Lines 1–10 of this poem are preserved on a seventh-century-AD parchment housed in Berlin. Lines 6–15 are found on a fragmentary third-century-AD papyrus from Oxyrhynchus, Egypt.
177 Poem 4: Berlin parchment 5006.
These fragmentary verses are from the same seventh-century-AD parchment as the first few lines of Poem 3. The beginning of the final word (. . . chroistheis) is missing. I translate it as “joined together,” though it could also mean “stained” or “ingrained.”
177 Poem 5: Oxyrhynchus papyrus 7.
This was the first of Sappho’s poems discovered by Grenfell and Hunt at Oxyrhynchus and published in 1898.
In some previous editions of Sappho, the poem was assumed to begin with an invocation of Cypris, the goddess Aphrodite, so called because she was born on the shores of the island of Cyprus, but this may not be the case. The Nereids were divine sea nymphs who, if so inclined, guided voyagers safely home.
The subject of the poem is Sappho’s wayward brother Charaxus, who traveled to Egypt and fell in love there with a notorious prostitute named Doricha, bringing great shame on the family in Sappho’s eyes. The final word of the poem is Greek kakan, a feminine singular, so the line could also be translated as “. . . putting aside the evil woman.”
178 Poem 6: Oxyrhynchus papyrus 2289, frag. 1.
In a later fragment (Poem 157) Sappho uses the term “Lady Dawn,” whose morning rays another Greek lyric poet (Bacchylides 5.40) describes as “golden armed.” The final word of the poem, kara, could also be translated as “doom” or “disgrace.”
178 Poem 7: Oxyrhynchus papyrus 2289, frag. 2.
Though the beginning of the first word is missing, it is likely the name of the Egyptian prostitute Doricha, loved by Sappho’s brother Charaxus (see Poems 5 and 15).
179 Poem 8: Oxyrhynchus papyrus 2289, frag. 3.
Atthis, a companion of Sappho, is also mentioned in Poems 49, 96, and 131, as well as by the ancient orator Maximus of Tyre (Orations 18.9). The Byzantine Suda encyclopedia (S 107) says Sappho’s relationship with Atthis and two other women earned her a reputation for “shameful love.”
179 Poem 9: Oxyrhynchus papyrus 2289, frag. 4.
In Greek mythology, Hera is the wife of Zeus and a goddess especially worshipped by the women of Lesbos (see Poem 17).
179 Poem 12: Oxyrhynchus papyrus 2289, frag. 8.
179 Poem 15: Oxyrhynchus papyrus 1231, frag. 1.
Similar to Poem 5, this prayer by Sappho to the goddess Aphrodite (Cypris) is for the safe return of her wayward brother Charaxus from the arms of the Egyptian prostitute Doricha.
180 Poem 16: Oxyrhynchus papyri 1231, frag. 1; 2166, frag. 2; Papiri Greci e Latini 123, 1–2.
The first stanza uses a literary device called a priamel, in which several items are listed, followed by one preferred by the author.
Sappho uses the Greek plural pronoun hoi in the first stanza, which can refer to people in general, regardless of gender (“Some say . . .”). But since hoi is also the masculine form, the verses could be translated to give the stanza a little more bite (“Some men say . . .”).
Helen, wife of Menelaus, left her husband and young daughter Hermione to run away to Troy with Paris, prince of that city, setting in motion the Trojan War.
This is the only surviving poem of Sappho that mentions Anactoria, but the tradition that she was loved by Sappho is echoed in Ovid (Heroides 15) and Maximus of Tyre (Orations 18.9).
The wealthy kingdom of Lydia in western Asia Minor is featured several times in Sappho’s poetry as the producer of luxury goods, but as she notes here, it was also well known for its formidable military power.
