Some scholars question how personal her erotic poems actually are. To a slender shoot, I most liken you. In Homer's Iliad Hera the goddess of family and Athena the goddess of wisdom and warfare are in a chariot to attend the battle. [Sappho compared the girl to an apple.she compared the bridegroom to Achilles, and likened the young mans deeds to the heros.] Sappho's Prayer to Aphrodite (Fragment 1 V. [] ) holds a special place in Greek Literature.The poem is the only one of Sappho's which survives complete. And his dear father quickly leapt up. Like wings that flutter back and forth, love is fickle and changes quickly. In the final stanza, Sappho leaves this memory and returns to the present, where she again asks Aphrodite to come to her and bring her her hearts desires. 9 In line three of stanza five, Sappho stops paraphrasing Aphrodite, as the goddess gets her own quotations. The first is the initial word of the poem: some manuscripts of Dionysios render the word as "";[5] others, along with the Oxyrhynchus papyrus of the poem, have "". The moon shone full Just as smiling Aphrodite comes down from heaven to meet lowly, wretched Sappho, even a person who rejects your gifts and runs away from you can come to love you one day. Here, she explains how the goddess asked why the poet was sad enough to invoke a deity for help. Or they would die. One of her common epithets is "foam-born," commemorating the goddess' birth from the seafoam/sperm of her heavenly father, Kronos. O hear and listen ! Jim Powell writes goddess, my ally, while Josephine Balmers translation ends you, yes you, will be my ally. Powells suggests that Sappho recognizes and calls on the goddesss preexisting alliance, while in Balmer, she seems more oriented towards the future, to a new alliance. Hymenaon! Come to me now, Aphrodite; dispel the worries that irritate and offend me; fulfill the wishes of my heart; and fight here beside me. 13. "Fragment 1" is an extended address from Sappho to Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love. Poem Solutions Limited International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct,London, EC1A 2BN, United Kingdom. Thus, Sappho, here, is asking Aphrodite to be her comrade, ally, and companion on the battlefield, which is love. It is through you visiting Poem Analysis that we are able to contribute to charity. Greek and Roman prayer began with an invocation, moved on to the argument, then arrived at the petition. . has a share in brilliance and beauty. You know how we cared for you. Still, it seems that, even after help from the gods, Sappho always ends up heartbroken in the end. The kletic hymn uses this same structure. [23] As late as 1955 Edgar Lobel and Denys Page's edition of Sappho noted that the authors accepted this reading "without the least confidence in it". She makes clear her personal connection to the goddess who has come to her aid many times in the past. Enable JavaScript and refresh the page to view the Center for Hellenic Studies website. She asks Aphrodite to leave Olympus and travel to the earth to give her personal aid. 5 But come here [tuide], if ever at any [] Hymenaon, Sing the wedding song! The poem makes use of Homeric language, and alludes to episodes from the Iliad. a shade amidst the shadowy dead. This repetition gives Aphrodite a similar tone to a nagging, annoyed mother who asks their child, What did you do now, little one? or What have you gotten into?, Though now he flies, ere long he shall pursue thee;Fearing thy gifts, he too in turn shall bring them;Loveless to-day, to-morrow he shall woo thee,Though thou shouldst spurn him.. Describing the goddesss last visit, Sappho uses especially lush imagery. 22 In this poem Sappho places Aphrodite on equal footing with the male gods. [33] Arguing for a serious interpretation of the poem, for instance, C. M. Bowra suggests that it discusses a genuine religious experience. For you have no share in the Muses roses. If so, "Hymn to Aphrodite" may have been composed for performance within the cult. And now let me say it even more colloquially: the goddess should go out and get her. [36] Aphrodite's speech in the fourth and fifth stanzas of the poem has also been interpreted as lighthearted. During this visit, Aphrodite smiled and asked Sappho what the matter was. Central Message: Love is ever-changing and uncontrollable, Emotions Evoked: Empathy, Frustration, Hopelessness, 'Hymn To Aphrodite' is a classic hymn in which Sappho prays to Aphrodite, asking for help in matters of love. IS [hereafter PAGE]. Aphrodite was the ancient Greek goddess of love, beauty, pleasure