Passionate and breathtaking, Sappho's poems survive only in fragments following religious conspiracies to silence her. Sappho penned immortal verse on the intense power of the female libido; on the themes of romance, love, yearning, heartbreak, and personal relationships with women. This work retains the standard numerical order of the fragments and has been arranged in six sections.
The Love Songs of Sappho (Literary Classics)
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle.
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Editorial Reviews
Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Greek
Original Language: Greek
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Greatest lyric poet of Greece,
By Sarah Skowronski (USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Love Songs of Sappho (Literary Classics) (Paperback)
Sappho was the greatest lyric poet of Greece, and any modern reader of her poetry can easily see why. Although she admittedly suffers in translation, one must learn to ignore the frustration caused by the occasional awkward translation. One must also try to ignore the fragmentary nature of her poems. There was once a definitive edition which consisted of nine books, but it was burned in hte Middle Ages because of the lesbian love poems. The poems we have now are just papyrus fragments or quotations. However, even in English, even with only a few extant pieces, Sappho's poetry is vibrant and beautiful.
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful and well-researched.,
By
This review is from: The Love Songs of Sappho (Literary Classics) (Paperback)
The fragments themselves are quite beautiful, but I found the commentary much more interesting. Since so little is known about the subject, the translator provides notes along with each fragment that lets the reader know from where the fragment came. The commentary also includes citations from many writers of Greek lyric poetry. The result is not a work that gives one man's perspective of Sappho but a work that says: "here -- this is what scholars today say about Sappho and her native Greece." The book also includes an interesting essay by the translator, cute sketches, and a glossary of people and places.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fragments of beauty & passion,
This review is from: The Love Songs of Sappho (Signet Classics) (Paperback)
It's frustrating & infuriating to realize that most of Sappho's work is lost to the ages, burned by the small-minded & intolerant. Yet what little remains is stunning in its directness, its clarity, and its celebration of both the joys & pain of love. Reading these poems is like sifting through a handful of glittering golden fragments, each one hinting at the full beauty of what's been lost. Even so, the splinters of a single line are often more intense & moving than the complete poems of others. And in a way, the fragments invite the reader into the act of creation, making us struggle to glimpse the rest of the poem.
This is a fine edition, with informative but never pedantic notes, and a basic introduction to the poet & her world. The material on translation will make the reader appreciate just how difficult a task it can be, and just how much artistry the translator must bring to the work. Most highly recommended!
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Inside This Book
(learn more)
Citations (learn more)
16
books
cite this book:
See all 16 books citing this book
- Philosophy And Vision.(Value Inquiry Book Series 71) by Dane R. Gordon in Front Matter, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Star Rover (Literary Classics) by Jack London in Front Matter, and Back Matter
- Measuring Heaven: Pythagoras And His Influence on Thought And Art in Antiquity And the Middle Ages by Christiane L. Joost-Gaugier in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- My Life and Loves (Literary Classics) by Frank Harris in Front Matter, and Back Matter
- Readings in the Western Humanities, Volume 1 by Roy Matthews in Back Matter
See all 16 books citing this book
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