181 Poem 17: Papiri Greci e Latini 123, 3–12; Oxyrhynchus papyri 1231, frag. 1; 2166, frag. 3; 2289, frag. 9.
The sons of Atreus are the brothers Agamemnon and Menelaus, two kings who fought on the Greek side in the war against Troy. In a story in Homer’s Odyssey (3.133ff), the brothers quarreled after Troy fell and sailed home separately, Menelaus stopping at Lesbos to pray to Zeus. Here we have an alternate version probably told on Sappho’s island in which the brothers arrived together and prayed not only to Zeus, but to his wife Hera and to Dionysus (son of Thyone), rather than to Semele as in most versions.
According to Sappho’s contemporary Alcaeus (Poem 129), there was a shrine of Hera on Lesbos at which Zeus and Dionysus were also worshipped. An annual beauty contest and dances for the women of Lesbos were reportedly held at the shrine.
182 Poem 18: Oxyrhynchus papyrus 1231, frag. 1.
The first word of the poem (pan, translated here as “all”) could also be read as Pan, the Greek god of shepherds and wild places.
182 Poem 19: Oxyrhynchus papyrus 1231, frag. 2.
The participles “waiting,” “having,” and “going” are all feminine singular and could also be translated as “her waiting,” and so on.
182 Poem 20: Oxyrhynchus papyrus 1231, frag. 9.
Like Poem 5, this may be a prayer for safe return from a sea voyage.
183 Poem 21: Oxyrhynchus papyrus 1231, frag. 10.
These fragmentary verses appear similar in theme to Sappho’s newly restored Poem 58 on old age. I follow Anne Carson (If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho [New York: Vintage Books, 2002], 39) in reading the adjective iokolpon (which also appears in Sappho Poems 30 and 103) as “with violets in her lap,” though it could also mean something like “violet-robed” or “wearing a belt of violets.”
184 Poem 22: Oxyrhynchus papyrus 1231, frags. 12, 15.
Gongyla is named in the Byzantine Suda encyclopedia as a pupil of Sappho from Colophon in western Asia Minor. She also appears in Poems 95 and 213A, as well as in a second-century-AD papyrus commentary on lyric poetry (Oxyrhynchus papyrus 2637). Another papyrus commentary (Oxyrhynchus papyrus 2293) calls Gongyla a “yoke-mate” of Sappho’s rival Gorgo. The postponed adjective “beautiful” at the beginning of the third stanza probably refers to Gongyla.
A fragment of a poem attributed to Sappho’s contemporary Alcaeus (261b) mentions the dancing of “lovely Abanthis.”
184 Poem 23: Oxyrhynchus papyrus 1231, frag. 14.
Hermione was the daughter of Helen of Troy and the Spartan king Menelaus (see Sappho Poem 16). Helen, considered the most beautiful woman in the world, was traditionally described as having golden-blond hair.
185 Poem 24: Oxyrhynchus papyri 1231, frags. 13, 17, 22, 25; 2166(a), frag. 7a.
186 Poem 25: Oxyrhynchus papyrus 1231, frag. 18.
186 Poem 26: Oxyrhynchus papyrus 1231, frag. 16.
See The Cypris Poem, page 238.
186 Poem 27: Oxyrhynchus papyri 1231, frags. 50–54; 2166(a), frag. 5.
187 Poem 29: Oxyrhynchus papyri 1231, frag. 11, for Poem 29B; 1231, frag. 19, and 2166(a), frag. 4b for Poem 29C; 2166(a), frag. 1, for Poem 29H.
The numerous fragments of Poem 29 yield only a few words that can be reconstructed with any confidence.
“Lady” is from the Greek word Potnia, found elsewhere in Sappho’s poetry (Poems 6, 17) as a title for a goddess.
The name Gorgo—not a certain reading in this papyrus—is that of a rival of Sappho mentioned by Maximus of Tyre (Orations 18.9) and in Sappho’s Poems 103Aa and 144.
Gyrinno, or Gyrinna, appears as a companion of Sappho also in Maximus of Tyre (Orations 18.9), in Sappho’s Poem 82A, and in a second-century-AD commentary (Oxyrhynchus papyrus 2293).