and procreation. The "Hymn to Aphrodite" is written in the meter Sappho most commonly used, which is called "Sapphics" or "the Sapphic stanza" after her. The Question and Answer section for Sappho: Poems and Fragments is a great If she is not taking gifts, soon she will be giving them. 8 Sappho realizes that her appeal to her beloved can be sustained only by the persuasiveness of Aphro-ditean cosmetic mystery. [4][5], Though the poem is conventionally considered to be completely preserved, there are two places where the reading is uncertain. Come to me now, if ever thou . In cases where two or more answers are displayed, the last one is the most recent. Love shook my breast. " release me from my agony, fulfill all that my heart desires " Sappho here is begging Aphrodite to come to her aid, and not for the first time. Another reason for doubting that Sapphos poetry had been the inspiration for the lovers leaps at Cape Leukas is the attitude of Strabo himself. Sappho 105a (via Syrianus on Hermogenes, On Kinds of Style): Just like the sweet apple that blushes on top of a branch, 1 [. 21 We too, if he ever gets to lift his head up high, 22 I mean, Larikhos, and finally mans up, 23 will get past the many cares that weigh heavily on our heart, 24 breaking free from them just as quickly. hunting down the proud Phaon, One day not long after . Sapphos more desperate and bitter tone develops in line two, as she addresses Aphrodite as a beguiler, or weaver of wiles. 11 And now [nun de] we are arranging [poien] [the festival], 12 in accordance with the ancient way [] 13 holy [agna] and [] a throng [okhlos] 14 of girls [parthenoi] [] and women [gunaikes] [15] on either side 16 the measured sound of ululation [ololg]. Then Ptolemaios launches into a veritable catalogue of other figures who followed Aphrodites precedent and took a ritual plunge as a cure for love. .] She asks Aphrodite to instead aid her as she has in the past. But I sleep alone. Lady, not longer! This only complete Sappho poem, "Hymn to Aphrodite," expresses the very human plea for help with a broken heart. Euphemism for female genitalia. But in pity hasten, come now if ever From afar of old when my voice implored thee, With universal themes such as love, religion, rejection, and mercy, Sapphos Hymn to Aphrodite is one of the most famous and best-loved poems from ancient Greece. See how to enable JavaScript in your browser. Chanted its wild prayer to thee, Aphrodite, Daughter of Cyprus; Now to their homes are they gone in the city, Pensive to dream limb-relaxed while the languid Slaves come and lift from the tresses they loosen, Flowers that have faded. 8. Blessed Aphrodite Glorious, Radiant Goddess I give my thanks to you For guiding me this past year Your love has been a light Shining brightly in even the darkest of times And this past year There were many, many dark times This year has been a long one Full of pain . (Sappho, in Ven. However, this close relationship means that Sappho has a lot of issues in the romance department. For me this Then, in the fourth stanza, the voice of the poem is taken over by a paraphrase of Aphrodite. Sappho of Lesbos (l. c. 620-570 BCE) was a lyric poet whose work was so popular in ancient Greece that she was honored in statuary, coinage, and pottery centuries after her death. One of her poems is a prayer to Aphrodite, asking the goddess to come and help her in her love life. The Hymn to Aphrodite by Sappho is an ancient lyric in which Sappho begs for Aphrodites help in managing her turbulent love life. hair that was once black has turned (gray). [14], The poem is written in Aeolic Greek and set in Sapphic stanzas, a meter named after Sappho, in which three longer lines of the same length are followed by a fourth, shorter one. The first three lines of each stanza are much longer than the fourth. However, the pronoun in stanza six, following all ancient greek copies of this poem, is not he. Instead, it is she. Early translators, such as T. W. Higginson believed that this was a mistake and auto-corrected the she to he.. I loved you, Atthis, long ago in the future. Yoking thy chariot, borne by the most lovelyConsecrated birds, with dusky-tinted pinions,Waving swift wings from utmost heights of heavenThrough the mid-ether; In stanza three, Sappho describes how Aphrodite has come to the poet in the past. [5] But you are always saying, in a chattering way [thrulen], that Kharaxos will come 6 in a ship full of goods. Sappho's A Prayer To Aphrodite and Seizure. 7 and 16. 