Edwin Marion Cox

“ A consequence of such occurrences as far as Sappho is concerned is that, notwithstanding the esteem in which she was held by writers who came within a measurable distance of her epoch, her writings have practically disappeared, although a large proportion of the works of many Greek writers living not much after her have come down to us with something approaching completeness. For the story of her life we must depend upon the scanty, more or less casual, and sometimes hostile statements of writers who, in most cases, were, in point of time, further away from her than we are from Shakespeare. ”

“ The translation of στρούθοι by “sparrows” does not seem a very happy one in spite of its use by Symonds and some others. It is true that στρούθος means a sparrow or a small bird, but in English the word “sparrow” calls up a vision of the dingy and quarrelsome chatterer of the London squares, and such is certainly not the most poetically appropriate locomotive power for the brilliant car of the foam-born goddess in her flight “ἀιθέρος διὰ μέσσω.” Even others of the sparrow tribe lack dignity, though there may have been a Lesbian bird which seemed suitable to Sappho. ”

“ The women of Lesbos of all classes enjoyed a freedom from restraint unknown among the other Greeks, and it may be reasonably assumed that this freedom, so enjoyed by them in earlier ages, had, with the increase in wealth, luxury, and refinement, lost much of its simplicity, and may later have degenerated into a mode of life in which there was much more licence than had ever been known before in any part of the world inhabited by people of the Greek race. ”

“ The invocation to Aphrodite for aid in securing the affections of a member of the same sex causes some suspicion that the expression of passion contained in it shows an abnormal element, but in endeavouring to reach a decision on this point, it must be remembered that there is no certainty that in the seventh century B.C. the word “Aphrodite” represented the same conception that it does in the twentieth century A.D., and there should not be too much haste in giving judgment upon social and psychological conditions of that early era. ”

“ This combination of qualities, almost marvellous, is exemplified over and over again in many of the all too truncated fragments with which we must, so far, be satisfied. From the time of her own epoch the works of Sappho have never been entirely forgotten, and since the Renaissance the fragmentary remains of her poems have been eagerly studied by scholars of almost every country. ”

“ Although this story of Sappho’s alleged love for Phaon, who according to tradition was a boatman endowed with unusual physical beauty, was prevalent in ancient and mediaeval times, and although it helped to inspire the poetical efforts of many writers and has been handed down to very recent times as if it had some authentic foundation, there is no real reason to accept as true the statement that Sappho ever even saw the Leucadian promontory, much less leaped from it as the Phaon legend suggests. ”

“ Almost every important writer of ancient times has suffered to a considerable extent from neglect, ignorance, or insensate destructiveness and bigotry, and if we were called upon to designate the period when reactionary forces had reduced culture, art, and literary appreciation to their lowest point, we should be right in choosing the six black centuries from about A.D. 400 to about A.D. 1000. ”

“ This writer incidentally translates many of the shorter fragments usually literally, but does not attempt the two long lyrics. He emphasizes “the amazing power of Greek words as words,” and says that this is shown “in such a way that phrases like ripe fruit clusters seem bursting with a rich juice of passionate meaning.” He notes also the marvellous “verbal economy” of Sappho, and the comprehensiveness and power of such a word as ἰμερόφωνος, Critical appreciation, not translation, is the purpose of this article. ”

“ In the organization of academies or classes which reached a high degree of development in the study and production of such poetry, women often took a prominent part, their position among the Aeolian Greeks being better and less subject to social restraint than was the case anywhere else in the then known civilized world. Terpander and Alcaeus were natives of Lesbos, the latter a contemporary of Sappho, and there were several lesser lights among the lyric poets who were women. ”

“ However much such licence might be deplored, if its existence could be proved, it need not therefore be assumed that there was a generally depraved state of society. In the case of Sappho it serves no good purpose to concern ourselves very much with the morality of her sentiments and conduct. ”

