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situation in its own cultural context, its dimensions appear to be far more
significant than any conservative rhetoric or spiteful hearsay.
In gods were thought to be real, existing entities; ONE IS BEAUTIFUL
ancient the mortals had actual experience of their ONLY IN APPEARANCE;
presence or their interactions with them. The
Greek gods habitually involved themselves in humans’ WHILE WHEN ONE
daily routine and each one affected a specific
IS GOOD, THEY ARE
religion, area of everyday life. Aphrodite’s area of BEAUTIFUL TOO
expertise was the lust and the sorrows of love.
Women, on the other hand, were considered ΈΝΑΣ ΩΡΑΙΟΣ ΈΙΝΑΙ
primitive creatures, closely connected to ΜΟΝΟ ΣΤΗΝ ΈΜΦΑΝΙΣΗ
elemental life, and therefore the only qualified
ones to interprete the will of the goddess of ΩΡΑΙΟΣ, ΈΝΩ ΈΝΑΣ
love and marriage. Sappho’s sensual yet reflective poetry had a vital role ΚΑΛΟΣ ΈΙΝΑΙ ΣΥΝΑΜΑ
to play: to give women a better understanding both of the outer world ΚΑΙ ΩΡΑΙΟΣ
and of their inner self, of their feminine power and their human nature
alike. This specific type of poetry, called ‘lyric poetry’, led the ancient
Greek poetical tradition from describing struggles and battles between
gods and men to a shift towards inner yet universal human experiences. Sappho’s verses while playing their lyres
These poets were supposedly reenacted and sung to the accompaniment and wearing flowers to praise the joys of
of music and dance, and, in Sappho’s case, were closely related to worship love or lament its whim.
and ritual. It is not that difficult to imagine those ancient girls reciting Sappho’s death is as controversial as her
life: according to Ovidius, the poetess, in a
mature age, killed herself devastated by her
unfulfilled love for a man, Phaon. Experts
believe this is a later fabrication, aiming to
countermand her homosexuality.
Sappho’s legacy and her worldwide
influence today, 2,700 years later,
surpasses all speculations about her sexual
preferences. Because sensuality and the
elegance of her verses tell us what it means
to be human.

Όταν οι αρχαίοι Έλληνες έλεγαν «ο
ποιητής» αναφέρονταν στον Όμηρο
κι όταν μνημόνευαν την «ποιήτρια»
μιλούσαν για τη Σαπφώ. Ο Πλάτωνας
τη χαρακτήρισε «δέκατη Μούσα» και η
μορφή της αποτυπώθηκε σε νομίσματα.
Τα έργα αυτής της μυστηριώδους
γυναίκας από τη Λέσβο γέμισαν 9
τόμους, όπως τα κατέγραψαν οι
Αλεξανδρινοί γραμματικοί, ωστόσο
σώζονται ελάχιστα θραύσματα κι
ακόμα λιγότερα ολόκληρα ποιήματά
της, ψήγματα της οξυδέρκειας και
της ευαισθησίας της. Οι μεγαλοφυείς
στίχοι της μιλούν για τον έρωτα και τη
γλυκόπικρη φύση του, την ομορφιά αλλά

128 GREC14N S/W 2018-19