Book Description
Little remains today of the writings of the archaic Greek poet Sappho (fl. late 7th and early 6th centuries B.C.E.), whose work is said to have filled nine papyrus rolls in the great library at Alexandria some 500 years after her death. The surviving texts consist of a lamentably small and fragmented body of lyric poetry--among them, poems of invocation, desire, spite, celebration, resignation, and remembrance--that nevertheless enables us to hear the living voice of the poet Plato called the tenth Muse. Stanley Lombardo's translations give us a virtuoso embodiment of Sappho's voice, whose telltale charm, authority, immediacy, directness, intensity, and sudden changes of tone are among the hallmarks of his masterly translation. Pamela Gordon introduces us to the world of Sappho, discusses questions surrounding the transmission of her manuscripts, offers advice on reading these texts, and concludes with an enlightening discussion of same-sex desire in Sappho.


Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Greek


About the Author
Stanley Lombardo is Professor of Classics, University of Kansas. His previous translations include Hesiod's Works & Days and Theogony (1993), and Homer's Iliad (1997) and Odyssey (2000), all published by Hackett. Pamela Gordon is Associate Professor of Classics, University of Kansas.

ANNOTATION

The most celebrated lyric poet of the sixth century BCE, Sappho left behind two intact poems and nearly one hundred fragments, and the mystery surrounding her life has fascinated people for centuries. This unabridged miniature edition contains virtually all of Sappho's surviving poetry.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Little remains today of the writings of the archaic Greek poet Sappho (fl. late 7th and early 6th centuries B.C.E.), whose work is said to have filled nine papyrus rolls in the great library at Alexandria some 500 years after her death. The surviving texts consist of a lamentably small and fragmented body of lyric poetry--among them, poems of invocation, desire, spite, celebration, resignation, and remembrance--that nevertheless enables us to hear the living voice of the poet Plato called the tenth Muse.

Stanley Lombardo's translations give us a virtuoso embodiment of Sappho's voice, whose telltale charm, authority, immediacy, directness, intensity, and sudden changes of tone are among the hallmarks of his masterly translation.

Pamela Gordon introduces us to the world of Sappho, discusses questions surrounding the transmission of her manuscripts, offers advice on reading these texts, and concludes with an enlightening discussion of same-sex desire in Sappho.

About the Authors:

Stanley Lombardo is Professor of Classics, University of Kansas. His previous translations include Hesiod's Works & Days and Theogony (1993), and Homer's Iliad (1997) and Odyssey (2000), all published by Hackett.

Pamela Gordon is Associate Professor of Classics, University of Kansas.

FROM THE CRITICS

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