Sappho Translation

He acts like a god

while seated beside you

and listens to your voice

gentle and your laugh

 

that beautiful sound that once awakened

the heart inside me. Now

while I look at you

no words can emerge

 

as my tongue does not move

and embers simmer

beneath my skin. Hope dissolves

from my eyes, my ears

 

refuse to hear, and sweat covers me.

my body takes control

as my mind drifts away

I cannot go on.

1.   J.B Hare tells us that Sappho was an innovator.  It is discussed that during Sappho’s time in history, poetry was mainly just used ceremoniously.  Sappho spoke through her poems in first person and created poems with powerful words derived from human emotion.

   The sexuality of Sappho did not become an issue until the nineteenth and twentieth century, according to Hare.  It is uncertain how same-sex love between women was treated where Sappho lived, however, Hare emphasizes there was no fear or persecution of homosexuals.  During the Victorian era, a male novelist claimed he found poetry written by Bilitis, a supposed contemporary of Sappho, and translated the poems using explicit lesbian content.  This fabrication became so outrageous that Bilitis and Sappho essentially became one in the same after the Victorian age.  Now, Sappho is associated with the lesbianism created by one man’s imagination.  It is worse, though, that Sappho has been judged based on a few lines of her poetry and the poems written by a man centuries after her death.

   Since the “Bilitis Hoax”, Sappho has been recognized for her work.  Judy Chicago created a piece of feminist art called The Dinner Party.  In this, there are 39 place settings for women who have made important contributions to society and Sappho is one of them.

2.  It was difficult to use only one translation and I noted repeatedly how changing just a few words could misconstrue the entire meaning of the poem.  I ended up choosing the second version of Willis Barnstone’s translation from 1988.  Barnstone keeps the translation simple; using emotion without completely changing the intention I believe Sappho had while writing.  This poem especially spoke to me when Barnstone wrote, “My eyes are dead to light”.  To me, this made it feel as though Sappho lost hope in the women she loved at the sight of her with a man.

3.  Women had little to no rights in both ancient Greek and Rome.  It was thought that women had “weak minds” and needed a male guardian to look after them.  Since women were looked upon as weaker than men, little they did, especially artwork, was respected or valued.  This, I’m sure, affected Sappho’s life.  Sappho could have been told not to write poetry and even though she still did, it was probably not valued at the time.

Reflection:

            After reading about Sappho in lesson two, I am surprised most by the reaction she, as a person, and her poetry has received over the centuries.  According to Hare, very little is actually known about Sappho and not much of her poetry survived.  I learned through this assignment that people are so quick to judge and jump to conclusions based on little to no real evidence.  The time period in which Sappho’s work was read and translated also has an impact on how Sappho was interpreted.  I find it to be interesting that Sappho’s work was scrutinized in the 17th century because people believed she was a lesbian and a whore.  Even though her poetry contains no explicit lesbian sexual content and little was actually known about her, Sappho’s work was discredited during the Victorian ages because people believed what they were told.   This makes me wonder if a man would have been so easily discredited for a lifetime of work due to their sexual preferences in the 17th century.

            Besides learning about the discrimination Sappho’s work faced centuries after her death, I also found that Sappho was an innovative woman during her lifetime.  At a time when poetry was mostly used for formal occasions and when women had few rights, Sappho created poems with real human emotion.  After reading about how oppressed women were in ancient Greek and Rome, I find it inspiring that a woman would go against the gender norm and is still studied now, in the 21st century.

            Overall, I was surprised to read through poems translated years apart and pick out the differences and similarities time periods.  The social influences of the time periods did stand out in some translations.  After facing discrimination for multiple centuries, it is reassuring to know that in this century, Sappho’s work can be taught without discrimination.

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