Sappho 's Poem, If Not, Winter

Pain can be expressed in both sorrow and anger. Sappho creates great imagery in this fragmented poem by taking pain into natural moving actions. She expresses how her feelings change from hurt to anger and how heavy pain can really be. Sappho uses physical movement to express her emotions in different directions. She also emphasizes how she sees revenge is the ultimate goal in order to recover from that pain.

It is often—in books, poems, paintings, and sculptures—that one hears of and sees the goddess of love. But when is it that one hears of the god? In Greek mythology, Eros is the god of love, and a god who is many times overlooked. In Robert Bridges’ “EPÙÓ” and Anne Stevenson’s “Eros”, the idea that Eros is overlooked is portrayed, but in two separate ways. Techniques such as diction, imagery, and tone are used to help convey the idea.

Sappho’s poem, entitled Fragment 16, is of the lyrical style instead of the epic style we are used to in Homer’s Iliad. The lyrical style of poetry got its name because it was usually accompanied by a lyre while it was recited. It also was used to express more emotion rather than telling a story. This form of poetry seems to be more artistic rather than the story telling of epic poetry of the time. In this poem we are able to use the comparison of different imagery to understand a common theme within the poem itself. The reason for the interesting title of the poem is because most of Sappho’s poetry is now only found in fragmented forms. Most of Sappho’s writing is from 600 B.C.E.

In “I” the ever present theme of love is very evident. Sappho lists things that people believe to be the most beautiful things on earth, “array of horsemen / and others of marching men / and others of ships” (line 2-3). However, she does not hold these things to have more beauty over the others. She believes that beauty has a different meaning to everyone. She uses Helen, daughter of Zeus, for an example. Helen left her husband to follow her heart. Anactoria is Sappho’s beauty. “For I would rather watch her… than all the force of Lydian chariots,” (19 & 22).

This contrasts both Phaedrus’ and Aristophanes’ descriptions of love. She broadly states that “a lover does not seek the half or whole” unless it is “good” because people will even amputate, or separate, part of their own body if diseased (Sym. 205E). Aristophanes argues “love is the name for our pursuit of wholeness” but Diotima explains this cannot be true if the other half is bad, even if it seems to bring wholeness, such as bodies with a temporary veneer of beauty (Sym. 192E). So, love must be explained by separating it to an upwards trajectory, rising towards the concept of good. Otherwise love is only an impermanent “promise” (Sym. 193D). Therefore, Aristophanes’ lack of separation from the concrete cause love to come from incompleteness and a fallen condition (Dutton Lecture). Likewise, Phaedrus’ speech lacks a removal from the present and therefore fails to explain love’s effects, as seen in his Achilles and Patroclus example. To Phaedrus, Achilles still dying after Patroclus passes is love, for “no one will die for you but a lover” (Sym. 179B). But, Diotima claims this love is unhealthy as it fails to represent the abstract notion of beauty. Since beauty is something to be indirectly experienced, it is unmeasurable and instead “preserves”

Other authors after Homer also use reverence for a god’s domain as a tool to gain attention from the gods. In the Fragments, the author, Sappho, uses this tool to gain attention from the gods for herself. Sappho is a lover of love and her work shows her obsession with love as most of her partially retained and transcribed lyrics focus on love and its different forms. In supplication to the goddess Aphrodite, Sappho writes, “Deathless Aphrodite of the spangled mind… I beg you do not break with hard pains, O lady, my heart” (The Fragments, pg.3). Due to the fact that love is Aphrodite’s domain, Aphrodite pays attention to Sappho – someone who personifies and respects the power of love. Subsequently, after Sappho’s supplication, Aphrodite asks, “Whom should I persuade (now again) to lead you back into her love? Who, O Sappho, is wronging you?” (The fragments, pg.3). The use of the phrase ‘now again’ indicates that Aphrodite not only pays attention to Sappho, but that Aphrodite helps Sappho in issues of love repeatedly. Out of context, the phrase ‘now again’ also denotes and exasperated tone, however, the preceding context states that Aphrodite greeted Sappho smiling – a symbol of pleasure with another. Additionally, Sappho gains the attention of Hera because of her mention and praise of marriage in lyric 44, motherly love in lyric 132 and the praise of women throughout - all powers that lie under Hera’s domain. Recently in a newly discovered and transcribed lyric, Sappho says,

Sappho is an ancient Greek poet who is known for her capability in the theorization and processing of love, though in The New Sappho her curiosity and amusement tends to turn its perspective to the idea of age. While we are used to the common concept of love and appearance of Aphrodite, the goddess of love, in Sappho’s poems, it seems that The New Sappho is both a play on her age, as well as a metaphor for her new subject. The poem’s title seems to suggest a rebirth or a renewal of being, yet in contradiction her physical form is aging.

