TCP PROPOSAL 1 - Kris Cooley

<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Hymn to Aphrodite</span>

by Sappho

630-580 B.C.E

<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Hymn to Aphrodite </span>is the piece of poetry written by Sappho . It is her only poem to make it through the ages in complete form, the rest of her work is fragmented or lost. This poem is a plea to Aphrodite to help with a broken heart and is seven stanzas long. It is believed that this peculiar poem was written to be performed for her cult to Aphrodite. (Graves)<!--more-->

This poem is typical of its era because it was written for the purpose of getting a god's attention or favor. During the time of its creation, gods were asked upon to intervene in common daily lives. This poem focuses on relieving the writer of grief of a lost love.

<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Hymn to Aphrodite</span> was written as a lyric poem, Sappho created her poems to be sung accompanied by a lyre. She has often been acknowledged as one of the earliest poets to create lyric poetry. It wasn't documented until Dionysus of Halicarnassus quoted it in it's entirety. (Newlyn)

Sappho was exalted by many scholars and artists as a great lyrical poet. Her works were written down on papyrus and studied for approximately 300 years before their disappearance. Plato was said to call her his "tenth muse". (Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition)

Plato is credited with saying: “Some say the muses are nine - how careless - behold, Sappho of Lesbos is the tenth”.  (Anthologia Palantia)

Dioscorides  “greetings to you lady, as to the gods; for we still have your immortal daughters, your songs”.

Solon, a contemporary of Sappho, is said to have heard a boy singing one of her songs, and asked him to teach it to him, so that he might learn it and die.

Today, poets all over the world take the time to render their own translations of Sappho's work. She continues to inspire poets even in this modern age, which is an incredible accomplishment considering that Sappho herself never wrote down any of her poems.

Today, many translations have been made, each poet that has taken upon this feat, has remade her poetry in their perception .

"Sappho’s oeuvre can be entered from

many different portals, and the Sapphic

realm of gold will have different aspects for

different readers." (Hadas)

The other type of poetry during Sappho's time was the epic poem. Homer is famous for writing <span style="text-decoration: underline;">The IIiad.</span> This was not a hymn meant to be sung for the gods, but instead a detailed description account of the gods, heroes, and war. This story was concieved on facts and didn't match the rhythmic feel of Sappho's <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Hymn to Aphrodite.</span>

As I read Sappho's <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Hymn to Aphrodite</span>, I was able to visualize emotion out of each line. It's not only a plea for help but also a statement of faith in her goddess, Aphrodite. The fragmented sentences causes a stop, pause, relate sensation to it. Yet I can feel the 'sway' of each methodical syllable creating a natural tempo.

"Though Sappho's language is laden with color-adjectives and compound epithets typical of Greek lyric poetry, her syntax is simple and avoids rhetorical flourishes, creating the impression that we are directly witnessing her experience."  (Bloom)

This poem should be taken into the future, not only because of it’s extreme beauty, but as a testament of our breathe taking passion for this emotion called love. She embodied the essence that is love, by describing the pain of love not returned and a belief in her goddess’s mercy.

Bibliography

Newlyn, Evelyn S. "Sappho." Critical Survey of Poetry, Second Revised Edition (2003): 1-7. MagillOnLiterature Plus. EBSCO. Web

"Sappho." Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition (2010): 1. MasterFILE Premier. EBSCO.

Hadas, Rachel. "The tenth muse." New Criterion 28.7 (2010): 67. MasterFILE Premier. EBSCO. Web

Bloom, Harold "Human Sexuality" Infobase Publishing, 2009 – 68

Graves, Roy Neil. "Sappho." Magill's Survey of World Literature, Revised Edition (2009): 1-5. MagillOnLiterature Plus. EBSCO. Web