“ In 1869 Edwin Arnold published his “Poets of Greece,” a book covering much ground in comparatively small space. The portion devoted to Sappho extends from page 118, and she is called that “exquisite poetess . . . whose genius among all feminine votaries of singing stands incontestably highest,” and is referred to as “the purest impersonation of the art of lyric song.” ”

“ In the spelling of Greek proper names, when they are printed in Roman type, the form to which the English reader is accustomed has been adopted. Philological commentary and variant readings have, in nearly all cases, been omitted, as in the present state of the subject Mr. Edmond’s arrangement in his “Lyra Graeca” offers all that the classical student, as distinguished from the general reader, can expect. ”

“ There is at the end a page devoted to what the author calls “Sapphicks,” which resemble the real poetry of Sappho only in having the same number of syllables to the line. There is nothing of the true Sappho in the production, and obviously no appreciation of the greatness of her poetic genius. Ben Jonson in “The Sad Shepherd,” Act II, Scene VI, used the expression, “the dear good Angel of the spring, the nightingale,” which is decidedly reminiscent of Sappho’s Ἤρος ἄγγελος ἰμερόφωνος ἀήδων, with which it is likely that such a good classical scholar as Jonson was familiar. ”

“ As was usual with his predecessors, this translator also ignores the Sapphic metre. The biographical remarks in this edition are stereotyped and uninteresting, and their uncritical writer, while admitting the genius of the poetess, is inclined to accept the scandals and the absurd Phaon legend. It is curious to note how every writer up to the nineteenth century was ready to accept the Ovidian version of this alleged episode, apparently without Stopping to think that Ovid himself might be straining probability in order to indulge in the licence of a poet. ”

“ He offers versions in English of practically all the fragments known up to the time when he wrote, the Hymn, as might be expected, being the most ambitious effort, and of this he says, “it is safe to say that there is not a lyrical poem in Greek literature nor in any other which has by its artistic structure inspired more enthusiasm than this.” He devotes a page to the legend of the Leucadian rock and treats it, as far as Sappho is concerned, as of little account and insubstantial. He also discusses the question whether such a poem as the Hymn to Aphrodite is in any way autobiographical. ”

“ She is described as “not inferior in fame to the best lyric poets,” but no quotations are given and there is no description of the surviving fragments. The account is very perfunctory, and the unnecessarily manufactured tradition that there was a second and contemporaneous Sappho to serve as a pack-horse for obloquy is mentioned, and as usual the Leucadian rock is brought in with the customary categorical definiteness. The greatness of the poetess seems to be in no way appreciated, and the influence of Ovid is obvious. Longinus soon had another translator. ”

“ This present edition is an attempt to bring the subject more up to date, and at the same time to offer a number of new translations which it is hoped will be acceptable. In some instances a number of the older translations which seemed most suitable and interesting have also been printed. In the case of some of the fragments there have been previously only literal translations, and furthermore, some of them are so short and defective that they are insusceptible of anything but a literal rendering, though they often consist of words or phrases of great beauty, both in idea and in language. ”

“ Arnold rejects the Leucadian rock legend as well as the alleged Phaon episode. His translation of the immortal hymn into English Sapphic metre is easily the best up to the time of its appearance, and is only rivalled by that of J. A. Symonds, first printed in Wharton’s edition of the poetess. The rhythm and the majestic lyrical qualities of the original are preserved in this rendering, but naturally something must be lost by the transfer of such a masterpiece from its original into any language. Arnold also gives translations of nine other fragments, and adds a number of illuminating comments. ”

“ This book supplies the latest and most complete text of the poetess that can be offered to the classical scholar, but the emendations to some of the most recently discovered fragments are very extensive, tentative, and conjectural. Sappho and the Sapphic metre have always had an interest and an attraction for English adventurers in verse, and in most collections from the pens of the greatest and the least are to be found specimens of such imitations or paraphrase. ”

