Sappho - Poem 16 lyrics

P. Karickhoff Among the greatest of Ancient Greece's creators of art and culture was the poetess Sappho from the island of Lesbos. Born most likely in the fading twilight years of Greece's Archaic Period, very little is known about this mysterious author of lyrical poetry. Widely popular in antiquity, she eventually faded from popular memory with the pa**age of time. Now, in this piece of poetry below Sappho writes of the great Homeric Epic of the Trojan War and the effect Helen had upon the it in comparison to the person of her desire and the effects they had upon her. An appreciative student of the world's poetry would take notice of the translation's adaptation of the lyrical poetry to the English Language; a challenging task considering the daunting dactylic pentameter of the original Greek text. Keen readers will note that much of the latter portion of the poem is missing, lost to the pa**age of time and decay. Alas, we do not have the entirety of the original text, requiring us to merely appreciate what is still available. An interesting piece of notice is that last line of the fourth stanza, referring to Helen's true husband as the "best man of all". While we in the modern time period might have differing opinions on her original spouse Menelaus, this is perhaps an enlightening insight on the Ancient Greeks' opinions of certain characters of the Iliad. While many might say he was a terrible husband and a wrathful image of a man, Sappho's description of Menelaus disagree's with popular opinion of him today. Merely an interesting note... Some say an army of horsemen, others say foot soldiers, still others say a fleet is the finest thing on the dark earth. I say it is whatever ones loves. Everyone can understand this- consider that Helen, far surpa**ing the beauty of mortals, left behind the best man of all to sail away to Troy She rememberd neither daughter nor dear parents, as [Aphrodite] led her away * ... [un]bending ...mind ... lightly... thinks. ...reminding me now of Anaktoria gone. I would rather see her lovely step and the radiant sparkle of her face than all the war chariots in Lydia and soldiers battling in arms. Impossible ... to happen ... human, but to pray for a share ...and for myself. Works Cited. Rayor, Diane, and A P. M. H. Lardinois. "Sappho: A New Translation of the Complete Works." , 2014. Print. Fields Nic. "Bronze Age War Chariots." Osprey Publishing (January, 2006) Greenhalgh, P A. L. "Early Greek Warfare: Horsemen and Chariots in the Homeric and Archaic Ages." Cambridge England: University Press, 1973. Print. http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Sappho http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/Sappho http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/sappho http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/text/poetic-form-sapphic