18 The imagery Sappho: Poems and Fragments study guide contains a biography of Sappho, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. [] In the poem we find grounds for our views about her worship of Aphrodite, [] her involvement in the thasos, [] and her poetic . Merchants and sailors spent so much money on the city's pleasures that the proverb "Not for every man is the voyage to Corinth" grew popular. Asking what I sought, thus hopeless in desiring, Wildered in brain, and spreading nets of passion . [3] It is also partially preserved on Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 2288, a second-century papyrus discovered at Oxyrhynchus in Egypt. In this case, Sappho often suffers from heartbreak, unrequited love, and rejection. The most commonly mentioned topic in the fragments is marriage, while the longest poem is a prayer to Aphrodite. The contrast between the white and dark feathers mimics the poets black-and-white perception of love. 17 Those mortals, whoever they are, 18 whom the king of Olympus wishes 18 to rescue from their pains [ponoi] by sending as a long-awaited helper a superhuman force [daimn] 19 to steer them away from such painsthose mortals are blessed [makares] [20] and have great bliss [olbos]. POEMS OF SAPPHO POEMS OF SAPPHO TRANSLATED BY JULIA DUBNOFF 1 Immortal Aphrodite, on your intricately brocaded throne,[1] child of Zeus, weaver of wiles, this I pray: Dear Lady, don't crush my heart with pains and sorrows. I often go down to Brighton Beach in order to commune with Aphrodite. In stanza five of Hymn to Aphrodite,, it seems that Aphrodite cares about Sappho and is concerned that the poet is wildered in brain. However, in Greek, this phrase has a lot more meaning than just a worried mind. Portraying a god or goddess as flawed wasnt unusual for the ancient Greeks, who viewed their deities as fallible and dangerous beings, so it makes sense that Sappho might have doubled down on her investigation of Aphrodites mind, especially because the goddesss personality proves more important to the rest of the poem than her lineage or power. 1 Everything about Nikomakhe, all her pretty things and, come dawn, 2 as the sound of the weaving shuttle is heard, all of Sapphos love songs [oaroi], songs [oaroi] sung one after the next, 3 are all gone, carried away by fate, all too soon [pro-hria], and the poor 4 girl [parthenos] is lamented by the city of the Argives. She describes how Aphrodite once yoked her chariot, which was borne by the most lovely / consecrated birds. These birds were likely white doves, often depicted as the chariot-driving animals of Aphrodite in Greek art and myth. [15] In Hellenistic editions of Sappho's works, it was the first poem of Book I of her poetry. Aphrodite, glory of Olympos, golden one, incomparable goddess, born of seafoam, borne on the ocean's waves. 14 Dont you have the resources for me to be able, Mother, to celebrate [telen] at the right season [r] the festival [eort], which is a delight [kharma] for [us] mortals, creatures of the day that we are? an egg But I say it is that one thing 4 that anyone passionately loves [ertai]. Her name inspired the terms 'sapphic' and 'lesbian', both referencing female same-sex relationships. 9 Instead, send [pempein] me off and instruct [kelesthai] me [10] to implore [lissesthai] Queen Hera over and over again [polla] 11 that he should come back here [tuide] bringing back [agein] safely 12 his ship, I mean Kharaxos, 13 and that he should find us unharmed. In this poem, Sappho expresses her desperation and heartbrokenness, begging Aphrodite to be the poets ally. [20] The speaker is identified in the poem as Sappho, in one of only four surviving works where Sappho names herself. 7 That name of yours has been declared most fortunate, and Naucratis will guard it safely, just as it is, 8 so long as there are ships sailing the waters of the Nile, heading out toward the open sea. and love for the sun Hear anew the voice! Sappho's Prayer to Aphrodite (Fragment 1 V. [] ) holds a special place in Greek Literature.The poem is the only one of Sappho's which survives complete. The swift wings, with dusky-tinted pinions of these birds, create quite a bit of symbolism. Marry a younger woman. By way of her soul [pskh] and her heart [kardia], bring [agein] this Sarapias herself [to me] . and throwing myself from the white rock into the brine, The poetry truly depicts a realistic picture of the bonds of love. Little is known with certainty about the life of Sappho, or Psappha in her native Aeolic dialect. (3) Although Sappho seemingly addresses the goddess in rather general terms, each of these words has considerable significance, acknowledging as they do the awesome