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Use consistent source for numbering and translation of the fragments

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edited Oct 27, 2023 at 10:40

The reference is surely to Sappho fragments 104(a) and (b)., in David Campbell’s numbering:

104(a) Demetrius, On Style

Sometimes, also, Sappho makes charming use of repetition as in the description of the Evening Star:

Hesperus, bringing everything that shining Dawn scattered, you bring the sheep, you bring the goat, you bring back the child to its mother.

Here the charm lies in the repetition of the word ‘bring’, always with the same reference (i.e. to Hesperus).

(b) Himerius, Orations

You are, I think, an evening star, the fairest of all stars.

This song to Hesperus is Sappho’s.

_{David A. Campbell, ed. (1982). Greek Lyric, volume 1, p. 131. London: William Heinemann.}

So in the context of Sappho fragment 11 “This will Ifragment 160 “I shall now sing skilfullythese songs beautifully to pleasedelight my friends”companions” quoted at the head of the poem, we can take “those taught by a poet why sweet Hesper glows” to be the friendscompanions of Sappho to whom she sang her song of Hesperus, and who, preferring their own sex, were unresponsive to the call of Hymen, the god of marriage.

The difficulty with this interpretation is that the surviving fragments do not explain why Hesperus shines, and indeed if the Greeks had an origin myth for Hesperus then it does not survive. But I think the poet intends us to imagine that if we had the whole of Sappho’s hymnsong, and not just the fragments, then we would find in it an aetiology for the evening star.

The reference is surely to Sappho fragments 104(a) and (b).

104(a) Demetrius, On Style

Sometimes, also, Sappho makes charming use of repetition as in the description of the Evening Star:

Hesperus, bringing everything that shining Dawn scattered, you bring the sheep, you bring the goat, you bring back the child to its mother.

Here the charm lies in the repetition of the word ‘bring’, always with the same reference (i.e. to Hesperus).

(b) Himerius, Orations

You are, I think, an evening star, the fairest of all stars.

This song to Hesperus is Sappho’s.

_{David A. Campbell, ed. (1982). Greek Lyric, volume 1, p. 131. London: William Heinemann.}

So in the context of Sappho fragment 11 “This will I now sing skilfully to please my friends” quoted at the head of the poem, we can take “those taught by a poet why sweet Hesper glows” to be the friends of Sappho to whom she sang her song of Hesperus, and who, preferring their own sex, were unresponsive to the call of Hymen, the god of marriage.

The difficulty with this interpretation is that the surviving fragments do not explain why Hesperus shines, and indeed if the Greeks had an origin myth for Hesperus then it does not survive. But I think the poet intends us to imagine that if we had the whole of Sappho’s hymn, and not just the fragments, then we would find in it an aetiology for the evening star.

The reference is surely to Sappho fragments 104(a) and (b), in David Campbell’s numbering:

104(a) Demetrius, On Style

Sometimes, also, Sappho makes charming use of repetition as in the description of the Evening Star:

Hesperus, bringing everything that shining Dawn scattered, you bring the sheep, you bring the goat, you bring back the child to its mother.

Here the charm lies in the repetition of the word ‘bring’, always with the same reference (i.e. to Hesperus).

(b) Himerius, Orations

You are, I think, an evening star, the fairest of all stars.

This song to Hesperus is Sappho’s.

_{David A. Campbell, ed. (1982). Greek Lyric, volume 1, p. 131. London: William Heinemann.}

So in the context of Sappho fragment 160 “I shall now sing these songs beautifully to delight my companions” quoted at the head of the poem, we can take “those taught by a poet why sweet Hesper glows” to be the companions of Sappho to whom she sang her song of Hesperus, and who, preferring their own sex, were unresponsive to the call of Hymen, the god of marriage.

The difficulty with this interpretation is that the surviving fragments do not explain why Hesperus shines, and indeed if the Greeks had an origin myth for Hesperus then it does not survive. But I think the poet intends us to imagine that if we had the whole of Sappho’s song, and not just the fragments, then we would find in it an aetiology for the evening star.

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created Oct 25, 2023 at 18:31

Gareth Rees

The reference is surely to Sappho fragments 104(a) and (b).

104(a) Demetrius, On Style

Sometimes, also, Sappho makes charming use of repetition as in the description of the Evening Star:

Hesperus, bringing everything that shining Dawn scattered, you bring the sheep, you bring the goat, you bring back the child to its mother.

Here the charm lies in the repetition of the word ‘bring’, always with the same reference (i.e. to Hesperus).

(b) Himerius, Orations

You are, I think, an evening star, the fairest of all stars.

This song to Hesperus is Sappho’s.

_{David A. Campbell, ed. (1982). Greek Lyric, volume 1, p. 131. London: William Heinemann.}

The difficulty with this interpretation is that the surviving fragments do not explain why Hesperus shines, and indeed if the Greeks had an origin myth for Hesperus then it does not survive. But I think the poet intends us to imagine that if we had the whole of Sappho’s hymn, and not just the fragments, then we would find in it an aetiology for the evening star.