作者: Edwin Marion Cox

Sappho, an archaic Greek poet from the island of Lesbos, was active during the late 7th and early 6th centuries BCE. Her poetry, contemporaneous with the likes of Alcaeus, is renowned for its emotional depth and lyrical beauty, exploring themes of love, desire, and the reflections of the human soul. Although much of her work only survives in fragments, Sappho”s contributions to the literary canon are invaluable, having been compiled into nine volumes in the Library of Alexandria, as noted by ancient sources. Her surviving work, albeit limited, was meticulously collected and translated in “The Poems of Sappho, ” providing readers with a window into the enigmatic world of a woman whose personal life remains largely a mystery, yet whose literary voice echoes through the ages. Pioneering in her expressive use of the first-person narrative, Sappho”s verse was predominantly composed in the meter that now bears her name—the Sapphic meter—exhibiting immense control over language and form. Celebrated by Plato as “the tenth Muse, ” Sappho”s influence can be traced throughout subsequent generations of writers and poets who have sought to emulate her passionate and evocative style. In the corpus of Greek literature, she stands as an icon, not only for her contributions as a female voice in a predominantly male-dominated canon but also for the universal human experiences she articulates in her poetry.