188 Poem 30: Oxyrhynchus papyri 1231, frag. 56; 2166(a), frag. 6a.
The clear-voiced singer is almost certainly a nightingale.
188 Poem 31: Longinus, On the Sublime 10.
This is one of the most celebrated poems of Sappho, quoted and discussed by an author called Longinus who wrote on literary style in the first century AD. The first-century-BC Roman poet Catullus wrote a famous Latin adaptation of this poem (Catullus, Poem 51).
The final sentence of the quotation includes what is probably the beginning of the final stanza of the poem. The phrase “must be endured” could also
mean “must be dared.”
189 Poem 32: Apollonius Dyscolus, Pronouns 144a.
A brief quotation found in the second-century-AD grammarian Apollonius Dyscolus, who lived and worked in Alexandria, Egypt. The line may refer to the muses.
189 Poem 33: Apollonius Dyscolus, Syntax 3.247.
190 Poem 34: Eustathius on Homer, Iliad 8.555.
The twelfth-century-AD Byzantine churchman Eustathius wrote commentaries on classical literature before devoting himself entirely to religious affairs. In his commentary on a passage from the Iliad, he records this stanza of Sappho.
The fourth-century-AD Roman emperor Julian also mentions it in one of his letters (Epistle 194): “Sappho . . . says the moon is silver and because of this hides the other stars from view.” Sappho uses a similar image in Poem 96.
190 Poem 35: Strabo 1.2.33.
The first-century-BC Greek geographer Strabo quotes this line, the context of which is unknown. Cyprus is the island where Aphrodite was born, specifically at Paphos on the southwestern coast. Panormus is modern-day Palermo in Sicily, the island to which Sappho was exiled.
190 Poem 36: Etymologicum gudianum 294.40.
Quoted in a Byzantine dictionary of the 11th century AD.
190 Poem 37: Etymologicum genuinum 213.
The ninth- or tenth-century-AD Byzantine dictionary quoting this first line says that writers in the Aeolian dialect of Greek used the word stalagmon (“dripping”—root of English “stalagmite”) to describe pain, because it drips and flows.
191 Poem 38: Apollonius Dyscolus, Pronouns 127a.
The grammarian Apollonius Dyscolus identifies these words as coming from the first book of Sappho’s collected poetry. The Greek verb optao (“scorch, burn”) is often used metaphorically in love poetry.
191 Poem 39: Ancient commentator on Aristophanes, Peace 1174.
191 Poem 40: Apollonius Dyscolus, Pronouns 104c.
191 Poem 41: Ibid., 124c.
191 Poem 42: Ancient commentator on Pindar, Pythian 1.10.
The commentator says that Sappho is referring to pigeons.
192 Poem 43: Oxyrhynchus papyrus 1232, frag. 1.
192 Poem 44: Oxyrhynchus papyri 1232, frags. 1–2; 2076.
This is one of the longest of Sappho’s poems discovered in modern times. Its subject, the arrival at Troy of prince Hector and his bride Andromache, is an episode not found in Homer’s Iliad. These verses differ from much of Sappho’s poetry by their use of a longer metrical line similar to that found in an epic. The vocabulary, grammar, and syntax here is also reminiscent of Homer, but the setting and details draw on the culture of the Lesbos of Sappho’s own time.
Andromache was the daughter of the king of Thebe, a city near Troy. The Placia river was near Thebe. Paean is a name for the god Apollo.
193 Poem 44Aa/Ab: Fouad papyrus 239.
This second- or third-century-AD papyrus, in two columns containing parts of two poems, was published in 1952 and assigned tentatively to Alcaeus, Sappho’s contemporary from Lesbos. Subsequently, other scholars have argued that the fragments belong to Sappho.
Phoebus is the god Apollo, son of Leto, the daughter of the Titan Coeus, fathered by Zeus, the son of Cronus. Artemis is his sister by the same parents.
