Which translation of Sappho is best?

Mary Bernard [1906 -2001], University of California Press is the only one. Clear, incisive, direct, restraint in punctuation, and the Author rings true to the modern ear in English, the best ever in modern English. This edition contains pretty much all of what we posses of Sappho.

What happened to Sappho’s poems?

Most of Sappho’s poetry is now lost, and what is extant has mostly survived in fragmentary form; only the “Ode to Aphrodite” is certainly complete. As well as lyric poetry, ancient commentators claimed that Sappho wrote elegiac and iambic poetry.

How many Sappho fragments are there?

Born at the close of the seventh century BCE, Sappho was famously declared the “Tenth Muse” by Plato. Ancient sources state that she produced nine volumes of poetry. While two hundred fragments have been attributed to Sappho, only two complete poems and approximately forty fragments survive.

Where was Sappho’s poetry found?

Widely admired and studied in antiquity, Sappho was known as “the Tenth Muse,” and her poetry was collected into nine books at the Library of Alexandria.

Why was Sappho lost?

Why were so many of Sappho’s writings really lost? The main reason why nearly all of Sappho’s poems have been lost is not because they were deliberately censored, but rather because of the dialect she wrote in.

Who destroyed Sappho’s poems?

While acclaimed during her lifetime, Sappho’s writings were criticized and ultimately destroyed by the church after the 4th century because of their erotic and lesbian imagery. Attempts to revive her poetry began in the Renaissance and have continued throughout history.

Who married Sappho?

5 days ago
Cercylas
A fragment from Sappho that is dedicated to Charaxus has survived. One of her poems mentions a daughter named Cleis or Claïs. According to legend, Sappho was married to Cercylas, a wealthy man from the island of Andros.

Was Sappho an aristocrat?

She was born around 615 B.C. to an aristocratic family on the Greek island of Lesbos. Evidence suggests that she had several brothers, married a wealthy man named Cercylas, and had a daughter named Cleis.

Who found Sappho’s poems?

Dirk Obbink
Parts of two previously unknown poems by the Greek lyric poet Sappho have been discovered on an ancient papyrus. An anonymous collector happened to show the papyrus to the Oxford University classicist Dirk Obbink, who realized its significance.

When were Sappho’s poems discovered?

In 1898 scholars unearthed papyri that contained fragments of her poems. In 1914 in Egypt, archeologists discovered papier-mâché coffins made from scraps of paper that contained more verse fragments attributed to Sappho.

Is there an original Greek translation of Sappho’s poems?

When I first searched for Sappho’s poems on the web, I found that most sites used out-of-date translations and numberings, with no original Greek. I wanted a complete work to peruse at leisure, with annotations and explanations throughout.

What are the poems of Sappho index sacred texts?

The Poems of Sappho Index Sacred Texts Classics Poems of Sappho (Unicode) This is a version of the ISTA Sappho poetry collectionwith the Greek text displayed in Unicode. Note that final sigmas are written as medials (all sigmas were lunate sigmas in the source text, but I decided to ‘modernize’ the orthography slightly).

Who is Tithonus in the old age poem?

This is an original translation of a poem by Sappho (630-580 BC), traditionally known as the “old age poem” or the “Tithonus poem” (in the standard numbering by Lobel and Page, it is “Fragment 58”). Tithonus, mentioned in the poem, was a mortal whom the goddess Dawn loved.

What are some of Aphrodite’s most famous quotes?

Glittering-throned, undying Aphrodite, Wile-weaving daughter of high Zeus, I pray thee, Tame not my soul with heavy woe, dread mistress, Nay, nor with anguish !