Praxilla was a Greek poetess of the 5th century BC; very few excerpts of her work have been preserved. She was born in Sicyon, current Sikyona, in Greece. She wrote lyric poetry and her great predecessor was Sappho of Lesbos. She was highly valued in her time, as evidenced by the fact that an artist sculpted her and a famous playwright parodied some of her verses, implying that the audience was familiar with her work.  

Follow the instructions your teacher will give you to carry out the activity.

Texts from HYMN TO ADONIS 

Adonis in the underworld 

Most beautiful of things I leave is sunlight.

hen come glazing stars and the moon’s face.

Then ripe cucumbers and apples and pears.

From: Barnstone, Aliki and Barnstone, Willis (eds.), A Book of Women Poets from Antiquity to Now, 1980, Schocken Books: New York, p. 43.

κάλλιστον μὲν ἐγὼ λείπω φάος ἠελίοιο,

δεύτερον ἄστρα φαεινὰ σεληναίης τε πρόσωπον

ἠδὲ καὶ ὡραίους σικύους καὶ μῆλα καὶ ὄγχνας·

(747 Poetae Minores Graeci)