Theseus and Athens Book

If I tell you 'Sappho'? What is the first thing that comes to your mind? The most obvious ones are: 1. Lesbian (not the person from Lesbos) and 2. Poetess. It is surprising how society has molded the name of Sappho to its own convenience when the real person was far from that. It is surprising too, how well known is she today when most people haven't read a single poem, or fragment (since most of her poems have not been found complete). And even those fragments were written years after her death by people doing it by memory which goes on to show how much of her real words have been lost in time and which ones were the words of the writer. More than a poet, she was a singer, for poems were not written but sung, so, besides creating melodious lyrics she must have been a great musician and singer.

This book will not tell you about her life, you will find the wikipedia page bigger and far more rewarding in that area. This is, I should say, a sort of anthology of Sappho seen through literature: from the very Roman Period passing through the Middle Ages till today or (2000 when it was published). There are poems naming her and novels, too. It is curious how her image changed throughout history and how she became synonym of various things, some bad and some good. But when most of her life is unknown even today most of what we know of her is one big lie, since it comes from the inventions of a lot of artists. In recent years more fragments have been uncovered (this very year 2015 []).

Before speaking of this poetess as the modern flag for feminism or gay rights, people should read this first.