She had an erotic relationship with this woman: 'you satisfied your desire' Sappho and her friends lead a luxurious lifestyle: 'with so much perfume you anointed yourself as if you were a queen' 'I want to die' -Helen and Penelope both say this in the Homeric epics- link between death and female sadness. Theme of fashion: 'The blessed Graces favour the beautifully floral over the ungarlanded' Loeb 94- 'Honestly, I want to die' Sappho's grief over a friend going away to get married: 'weeping, she was leaving me' Loeb 51- 'I do not know what I am going to do' Universal expression of confusion: 'I am in two minds' Loeb 81- 'Put garlands around your lovely hair, O Dika!' Sappho's role as a teacher: informing girls how to make themselves more beautiful. Loeb 50- 'A handsome man is only good to look at' Celebrates inner beauty: 'A good man will become handsome'ĭifferent beauty standards for women. Physical effects of desire: 'My soul, which was burning with desire.' Loeb 49: 'I used to love you, Atthis' Suggests Sappho had the more dominant role in her relationships with women: 'I thought you were like a clumsy little girl.' Her language is endearing/patronising. Loeb 47: 'Love shook my soul' Presents love as difficult and unsettling: 'Like a wind buffeting oak trees' Loeb 48: 'You came, just what I was looking for' Personal address to a lover Shows wealth to have clothing from Lydia. 'Beautiful Lydian workmanship' -The Lydian Empire was the place where the latest fashions came from.

Loeb 34- 'Around the beautiful moon' Natural imageryĬould be praising a beautiful woman: 'gleaming brilliance' Loeb 39: 'Embroidered sandals' Sappho and her peers are conscious of fashion.

Sappho poems and fragments