“ The state of European civilization in general at that period is too well known to need comment, but it may be noted that among the writers singled out from time to time during some centuries for such assaults of bigotry and destructiveness were the ancient lyric poets, and it is a matter of knowledge that among these Sappho was a prominent victim. ”

“ The portion of this volume devoted to Sappho has a sub-title thus: “Odes of Sappho done from Greek by Mr. A. Philips,” and there is a so-called life of Sappho occupying four pages, chiefly devoted to a somewhat fantastic exposition of the Leucadian legend. The translations themselves have already been noticed. It was some years after this before another translation of the poetess appeared in English. In 1735 John Addison published an edition of Anacreon and Sappho, in which at the end there is a section devoted to the works of the poetess. ”

“ Time, neglect, and ignorance have combined almost completely to annihilate the nine books of lyrics known to have been in existence at one period, except for the series of fragments which have been collected and published by various editors and commentators. ”

“ This book, an octavo, contains in addition to the translation of Petronius “by several hands,” versions of the works of Catullus, Tibullus, Propertius, Pindar, Anacreon, and Sappho. The Sapphic fragments occur on pages 325 and 328. Herbert’s version of the hymn is perhaps better than the company in which it is found. It consists of eight four-line stanzas, the Sapphic metre being ignored. Whatever majestic beauty the original derives from this element in the poem is therefore lost, and the translator has allowed his preconceptions to interfere with accuracy in rendering. ”

“ She apparently remained in Sicily for some years, though she was still comparatively young when she returned to Mytilene, for the tradition is that she soon afterwards married a man called Cercolas, who came from the island of Andros, and that later she had a daughter whom she named Cleis, after her own mother. One of the surviving poetical fragments refers to this daughter by name, but nothing more is known about her. ”

“ According to Liddell and Scott the word is used generally for a bird, and by Aeschylus even to mean an eagle; though usually a small bird is understood. Swan would perhaps be an appropriate, though perhaps not an exact, reading. ”

“ Way, Arthur S. D.Litt. Sappho and the Vigil of Venus. Translated by Arthur S. Way. London, Macmillan, 1920. A paraphrase and condensation.
Egypt Exploration Society. Oxyrhynchus Papyri. Part XV. Grenfell and Hunt. London and New York, 1922.
This volume of the Egypt Exploration Society contains the results of an examination of the remains of what is apparently the sixth papyrus of Sappho so far obtained from Oxyrhynchus. The editors assign the fragments conjecturally to her fourth book, but these remains are so scanty and disconnected that their chief interest is etymological and dialectic. ”

“ Hermann, G. Bermerkungen über Homer und die Fragmente der Sappho, in his Works, vol. vi, pp. 70–141. 1835.
Cramer, John Antony, D.D. Anecdota Graeca e codd. manuscriptis Bibliothecarum Oxoniensium descripsit. Frag. 95, vol. i, p. 444; frag. 158, vol. ii, p. 325. Oxford, 1835–6. 2 vols., 8vo.
Odes d’Anacréon traduites en francois et en prose par MM. Gregoire et Colombet; en vers francois par MM. de Saint Victor, F. Didot, etc., etc. (also translations into Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, and English) et des poésies de Sapho [sic] traduites en vers francais et en prose par M. Breghot du Lut. ”

“ No. 13. Question 8 refers to Sappho.
Longepierre, M. de. Les Oeuvres d’Anacréon et de Sapho, contenant leurs Poësies, et les galanteries de l’ancienne Grèce. Traduites de Grec en vers François par Mr. de Longepierre, avec des Notes curieuses sur tout l’ouvrage. Les Poésies de Sapho de Lesbos, pp. 347–398. Paris, 1692. 12mo.
De Re Poetica, or Remarks upon Poetry. By Sir Thomas Pope Blount. 1694. 4to. Two pages devoted to historical notice of Sappho.
Anacreontis Teii Carmina. Subjiciuntur autem duo vetustissimae Poetriae Sapphus, elegantissima odaria una cum correctione Isaaci Vossii. ”