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Sappho's Poem 16: A Close Reading

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Heather Goodman
Eng 2030
Dr. Dugger
2 October 2017

Sappho’s “Poem 16”: A Close Reading

Some men say an army of horse and some men say an army on foot
And some men say an army of ships is the most beautiful thing
On the black earth. But I say it is
What you love.
Easy to make this understood by all by all.
For she who overcame everyone
In beauty (Helen)
Left her fine husband
Behind and went sailing to Troy.
Not for her children nor her dear parents has she a thought no –
] led her astray
]for
]lightly
] reminded me not of Anaktoria
Who is gone.
I would rather see her lovely step
And the motion of light on her face
Than chariots of Lydians or ranks
Of footsoilders in arms.

Little is known about the Greek Poet Sappho. Just like her poems, pieces of her life have been lost over time. What we do know is Sappho lived on the island of Lesbos around the turn on the seventh and six centuries BCE. She composed songs with a lyre accompaniment known as lyric poetry. These poems were collected into nine volumes and what has survived exist in fragments (Williamson).
Fragment 16 is known today as "The Ode to Anactoria.” It was only recently found in Egypt on an ancient paper called papyrus. The poem was found in a poor state …show more content…

She would like to see this more than the chariots of Lydians or ranks of foot soldiers in arms, this draws one back to the beginning of the poem. For Sappho the most beautiful thing would be her beloved coming home like that of the soldiers coming home from war. Sappho chooses not to celebrate war but that of the beauty of a woman, her beloved. One concludes that Helen is a metaphor for Anaktoria. Like Helen, did Anaktoria leave Sappho for another? Did ero cloud Anaktoria’s mind and send her off to find her Paris, her personal definition of beauty? Is the earth black because the author is in mourning at the loss of her

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