Geographical classification

Europe > Greece

Socio-cultural movements

Antiquity > Greek culture > Archaic period

Groups by dedication

Writers > Poets

Writers > * in > (Ancient) Greek

Character
Escultura

Sappho of Lesbos

(Sappho of Mytilene)

Mytilene, Lesbos Between the year 650 B.C.E. and the year 610 B.C.E. | Leucas 580 B.C.E.

Period of activity: From 635 a.C. until 580 a.C.

Geographical classification: Europe > Greece

Socio-cultural movements

Antiquity > Greek culture > Archaic period

Groups by dedication

Writers > Poets

Writers > * in > (Ancient) Greek

Context of feminine creation

The example of Sappho served as a stimulus for almost all the surviving poetesses of Greco-Roman times, from the Greeks (Myrtis and Corinna, from Boeotia; Telesilla and Praxilla, from the Peloponnese; Erinna, from the island of Telos; Moero, from Byzantium; Anyte, from Tegea, a modest town in Arcadia, etc.) to the Roman ones (Melino, the elegiac Sulpicia, Herenia Proculla, Sulpicia the satirist; the travelers Julia Balbilla and Caecilia Trebulla, Fabia Aconia Paulina the last pagan, etc.). The Romantic writers used her to validate female authorship (Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda, Carolina Coronado, María Rosa Gálvez, etc.). With the contributions of the papyri found at the end of the 19th century and the 20th century, Sappho is once again translated and read.  

 

Review

Born on the island of Lesbos, she is considered one of the first lyrical poets of the Western world. All that is known of her life was deduced from the work that has come down to us: poems and fragments drawn from late citations (indirect tradition), and also from papyri.  But her work places her at the top of universal literature. The Sapphic stanza is due to her name. The love content of her poems led to all kinds of gossip and rumors about her life. Antipater of Thessalonica includes her in his "canon" of women's poetry, along with other poets who, like her, influenced authors and female authors of all periods. 

 

Activities

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Justifications

  • She is the most outstanding female voice of ancient Greek lyric poetry.
  • Plato cataloged her as the tenth Muse.
  • She was a source of inspiration for great poets, such as Theocritus or Catullus.
  • She is one of a group of voices described as the first "canon" of female lyric poetry in ancient Greece _epigram AP IX 26 attributed to Antipater of Thessalonica_, where she is listed as one of the nine Muses.
  • She was evoked as a pioneering teacher by almost all women who wrote poetry after her.

Biography

The Greek poet Sappho was born on the island of Lesbos, probably in Mytilene, at the end of the 7th century BC. She lived in the city of Mytilene since 630 BC. It is not known when she died. Her exile in Sicily, which took place sometime between 604 and 595 BC, is mentioned in an ancient inscription (Parian marble), but nothing is said about the reason for that exile. Biographical sources mention a mother, a father, a daughter, a husband, and three brothers. It is believed that she owned a thiasus, a kind of school, under the patronage of Aphrodite and the Muses; a sort of music and declamation conservatory where girls from Lesbos were trained. 

She is considered one of the first lyrical poets of the Western world. All that is known of her life was deduced from the work that has come down to us: poems and fragments drawn from late citations (indirect tradition), and also from papyri.  But her work places her at the top of universal literature. The Sapphic stanza is due to her name. The love content of her poems led to all kinds of gossip and rumors about her life.  Antipater of Thessalonica included her in his "canon" of women's poetry, along with other poets who, like her, influenced later authors such as Theocritus and Catullus, and she was the teacher of many women poets.

Sappho's face was engraved on coins minted at Mytilene and was called "The Tenth Muse" or "The Poetess" by Hellenistic poets. 

 

Bibliography

- Carson, Anne (2019).  Si no, el invierno. Fragmentos de Safo. Translation by Aurora Luque. Madrid: Vaso roto S. L.

- Luque, Aurora (2020). Safo. Poemas y testimonios. Barcelona: Acantilado.

- Sánchez Ortiz de Urbina, Ricardo (2009). Safo y sus discípulas. Madrid: del Oriente y del Mediterráneo.

AUDIOVISUAL:

- Horovitz, Daniela (2018). «El dulce amargo, canciones de Safo» on Hit Tv Plus, (retrieved on 20/07/2021), <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxpH7VNyE_E >

Didactic approach

-Classical culture: Block Classical roots of today's world. Everyday life; Block Continuity of cultural heritage. Literature (Poetry), art and science.

-Greek Baccalaureate: Block The text: comprehension and translation; Block Literary education.

-Spanish Language and Literature ESO: Literary Education Block.

-Universal Literature 1st Baccalaureate: Interpretation of Greek period fragments of different genres and themes.

Documents