power and potential of the goddess. . In Sapphic stanzas, each stanza contains four lines. The focal emphasis defines the substance of the prayer: Aphrodite, queen of deception, make my beloved blind to any attraction but me. And when the maidens stood around the altar, 5 These themes are closely linked together through analysis of Martin Litchfield West's translation. Forgotten by pickers. Sappho is asking Aphrodite for help in a lyrical poem that has three separate parts, each different in length and meaning. And they sang the song of Hector and Andromache, both looking just like the gods [, way she walks and the radiant glance of her face. 3 29 One more time taking off in the air, down from the White Rock into the dark waves do I dive, intoxicated with lust. Other translations render this line completely differently; for example, Josephine Balmers translation of the poem begins Immortal, Aphrodite, on your patterned throne. This difference is due to contradictions in the source material itself. The exact reading for the first word is . The Hymn to Aphrodite by Sappho was initially composed in Sapphic stanzas, a poetic structure named after Sappho. Yet the syntax and content of Aphrodites question still parallel the questions "Sappho" asked in the previous stanza, like what (now again) I have suffered. While the arrival of the goddess is a vivid departure from the status quo, and the introduction of her questions a shift in tone and aesthetics, the shift from the voice of the poet to the goddess goes unannounced. In one manuscript, the poem begins with the Greek adjective for on a dazzling throne, while another uses a similarly-spelled word that means wily-minded. Carson chose to invoke a little bit of both possibilities, and speculates that Sappho herself might have intentionally selected an adjective for cunning that still suggested glamour and ornamentation. Little is known with certainty about the life of Sappho, or Psappha in her native Aeolic dialect. 1. Swiftly they vanished, leaving thee, O goddess,Smiling, with face immortal in its beauty,Asking why I grieved, and why in utter longingI had dared call thee; In stanza four, Aphrodite comes down to earth to meet and talk with Sappho privately. Others say that, in the vicinity of the rocks at Athenian Kolonos, he [Poseidon], falling asleep, had an emission of semen, and a horse Skuphios came out, who is also called Skirnits [the one of the White Rock]. To a tender seedling, I liken you to that most of all. I dont dare live with a young man While Sappho asks Aphrodite to hear her prayer, she is careful to glorify the goddess. But you hate the very thought of me, Atthis, So, even though Sappho received help in the past, now, the poet is, once again, left all alone in heartbreak. your beauty by god or mortal unseen, your power over heart and mind unknown, your touch unfelt, your voice unheard. They just couldnt reach it. Aphrodite has power, while Sappho comes across as powerless. Sappho's "Hymn to Aphrodite" is the only poem from her many books of poetry to survive in its entirety. Aphrodite has crushed me with desire From this silence we may infer that the source of this myth about Aphrodite and Adonis is independent of Sapphos own poetry or of later distortions based on it. Though now he flies, ere long he shall pursue thee; Save me from anguish; give me all I ask for. [34] Some elements of the poem which are otherwise difficult to account for can be explained as humorous. She doesn't directly describe the pains her love causes her: she suggests them, and allows Aphrodite to elaborate. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. The references to Zeus in both the first and second stanza tacitly acknowledge that fact; each time, the role of Aphrodite as child of Zeus is juxtaposed against her position in the poem as an ally with whom "Sappho" shares a personal history. Rather comeif ever some moment, years past, hearing from afar my despairing voice, you listened, left your father's great golden halls, and came to my succor, 7 I cry and cry about those things, over and over again. Lady, not longer! Sappho, depicted on an Attic kalpis, c.510 BC The Ode to Aphrodite (or Sappho fragment 1 [a]) is a lyric poem by the archaic Greek poet Sappho, who wrote in the late seventh and early sixth centuries BCE, in which the speaker calls on the help of Aphrodite in the pursuit of a beloved. Eros Sappho sees Aphrodite as a mothering figure and often enlists the goddess help in her love life. Alas, how terribly we suffer, Sappho. Iridescent-throned Aphrodite, deathless Child of Zeus, wile-weaver, I now implore you, Don't--I beg you, Lady--with pains and torments Crush down my spirit, But before if ever you've heard my. 9 But may he wish to make his sister [kasignt] [10] worthy of more honor [tm]. 