Sappho: A New Translation of the Complete Works

Jul 2014 · Cambridge University Press

About this ebook

Sappho, the earliest and most famous Greek woman poet, sang her songs around 600 BCE on the island of Lesbos. Of the little that survives from the approximately nine papyrus scrolls collected in antiquity, all is translated here: substantial poems, fragments, single words - and, notably, five stanzas of a poem that came to light in 2014. Also included are new additions to five fragments from the latest discovery, and a nearly complete poem published in 2004. The power of Sappho's poetry - her direct style, rich imagery, and passion - is apparent even in these remnants. Diane Rayor's translations of Greek poetry are graceful and poetic, modern in diction yet faithful to the originals. The full range of Sappho's voice is heard in these poems about desire, friendship, rivalry, family, and 'passion for the light of life'. In the introduction and notes, internationally respected Sappho scholar André Lardinois presents plausible reconstructions of Sappho's life and work, the importance of the recent discoveries in understanding the performance of her songs, and the story of how these fragments survived.

About the author

Diane Rayor is Professor of Classics at Grand Valley State University. In 2011, she received the university's most prestigious faculty award, the Glenn A. Niemeyer Outstanding Faculty Award for excellence in teaching, scholarship, and service. In 2010, Colorado College awarded Rayor the Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa. Rayor has published five book translations of ancient Greek poetry and drama: Euripides' edea': A New Translation (Cambridge University Press, 2013); Sophocles' ntigone': A New Translation (Cambridge University Press, 2011); Homeric Hymns: A Translation, with Introduction and Notes (2004); Sappho's Lyre: Archaic Lyric and Women Poets of Ancient Greece (1991); and Callimachus (with S. Lombardo, 1988). She is coeditor of Latin Lyric and Elegaic Poetry (1995). Her translations appear in numerous anthologies, including Greek Poets: Homer to the Present (2009), which contains sixteen of her translations.