atthis, you may be sure </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>Even in Sardis </I></div> <div> <I>Anactoria will think often of us </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>of the life we shared here, when you seemed </I></div> <div> <I>the Goddess incarnate </I></div> <div> <I>to her and your singing pleased her best </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>Now among Lydian women she in her </I></div> <div> <I>turn stands first as the red- </I></div> <div> <I>fingered moon rising at sunset takes </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>precedence over stars around her; </I></div> <div> <I>her light spreads equally </I></div> <div> <I>on the salt sea and fields thick with bloom </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>Delicious dew purs down to freshen </I></div> <div> <I>roses, delicate thyme </I></div> <div> <I>and blossoming sweet clover; she wanders </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>aimlessly, thinking of gentle </I></div> <div> <I>Atthis, her heart hanging </I></div> <div> <I>heavy with longing in her little breast </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>She shouts aloud, Come! we know it; </I></div> <div> <I>thousand-eared night repeats that cry </I></div> <div> <I>across the sea shining between us</I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>XXXXXXX</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I>You know the place: then </I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>You know the place: then </I></div> <div> <I>Leave Crete and come to us </I></div> <div> <I>waiting where the grove is </I></div> <div> <I>pleasantest, by precincts </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>sacred to you; incense </I></div> <div> <I>smokes on the altar, cold </I></div> <div> <I>streams murmur through the </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>apple branches, a young </I></div> <div> <I>rose thicket shades the ground </I></div> <div> <I>and quivering leaves pour </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>down deep sleep; in meadows </I></div> <div> <I>where horses have grown sleek </I></div> <div> <I>among spring flowers, dill </I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>scents the air. Queen! Cyprian! </I></div> <div> <I>Fill our gold cups with love </I></div> <div> <I>stirred into clear nectar</I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>XXXXXXX</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I>You may forget but </I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>You may forget but </I></div> <div> <I>let me tell you </I></div> <div> <I>this: someone in </I></div> <div> <I>some future time </I></div> <div> <I>will think of us</I></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>The reason that the Church wanted Sappho's works eradicated is not certain, but it probably had something to do with the subject matter of her poems. From the surviving fragments, we know Sappho wrote splendid hymns in praise of the Pagan Goddesses, particularly Aphrodite, and love poetry of great sophistication, passion and deep understanding of the human heart. This at least is apparent even from the few fragments we have. Such subjects were anathema to the bigots of the Dark Ages.</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>The matter of her sexual orientation did not become controversial until much later, during the nineteenth and twentieth century. It was not an issue for her contemporaries; it was not even an issue in the seventeenth or eighteenth centuries, when her poetry started to emerge from obscurity.</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>It should be emphasised that we have few clues about her sexual orientation. Moreover, we are still unclear what same-sex romantic or erotic love between women may have implied in Sappho's culture. What we do know is that there was not widespread fear and persecution of homosexuals in antiquity. Even during the middle ages, same-sex unions occured and were not disapproved of by the Church. This is not why Sappho's poems were burned. If anything, it was her (possibly exaggerated) reputation for promiscuity which brought her reproach in the early Christian era.</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>It was only during the Victorian era that Sappho's sexual preference per se, rather than her poetry, became a focus of interest. Since there is no actual explicit 'lesbian' sexual content in her poems, in the late 19th Century the French Decadant novelist Pierre Louys decided to invent some. Louys claimed that he had discovered the poems of an ancient Lesbian poetess named 'Bilitis', a contemporary of Sappho. Louys published free-verse 'translations' of her works complete with scholarly apparatus. The Bilitis poems provided all the juicy details that were missing from the Sappho corpus (or at least as much as Louys could imply in a book published at the time). Conspicuously missing were the original texts of Bilitis' poems, which is understandable, since our spotty information on the Aoelic dialect which Bilitis would have spoken would make them hard to forge.</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>The Bilitis hoax (which, although purely a male fantasy, has literary merits in its own right) took Europe by storm. In time, Bilitis became confused with Sappho in popular culture to the point where it is impossible to tell the two apart. Sappho was a popular subject for moody decadent painters at the turn of the 20th century. Today the adjective 'Sapphic' conjures up images of lesbian sex, rather than its original meaning of a specific classical Greek poetic form. Bilitis was even made into an atrocious soft-euro-porn movie in the 1970s starring the nymphet Sylvia Crystal, with cinematography by the fashion photographer David Hamilton (albeit with little connection to the Louys book other than some voice-overs). Popular culture to this day employs Sappho and ancient Greece as a codeword for homosexuality. Ironically, the beforementioned Xena television drama, with its ambiguous portrayal of a relationship between two women,--possibly by accident, considering how it made a hash of ancient mythology and history--somewhat reflected the fluid nature of Hellenic sexual identity.</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>The truth of the matter is that Sappho was probably bisexual, not lesbian in the sense of the word today, i.e. exclusively attracted to women. Moreover, nobody made a big deal about it for nearly 2,500 years after she was dead.</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>The best and most cited evidence is her powerful Hymn to Aphrodite (#1), the longest fragment of Sappho's still in existence. In this poem, Sappho prays to Aphrodite, Goddess of Love, to sway the heart of an unnamed woman, to whom Sappho proclaims an unrequited erotic attraction ("what I, in my hearts madness, most desire"). Aphrodite promises Sappho that her beloved will soon turn around and offer her gifts, rather than the other way around, and will love her (Sappho), "however reluctant". In other poems she addresses female lovers, lovers of lovers, ex-lovers, and other women by name: Anactoria, Atthis, Andromeda, Mnasidika, Eranna. These are such short fragments, however, it is hard to infer anything. For all we know, they could be characters in a fictional setting.</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>There is also textual evidence that Sappho had a heterosexual side as well. In one fragment, we learn that Sappho had a daughter Cleis (#82) "like a golden flower", she longs for her lost virginity in several others (e.g. #104), and in yet another (#72) she addresses a younger, male lover: "For if thou lovest us, choose another and a younger spouse; for I will not endure to live with thee, old woman with young man". None of this conclusively proves anything, either, since homosexual women can obviously lose their virginity and have children. We also have no idea what the context of the last quote is.</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>We do not have any historical record of Sappho having an extended relationship with a woman, or explicit poetry of hers which depicts 'lesbian' sexuality. If you come to her expecting to find woman to woman erotica, you will be missing the point. The reputation of Sappho in the twentieth century based on her supposed exclusive preference for women is a self-perpetuating myth which has completely obscured the real value of her work: some of the most hauntingly beautiful and evocative poetry that has ever been written. Even some of the shortest fragments meet the test of 'true poetry' that Robert Graves proposed: they make the hair on the back of your neck stand up.</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>What is clear is that Sappho had a passionate romantic and erotic life which was integrated with her devotion to the Goddess Aphrodite. If today it is scandalous that her concept of love transcended gender, that is only a contemporary prejudice.</I></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>