In Mitilene [on the island of Lesbos] there is abundance of everything. It has also given birth to famous individuals like Pittacus, one of the Seven Sages, the poet Alcaeus, and others. At the same time, Sappho flourished, who was something extraordinary; as far as memory goes, no other period had a woman who could in any way, even in the smallest measure, compare to her in poetry, writes Strabo in his Geography.
The most renowned Greek poetess Sappho, or according to the ancient Greek original Psappho, enjoyed great fame even during her lifetime, and became known for the school for girls she ran. Her contemporaries competed in their efforts to express as much honor to her, something that only a few women can boast of. Famous sculptors carved her busts and coins with her likeness were minted, “even though she was a woman”, as Aristotle wrote. Generations of poets imitated her, attempting to reach the beauty of her verse. Her poems were a favorite reading material for a thousand years, thanks to which a large number of lines have been preserved, although mostly fragmentary.
ome kratkih riječi ili fraza. Maksim iz Tira ju je nazvao ženskim Homerom, dok su je drugi nazivali pijerijskom pčelom. Nakon dvjesto godina od njenog smrti, Platon ju je nazvao desetom muzom zbog ljepote njenog stiha u svom djelu Fedar:
“Kažu da postoje devet muza…
Ali Lezbon, evo deseta je Sapfa.”
Grčko pjesništvo ima dugu i bogatu tradiciju koja seže daleko u prošlost. Mnoge pjesme anonimnih autora su se prenosile kroz stoljeća, a Homer je vješto objedinio neka od tih djela u epovima o Trojancima, Ahejcima, Odisejevim putovanjima i avanturama. Iz Homerovih djela saznajemo da su u to vrijeme postojali rapsodi, putujući pjevači, kao i profesionalni pjesnici koji su živjeli na dvorovima i ima Amuzos was an expression used to designate a person of bad behavior, uneducated, barbarian. This term can only be translated descriptively as “someone who is not visited by the muses”. Therefore, knowledge of artistic canons and performance techniques was synonymous with culture. The Greeks created a multitude of poetic forms and methods of performance for every life situation and every type of social event. While some poetic expressions have been forgotten, some of them are still used today: lyric, iamb, dithyramb, hymn, nom, ode, elegy…
Melika
The artistic creation of antiquity found its forms and themes in history and mythology, always relying on tradition, but Sappho introduced a change through her poetry. She mainly wrote melika, using the melodious Aeolic dialect to express her own emotions. Melika (from melos – tune, melody) is the term for a poem of deep personal experience, what will later be called lyricism. At that time, it was most often recited (sung) with the accompaniment of instruments, so it is associated with There once lived a song that was sung alongside the lyre.
The majority of the preserved fragments of Sappho’s poems are of a romantic nature. Since Sappho chose Aphrodite as her patron deity, her name is frequently mentioned in Sappho’s melic poetry. Her expression is personal, direct, and vivid. Even through fragments, her verses evoke scents, sounds, colors, light…
At that time, it was fashionable on Lesbos for women from noble families to spend their time writing and reciting poems. The themes of her poems also revolve around friendships, but also animosity towards other women, jealousy… In several poems, she mentions her brother Haraxa. She also speaks about herself, and very honestly: reprimanding herself, she says that she gets angry quickly but also calms down quickly, advising, “When anger foams in your chest, tame the fierceness of your tongue.” However, the fragments that have reached us are only a pale shadow of the poet’s entire body of work, so for us, it remains mostly unknown.+
3>Sappho’s Life and School
We know a little more about her life. She was born in 620 BC on the island of Lesbos. She spent most of her life in the capital city of Mytilene. She lived during the emergence of the first city-states (Athens, Sparta, Corinth), and it would be another two hundred years before the key figures and events significant for the entire European culture (Socrates, Plato, Persian wars, Pericles) would appear. Only then will the period known today as classical Greece begin.
It is known that she belonged to the aristocracy and was supposedly married to Cercolas, a wealthy man from the island of Andros. She had a daughter, and the verses dedicated to her are among the few preserved:
This is my beautiful child.
It is as beautiful as golden flowers.
This is my beloved Kleida, my only one,
Whom I wouldn’t give up for all of rich Lydia,
Nor for Lesbos, my dear homeland…
During Sappho’s time, Lesbos was at its cultural peak, as evidenced by the simultaneous existence of multiple schools. It seems that women played an important role in these schools and were allowed to receive education and participate in intellectual discussions.
They enjoyed greater freedom there than anywhere else in the world at that time because there were special schools for girls (thiasis). One such school was led by Sapfo, who soon became widely known, so students came to her from other distant islands. Girls from aristocratic families between the ages of twelve and fifteen attended her school and spent several years there before getting married. The school nurtured the cult of the muses, Aphrodite, Charis, and Eros.
We know that she taught her students music, dance, choral singing, solo singing, singing accompanied by the lyre, introduction to the works of poets, as well as writing and singing their own poems, which were widespread educational methods in antiquity. The spirit that prevailed in her school is most evident from her moral teachings and advice: “Wealth without virtue is a dangerous friend”; “A girl who does not care for virtues is worthy of contempt, in death, she is but a shadow in Hades.” However, she also taught them practical everyday matters, such as how to dress appropriately, how to match a dress, how to style your hair for special occasions… It was not at all unimportant because: “Charm, the goddesses of sweetness and cheerful sociability, avoid girls who do not care for grace and beauty.” It also warns girls not to elevate themselves with jewelry because youth and beauty quickly fade: “Whoever is beautiful will seem good in the eyes, but whoever is good will also be beautiful at the same time.” Fragments mention the names of her students: Anaktoria, Gongila, Mika, Telesipa, Angora, and the most famous of them was the poet Erina from Telos.
We owe the information we have to the diligent scribes of the Library of Alexandria, who included Sappho among the nine greatest poets and collected her poems in nine books. Only a few fragmented poems have survived from the mentioned books to our time. Italian poet Giovanni Pascoli says that what is preserved of Sappho resembles ruins of ancient temples: the fragments only give a glimpse of the greatness and beauty of the poetic work that influenced Greek for centuries. Roman culture. However, its glory is still present. Even today, historians, analysts, and poetry lovers call her “one of the most significant women”, “a unique phenomenon for all time”, “the greatest poet in history.”
Lesbos, at that time a wealthy and modern state, was not advanced enough to fully understand and accept Sappho. It seems that only a narrow circle of aristocracy supported her work, while the broader public disapproved. Sappho thus shared the fate of many great historical figures: elevated to divinity, yet simultaneously attacked for corrupting the youth, which later led some to call her the “female Socrates.”
We could add that she is equally misunderstood today as she was in her lifetime. Today, due to the immense distance in time, and back then because she was ahead of her time.
With a golden throne, immortal Aphrodite,
Wise daughter of Zeus, I implore you.
Do not, O ruler, with sorrowful grief,
Break my heart!
Do you remember, once upon a time, when you would hear
Leaving behind my father’s Golden Court, she came to me with golden carriages.
We hurry to the lovely sanctuary dedicated to the goddesses.
Let us go to the orchard full of flowering apple trees and let the sweet scents of the incense blow on the altar.
She resembles a sweet apple, a rosy apple, at the top of the highest branch.
The pickers forgot to pick it while they were harvesting the fruits.
They didn’t forget it, they just couldn’t reach it.