by Balmer, Josephine. (translator) - £9.95 Bloodaxe (1984)
paperback
ISBN 13: 9781852242015 | ISBN 10: 1852242019
The Greek poet Sappho was one of the greatest poets in classical literature. Her lyric poetry is among the finest ever written, and although little of her work has survived and little is known about her, she is regarded not just as one of the greatest women poets but often as the greatest women poet in world literature.
She lived on the island of Lesbos around 600 B.C., and even in her lifetime her work was widely known and admired in the Greek world. Plato called her 'the tenth muse', and she was a major influence on other poets, from Horace and Catillus to more recent lyric poets. Yet in later centuries, speculation about her sexuality has tended to diminish her poetic reputation. One medieval pope considered her so subversive that her poems were burned.
Josaphine Balmer's edition brings together all the extant poems and fragments of Sappho. In a comprehensive introduction, she discusses Sappho's poetry, it's historical background and critical reputation, as well as aspects of contemporary Greek Society, sexuality and women.
(Price & availability last checked: April 2018)
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