Sappho

These hundred poems and fragments constitute virtually all of Sappho that survives and effectively bring to life the woman whom the Greeks consider to be their greatest lyric poet. Mary Barnard's translations are lean, incisive, direct—the best ever published. She has rendered the beloved poet's verses, long the bane of translators, more authentically than anyone else in English.

An irresistible anthology of ancient Greek writings that explore queer desire and loveEros, limb-loosening, whirls me about again,that bittersweet, implacable creature.—SapphoThe idea of sexual fluidity may seem new, but it is at least as old as the ancient Greeks, who wrote about queer experiences with remarkable frankness, wit, and insight. How to Be Queer is an infatuating collection of these writings about desire, love, and lust between men, between women, and between humans and gods, in lucid and lively new translations. Filled with enthralling stories, this anthology invites readers of all sexualities and identities to explore writings that describe many kinds of erotic encounters and feelings, and that envision a playful and passionate approach to sexuality as part of a rich and fulfilling life. How to Be Queer starts with Homer’s Iliad and moves through lyric poetry, tragedy, comedy, philosophy, and biography, drawing on a wide range of authors, including Sappho, Plato, Anacreon, Pindar, Theognis, Aristophanes, and Xenophon. It features both beautiful poetry and thought-provoking prose, emotional outpourings and humorous anecdotes. From Homer’s story of the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus, one of the most intense between men in world literature, to Sappho’s lyrics on the pleasures and pains of loving women, these writings show the many meanings of what the Greeks called eros. Complete with brief introductions to the selections, and with the original Greek on facing pages, How to Be Queer reveals what the Greeks knew long ago—that the erotic and queer are a source of life and a cause for celebration.

Få diktarar – mannlege så vel som kvinnelege – kan måle seg med Sapfo (fødd kring 610 f. Kr.) når det gjeld påverknad på ettertida. I antikken fylte dikta etter Sapfo heile ni papyrusrullar, og ho var sitert og kommentert hjå ei rekkje av dåtidas lærde og poetar. Med tida gjekk store delar av verket hennar tapt. Dei få strofene vi framleis har, lèt oss like fullt ana klangen av ei særeigen og kraftfull, lyrisk stemme. Fragmenta etter Sapfo skildrar erotisk kjærleik, men også familiekjærleik, politikk, religion og moral. At Sapfo kom frå øya Lesbos og skildra kjærleik mellom kvinner, er bakgrunnen for ordet «lesbisk». Per Esben Myren-Svelstad gjev oss her den fyrste komplette gjendiktinga av Sapfo til norsk, inkludert dei heilt nye papyrus-funna som vart publiserte i 2004 og 2014. Denne gjendiktinga har difor med fleire fragment som til no ikkje har funnest på norsk. Slik opnar gjendiktinga for at Sapfo skal kunna tala til nye generasjonar med sin meisterlege og manande poesi. Bokmeldarane meiner: «Myren-Svelstads Sapfo-bok er så grundig og velordnet som en vitenskapelig utgave [...] Det betyr ikke at boken er uleselig for andre enn eksperter; tvert imot, den er pedagogisk anlagt og lett tilgjengelig. Den 17 sider lange innledningen er en av de beste introduksjonene til Sapfo jeg har lest på noe språk.» Amund Børdahl, Vårt Land

Perhaps the most perilous and the most alluring venture in the whole field of poetry is that which Mr. Carman has undertaken in attempting to give us in English verse those lost poems of Sappho of which fragments have survived. The task is obviously not one of translation or of paraphrasing, but of imaginative and, at the same time, interpretive construction. It is as if a sculptor of to-day were to set himself, with reverence, and trained craftsmanship, and studious familiarity with the spirit, technique, and atmosphere of his subject, to restore some statues of Polyclitus or Praxiteles of which he had but a broken arm, a foot, a knee, a finger upon which to build. Mr. Carman's method, apparently, has been to imagine each lost lyric as discovered, and then to translate it; for the indefinable flavour of the translation is maintained throughout, though accompanied by the fluidity and freedom of purely original work.

The object of this book is to provide with a popular and a comprehensive edition of Sappho, containing all that is so far known of her unique personality and her incompatible poemsLittle remains today of the writings of the archaic Greek poet Sappho (fl. late 7th and early 6th centuries B. C. E.), whose work is said to have filled nine papyrus rolls in the great library at Alexandria some 500 years after her death. The surviving texts consist of a lamentably small and fragmented body of lyric poetry--among them, poems of invocation, desire, spite, celebration, resignation, and remembrance--that nevertheless enables us to hear the living voice of the poet Plato called the tenth Muse. Sappho is rated as the supreme poetess and is regarded in the same vein as Shakespeare and Homer the supreme poets.