194 Poem 45: Apollonius Dyscolus, Pronouns 119b.
194 Poem 46: Herodian, On Anomalous Words 2.945.
The second-century-AD grammarian Herodian quotes these lines of Sappho because they contain the unusual word tule (“cushion”).
194 Poem 47: Maximus of Tyre, Orations 18.9.
The second-century-AD orator Maximus quotes this line comparing the effect of love (eros) on Sappho and the Athenian philosopher Socrates.
195 Poem 48: Julian, Epistle 183.
195 Poem 49: Hephaestion, Handbook of Meters 7.7; Plutarch, Dialogue on Love 751d; Terentianus Maurus 2154–55.
The first line is given as an example of the fourteen-syllable meter of Sappho by the second-century-AD scholar Hephaestion, while the second line (probably from a different poem) is quoted by the writer Plutarch a century earlier with the comment that Sappho is addressing a girl too young to marry. The grammarian Terentianus Maurus, a few decades after Hephaestion, quotes the lines together.
Atthis is also mentioned in Poems 8, 96, and 131, as well as in several ancient authors and commentaries.
195 Poem 50: Galen, Exhortation to Learning 8.16.
The second-century-AD physician and philosopher Galen quotes these lines after making the following comment: “Since we know that the prime of youth is like the flowers of spring and gives brief pleasure, it is better to commend the woman of Lesbos when she says . . .”
195 Poem 51: Chrysippus, On Negatives 23.
195 Poem 52: Herodian, On Anomalous Words 2.912.
196 Poem 53: Ancient commentator on Theocritus 28.
196 Poem 54: Pollux, Vocabulary 10.124.
The second-century-AD scholar Pollux quotes this line, saying Sappho is speaking of the god Eros (Love) when she is the first writer to use the Greek word chlamus, a type of short cloak.
196 Poem 55: Stobaeus, Anthology 3.4.12.
The fifth-century-AD anthologizer Stobaeus says that Sappho wrote these lines to an uneducated woman. Three centuries earlier, Plutarch says in one passage (Advice to Bride and Groom 145f–146a) that the verses are addressed to a wealthy woman, and in another (Table Talk 646e–f), that they are about an uncultured, ignorant woman.
Pieria in northern Greece is the birthplace of the muses.
196 Poem 56: Chrysippus, On Negatives 13.
197 Poem 57: Athenaeus, Learned Diners 21b–c; Maximus of Tyre, Orations 18.9.
Athenaeus says that Sappho is deriding her rival Andromeda, who also appears in Poem 131.
197 Poem 58: Oxyrhynchus papyrus 1787, frags. 1–2; Cologne papyri 21351, 21376. See Dirk Obbink, “Sappho Fragments 58–59: Text, Apparatus Criticus, and Translation,” in The New Sappho on Old Age: Textual and Philosophical Issues, eds. Ellen Greene and Marilyn B. Skinner (Washington, DC: Center for Hellenic Studies, 2009), 7–16.
198 Poem 59: Oxyrhynchus papyrus 1787, frag. 2.
198 Poem 60: Ibid., frag. 44.
199 Poem 61: Ibid., frag. 3.
199 Poem 62: Ibid.
199 Poem 63: Ibid.
200 Poem 64A: Ibid., frag. 17.
200 Poem 65: Ibid., frag. 4.
In this poem, Aphrodite may be promising glory to Sappho even after death beyond the underworld river of Acheron.
201 Poem 67A: Oxyrhynchus papyrus 1787, frag. 5.
201 Poem 67B: Ibid., frag. 18.
201 Poem 68A: Ibid., frag. 7.
Andromeda was a rival of Sappho; Megara was Sappho’s companion. The sons of Tyndareus are Castor and Pollux, brothers of Helen of Troy.
