Sappho is a Greek poet of the 6th century BC, which has subsequently inspired great poets.  Read carefully this poem of her and answer the questions. 

TEXT

Some say thronging cavalry, some say foot soldiers,  
others call a fleet the most beautiful of  
sights the dark earth offers, but I say it's what- 
            ever you love best. 
 
And it's easy to make this understood by  
everyone, for she who surpassed all human  
kind in beauty, Helen, abandoning her 
            husband—that best of 
 
men—went sailing off to the shores of Troy and  
never spent a thought on her child or loving  
parents: when the goddess seduced her wits and 
            left her to wander, 
 
she forgot them all, she could not remember  
anything but longing, and lightly straying  
aside, lost her way. But that reminds me 
            now: Anactória, 
 
she's not here, and I'd rather see her lovely  
step, her sparkling glance and her face than gaze on 
all the troops in Lydia in their chariots and 
            glittering armor.

From The Poetry of Sappho (Oxford University Press 2007), translated by Jim Powell. 

1. Read carefully the text in which Helen, her family and Cypris are mentioned. Indicate which epiosode it refers to, something that is only suggested in the text. 

2. Check your textbook for the characteristics and differences between lyric poetry and Classical period epic. Locate these elements in the text by distributing them in two sections. 

3. Match the title of the activity to the content of the poem. Does it have to do with Sappho being a woman? Reflect on the fact that women generally prefer peace to war. 

4. Order the sentences in the first paragraph as if it were a text in prose. Which of the two texts thrills you the most? What has the author done here to provoke such emotion?