This second, expanded edition of Josephine Balmer's classic translation of the Greek poet Sappho has new, recently-discovered fragments, including the Brothers Poem, the Kypris Song and the Cologne Fragment. In a new essay on these additions she discusses the issues raised in the translating – and in some cases retranslating – of these fragmentary and ever-shifting texts. Poems & Fragments is now the only complete, readily-available translation in English of Sappho's surviving work. 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 woman poet in world literature. She lived on the island of Lesbos around 600 BC, 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 Catullus 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. Some of her poems were written for the women she loved, but her circle of women friends and admirers was not unlike Socrates' circle of followers. She may have been a lesbian in the modern sense, or she may not, but to call her a lesbian poet is an over-simplification. What remains is her poetry, or the fragments which have survived of it, and her intense, sensuous, highly accomplished love poems are among the finest in any language. First published in 1984 and revised in 1992, Josephine Balmer's edition brings together all the extant poems and fragments of Sappho. In a comprehensive introduction, she discusses Sappho's poetry, its historical background and critical reputation, as well as aspects of contemporary Greek society, sexuality and women.

The object of this book is to provide with a popular and a comprehensive edition of Sappho, containing all that is so far known of her unique personality and her incompatible poemsLittle remains today of the writings of the archaic Greek poet Sappho (fl. late 7th and early 6th centuries B. C. E.), whose work is said to have filled nine papyrus rolls in the great library at Alexandria some 500 years after her death. The surviving texts consist of a lamentably small and fragmented body of lyric poetry--among them, poems of invocation, desire, spite, celebration, resignation, and remembrance--that nevertheless enables us to hear the living voice of the poet Plato called the tenth Muse. Sappho is rated as the supreme poetess and is regarded in the same vein as Shakespeare and Homer the supreme poets.

The nine lyric poets were a canon of ancient Greek composers esteemed by the scholars of Hellenistic Alexandria as worthy of critical study. The most famous of which is probably Sappho, who was born sometime between 630 and 612 BC on the Greek island of Lesbos. The famous Library of Alexandria collected Sappho's poems into nine books, unfortunately these editions have been lost. Today only fragments of the poetess' work remains. These fragments are collected together here in this volume of "The Poems of Sappho and Others" along with fragments of the other Greek monodist lyric poets contemporary to Sappho. Altogether we find the poetry of Alcaeus, Pythermus, Anacreon, Anacreontea, Corrina, Telesilla, Praxilla, Erinna as well as Sappho in this volume of poetry translated by Walter Petersen. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.

Plato hailed her as "the Tenth Muse," and 2,500 years later her voice remains dazzling as well as direct and honest. The lyric poetry of Sappho sings to both sexes of desire, rapture, and sorrow. This concise collection of her surviving works features an Introduction by translator J. M. Edmonds, who supervised the Sappho volume published by Harvard University's Loeb Classical Library.

"In this expanded edition of his distinguished Sappho: Poems and Fragments (2002), Stanley Lombardo offers over 100 fragments not included in the original edition, as well as the new poems discovered in 2004 and 2014. His translation of this latter material yields fresh insights into Sappho's representations of old age, two of her brothers, and her special relationship with Aphrodite. Pamela Gordon's engaging, balanced, and informative Introduction has been revised to incorporate discussion of the new fragments, which subtly alter our previous understanding of the archaic poet's corpus. Complete Poems and Fragments also offers a useful updated bibliography, as well as a section on 'Elegiac Sappho' that presents the reception of the Lesbian poet in later Greek and Latin elegiac poems. A wonderful find for any Greekless reader searching for a complete and up-to-date Sappho. Patricia A. Rosenmeyer, Department of Classics, University of Wisconsin--Madison

"In this expanded edition of his distinguished Sappho: Poems and Fragments (2002), Stanley Lombardo offers over 100 fragments not included in the original edition, as well as the new poems discovered in 2004 and 2014. His translation of this latter material yields fresh insights into Sappho's representations of old age, two of her brothers, and her special relationship with Aphrodite. Pamela Gordon's engaging, balanced, and informative Introduction has been revised to incorporate discussion of the new fragments, which subtly alter our previous understanding of the archaic poet's corpus. Complete Poems and Fragments also offers a useful updated bibliography, as well as a section on 'Elegiac Sappho' that presents the reception of the Lesbian poet in later Greek and Latin elegiac poems. A wonderful find for any Greekless reader searching for a complete and up-to-date Sappho. Patricia A. Rosenmeyer, Department of Classics, University of Wisconsin--Madison

'Yes, we did many things, then - allBeautiful ...'Lyrical, powerful poems about love, sexuality, sun-soaked Greece and the gods. Introducing Little Black Classics: 80 books for Penguin's 80th birthday. Little Black Classics celebrate the huge range and diversity of Penguin Classics, with books from around the world and across many centuries. They take us from a balloon ride over Victorian London to a garden of blossom in Japan, from Tierra del Fuego to 16th-century California and the Russian steppe. Here are stories lyrical and savage; poems epic and intimate; essays satirical and inspirational; and ideas that have shaped the lives of millions. Sappho (c.630-570 BCE). Sappho's Stung with Love is available in Penguin Classics.