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Chapter Text

The poet Sappho, from the island of Lesbos, is nowadays famous in her own right as a poet who wrote romantically about women, as well as having been the origin of the words lesbian and sapphic. In her own lifetime, she was regarded as one of the best known poets, even being called "The Tenth Muse"; only one of her poems ("Ode to Aphrodite") is believed to be complete, with other works being partial or fragmented. In some cases, these fragments are single words. Although it was once theorised that her poems were deliberately destroyed by the Christian Church for their content, it is now thought that her specific dialect of Greek was considered of lower literary value. It is estimated that she wrote at least 10,000 lines during her lifetime; around 650 lines are currently known, although even in the last decade new fragments and pieces are being discovered through archaeological excavations in Egypt. (The Ptolemaic Kingdom, which lasted in Egypt from 305BCE to 30BCE and the death of Cleopatra, was Greek in origin.)

Much is unclear about Sappho. It is believed that she was born to a wealthy family, and had two brothers. The first known biography of her dates to around 800 years after her death, and is likely to have been drawn from the content of her poems and from older (now lost) literary sources which may have included comedic plays, parody, rumour, and even outright mistakes. In the 20th Century CE, it was finally also questioned whether Sappho's poems, many of which are written from the point of view of a narrator who refers to themselves in the first person (I/me/my), are indeed meant to be autobiographical in nature. Imagine if someone were trying to reconstruct Taylor Swift's life using only her songs, media coverage, and gossip site rumours, centuries from now - it is difficult enough to do this in a contemporary setting.

As evidence of how mysterious Sappho remains, a 10th Century CE text describes her as having a husband named Kerkylas of Andros. However, it has only been more recently acknowledged that this was probably drawn from Athenian comedic plays, rather than history, as the name looks to mean 'Penisling of Man Island' - more reminiscent of Monty Python's character Biggus Dickus than anything that has been attested as a real name elsewhere. There has historically been extensive heterosexualisation of Sappho's poems, including changing pronouns and assuming or naming male subjects when none are specified, most notably the creation of the character of "Phaon" whom Sappho was supposed to have been in unrequited love with and over whom she is supposed to have completed suicide by jumping to her death from the cliffs of Leucadia (now Lefkada). This story is likely the conflation of two myths about Aphrodite - that of Aphrodite granting youth and beauty to ferryman Phaon in return for a journey, and of her casting herself from the cliffs of Leucadia to rid herself of her grief over the death of the mortal Adonis. In other words, it is clear that at least some of the gaps in Sappho's biography have been filled in not just by metaphorical but by literal mythology. (Podcast The Archers suggests in their episode on Sappho that the 'ferryman' here may in fact be a representation of death and a reference to Charon, creating more mythological links.)

At the time that Sappho wrote, the poetic mainstream was of male poets writing epic (narrative and often historical or mythological) poetry. Sappho is often described, or assumed, as having written mostly love poetry, although a more recent analysis suggests she probably wrote on a broader range of topics. (This, too, might be familiar to people with a broader knowledge of Taylor's discography.) Across the various topics, though, she brought an emotional, person-focused experience; Taylor is also known for this to the point that there are published papers on it.

It is suggested she was among the first poets to write from the first person point of view (the "lyric I" in literary discussion) and is known for how her poems explore emotions and personal stories rather than the older tradition of epic poetry and narratives. She is noted for using clear, even accessible language; for putting slight variants on common phrases; and for deliberate use of hyperbole.

[Powell] refers to The Poetry of Sappho: Notes and Translation, by Jim Powell (2007). Available as a PDF.

[Kline] refers to Sappho: Selected Poems and Fragments, by A. S. Kline (2005). Available for free online.

[Cox] refers to The Poems of Sappho, by Edwin Marion Cox (1924). This is in public domain and available through Wikisource; it brings together multiple translations of some of the longer pieces.

See also this excellent reddit post pairing Sappho fragments or poems with Taylor songs - some of this comparisons are included in mine above, but this post contains many more.

For some years, the fragment "in the crooks of your body, I find my religion" has been circulating on the internet, attributed to Sappho. Unfortunately, there is no evidence that it is a legitimate source (exploration by a classics scholar). However, because it has been incorrectly attributed to Sappho in the past, it may still be worth mentioning, considering its parallels to False God.

The poem Sappho's Song by Bartholomew Barker (which I have also seen attributed to Sappho herself on at least one occasion!) also provides a curious parallel:

Sing me no songs of daylight,
For the sun is the enemy of lovers.
Sing instead of shadows and darkness,
And memories of midnight.

Nowadays, one of the most recommended translations of Sappho's work is If Not, Winter by translator and poet Anne Carson. It is, however, not always considered very accessible to people who know nothing about the Ancient Greek language. Carson is very private and does not speak widely about her personal life; she has been twice married to men, and has given interviews which may indicate a non-cisnormative relationship with her own gender, as well as publishing the novel Autobiography of Red which traces a queer love triangle while drawing inspiration from the tenth labour of Heracles. She certainly has a sensitivity and appreciation of queer texts and queer realities, as well as her own poetic skill, which have combined into a beautiful set of Sappho translations.