202 Poem 68B: Oxyrhynchus papyrus 1787, frag. 19.
202 Poem 69: Ibid., frag. 32.
202 Poem 70: Ibid., frag. 13.
The Greek word for “harmony” could also be a woman’s name, “Harmonia.”
203 Poem 71: Oxyrhynchus papyri 1787, frag. 6; Bernard Grenfell and Arthur Hunt, eds., The Oxyrhynchus Papyri (London: Egypt Exploration Fund, 1898), 21:135.
The house of Penthilus was a powerful family of Lesbos into which Pittacus—tyrant of Lesbos and enemy of Sappho’s family—married.
203 Poem 73A: Oxyrhynchus papyrus 1787, frag. 11.
204 Poem 74A–C: Ibid., frag. 16.
204 Poem 76: Ibid., frag. 12.
204 Poem 78: Ibid., frag. 10.
205 Poem 80: Ibid., frag. 15.
205 Poem 81: Ibid., frag. 33; Athenaeus, Learned Diners 15.674e.
The first two lines are from the papyrus fragment; the remainder is quoted by Athenaeus.
205 Poem 82A: Hephaestion, Handbook of Meters 11.5.
Gyrinno, or Gyrinna, was a companion of Sappho (see Poem 29).
205 Poem 82A/B: Oxyrhynchus papyrus 1787, frag. 34.
The Greek word eumorphotera (“more finely shaped”) is used in bo
th of these poems.
206 Poem 83: Ibid., frag. 36.
206 Poem 84: Ibid., frags. 37, 41.
206 Poem 85B: Ibid., frag. 38.
207 Poem 86: Oxyrhynchus papyrus 1787 = 2166(d), frag. 1.
The aegis was a divine breastplate associated in Homer primarily with Zeus, and then later with Athena, but not with Cytherea, another name for Aphrodite.
207 Poem 87A: Oxyrhynchus papyrus 1787, frag. 14.
207 Poem 87B: Ibid., frag. 30.
207 Poem 87C: Ibid., frag. 43.
208 Poem 87D: Oxyrhynchus papyrus 2166(d), frag. 3.
208 Poem 87E: Ibid., frag. 6.
208 Poem 87F: Ibid., frag. 7.
208 Poem 88AB: Oxyrhynchus papyrus 2290.
209 Poem 91: Hephaestion, Handbook on Meters 11.5.
209 Poem 92: Berlin parchment 9722, folio 1.
210 Poem 93: Ibid., folio 3.
210 Poem 94: Ibid., folio 2.
Since the beginning of the poem is lost, we can’t be sure if the one wishing she were dead is Sappho or the woman who is leaving her, though the latter is more likely.
211 Poem 95: Berlin parchment 9722, folio 4.
Gongyla was a pupil of Sappho (Poem 22). The master the poet addresses may be the god Hermes, who led departed souls to the river Acheron (see Poem 65) in the land of the dead. In Homer’s Odyssey (Book 9), Odysseus and his men barely escape from a land where the inhabitants eat the lotus flower and forget all pain.
212 Poem 96: Berlin parchment 9722, folio 5.
A young woman, deeply attached to Atthis, has departed from Sappho’s circle and gone to Sardis, the chief city of Lydia across the sea in Asia Minor. The Geraesteum is probably the temple of the sea god Poseidon on the island of Euboea.
213 Poem 97: Berlin parchment 9722, folio 5.
214 Poem 98A/B: Copenhagen papyrus 301; Milan papyrus 32.
These poems seem to be set at a time when Sappho and her family are in exile and out of power in Mytilene, the ruling city of Lesbos. Sappho tells her daughter, Cleis, that she regretfully can’t provide her with a fashionable headband, such as girls wore when Sappho’s own mother was young. This is because the Cleanactidae, the family of Cleanax and the enemies of Sappho’s family, are in power.
215 Poem 100: Pollux, Vocabulary 7.73.
215 Poem 101: Athenaeus, Learned Diners 9.410e.
Searching for Sappho Page 18