    The meaningful term “love” can be applied to differing relationships in Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello. In this essay let us examine under a microscope the “love” that we find throughout the play.

Desire is described as a strong want for any specific entity, and it is a theme commonly found throughout literature, albeit every time period and work has their own particular interpretation. In particular, Plato’s The Symposium and De Laclos’ Dangerous Liaisons depict desire in a similar fashion, involving intense passion and longing. However, they differ in their interpretation of morality and integrity of individuals when faced with great desire, illustrating the evolving nature of the human condition, and how we come to make sense of our deepest emotions. Written during the time of the Ancient Greeks, The Symposium approaches the justification for desire and love from a mythical creation perspective, which was a common method used to understand the natural world.

One similarity between Sappho and Catullus is their use of neutral to formal diction. Both use phrases that, although seem simple and of neutral diction, are chosen to express their own form of love. However, where Sappho uses a word choice to show a fondness of her daughter and her innocence, Catullus transforms words from the same diction level to show his adoration and longing towards his lover. “I have a small / daughter, called / Cleis,

In calling love “a serious mental disease,” Plato inspired centuries of authors, doctors, and philosophers. Unlike romantic comedy movies and the Top 40 pop songs chart, which idolize love, literature frequently portrays it as a sickness. Both love and mental illness affect brain chemistry, mood, and behavior. In pieces such as Euripides’ Medea, symptoms of love range from mental illness-like ailments to physical manifestations such as a vanishing appetite, concentration, and apparent sanity. In Longus’ work, love is described as having similar traits. Throughout the story of Daphnis and Chloe’s pastoral romance, love drives both of them mad with longing. Love amplifies their innocent feelings for each other, resulting in a disorienting combination of depression and mania. The affliction goes deeper; their total devotion to each other and pastoral

Sappho was exiled as a teenager to Sicily because of political reasons. Sappho was called a lyrist, because she performed her poems with lyre. Majority of Sappho’s poems reflect extreme, intense, feelings of desire. Sappho wrote poems about love, and most times her poems were directed towards other women. During the time period, in which Sappho lived, her poems were not considered bad because of the homosexual content she presented. The amount of tenderness, Sappho exuberates in her poetry, shows she’s a loving and caring person. Sappho’s poetry is veru heartfelt and honest that it must be her own personal feelings. Sappho’s writing is so vivid and descriptive, that drawing an imaginative visual would not prove difficult. Sappho also nurtured, taught, and empowered women. In her poems, Sappho sometimes treat women as objects of her affection. Sappho treated women: Passionately, affectionately, with high regard, and at times she treated women like sexual objects.

The term “Eros,” referring to passionate love in English, has long been the mainstream of themes in drama, literature, arts, and cinematic media. The fascinating power of love has been exhaustively publicized, and the pursuit of love is diffused in streets and lanes. Conversely, in ancient times, many poets, especially Virgil, Ovid and Apuleius, described eros as such an evil spirit that it will destroy the female soul thoroughly, except for the one in Apuleius’ story of Cupid and Psyche. Even if taking into account the historical background of a patriarchal community and therefore the esteemed male dominance, the particular case of Psyche’s surviving and even thriving her encounter with eros

In the same way, Sappho finishes by indicating love is forever. Through this poem, she wins over how deep her love is by turning this scary crazy love, into something that is going to last for a very long time. Additionally, the Sapphic poetry displayed in this poem creates a powerful emotion which simply intensifies as you read the poem. The poem starts out beautifully slowly, and then erupts to deep love affection.

The concepts of love and sacrifice are closely related and feature consistently throughout literature. To study the relationship between these ideas in more depth I have selected a range of texts over an extensive time period, these include Romeo and Juliet by Sir William Shakespeare, Titanic by James Cameron, Saint Joan by Bernard Shaw and Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson. The different eras that these texts explore will be instrumental in establishing the type of connection the two concepts hold in literature. The type of love and sacrifice varies however the underlying message is the same right through the texts, that humans in the right context will make sacrifices for love. How this is portrayed in the texts also differs yet