1 O Queen Nereids, unharmed [ablabs] 2 may my brother, please grant it, arrive to me here [tuide], 3 and whatever thing he wants in his heart [thmos] to happen, 4 let that thing be fulfilled [telesthn]. With the love of the stars, Kristin. 16 She is [not] here. 34 While the poem offers some hope of love, this love is always fleeting. The irony of again and again giving "Sappho" what she wants most of all, only for her to move on to another affection, is not lost on Aphroditeand the irony of the situation for Sapphos listeners is only heightened by the fact that even these questions are part of a recollection of a love that she has since moved on from! The poem, Hymn to Aphrodite, by Sappho is skilfully written and addresses various issues in the society. Contribute to chinapedia/wikipedia.en development by creating an account on GitHub. 27 And the least words of Sappholet them fall, Immortal Aphrodite, throned in splendor! 2. While Sappho praises Aphrodite, she also acknowledges the power imbalance between speaker and goddess, begging for aid and requesting she not "crush down my spirit" with "pains and torments.". once I am intoxicated, with eyebrows relaxed. .] just as girls [parthenoi] who are age-mates [of the bride] love to do sweet-talk [hupo-kor-izesthai] in their songs sung in the evening for their companion [hetaira = the bride]. to grab the breast and touch with both hands Book transmission is a tricky business, and often, when working with handwritten copies of ancient texts, modern scholars must determine if specific words include typos or if the mistakes were deliberate. Manchester Art Gallery, UK / Bridgeman. After the invocation and argument, the Greeks believed that the god would have heard their call and come to their aid. She was swept along [] [15] [All this] reminds me right now of Anaktoria. [21] The sex of Sappho's beloved is established from only a single word, the feminine in line 24. and passionate love [ers] for the Sun has won for me its radiance and beauty.2. They came. I say concept because the ritual practice of casting victims from a white rock may be an inheritance parallel to the epic tradition about a mythical White Rock on the shores of the Okeanos (as in Odyssey 24.11) and the related literary theme of diving from an imaginary White Rock (as in the poetry of Anacreon and Euripides). gifts of [the Muses], whose contours are adorned with violets, [I tell you] girls [paides] 2 [. [32], Classicists disagree about whether the poem was intended as a serious piece. resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss thenovel. A big part of that shift is tonal; in contrast to the lilting phrases and beautiful natural imagery of Sapphos stanzas, Aphrodites questions use a humorous, mocking tone towards the poet and her numerous affairs of the heart. Hear anew the voice! Come, as in that island dawn thou camest, Billowing in thy yoked car to Sappho. 1 Some say a massing of chariots and their drivers, some say of footsoldiers, 2 some say of ships, if you think of everything that exists on the surface of this black earth, 3 is the most beautiful thing of them all. Aphrodite is known as the goddess of love, beauty, and sexual desire. Why, it just, You see, the moment I look at you, right then, for me. [31] Sappho's Homeric influence is especially clear in the third stanza of the poem, where Aphrodite's descent to the mortal world is marked by what Keith Stanley describes as "a virtual invasion of Homeric words and phrases". 3 [. By stanza two of Sapphos Hymn to Aphrodite, the poet moves on to the argument potion of her prayer, using her poetics to convince Aphrodite to hear her. the topmost apple on the topmost branch. The poem survives in almost complete form, with only two places of uncertainty in the text, preserved through a quotation from Dionysius of Halicarnassus' treatise On Composition and in fragmentary form in a scrap of papyrus discovered at Oxyrhynchus in Egypt. Thus seek me now, O holy Aphrodite!Save me from anguish; give me all I ask for,Gifts at thy hand; and thine shall be the glory,Sacred protector! Sappho begs Aphrodite to listen to her prayer, reminding the goddess that they have worked well together in the past. Again love, the limb-loosener, rattles me All things, all life, all men and women incomplete. Someone called Maks was more fortunate: having succeeded in escaping from four love affairs after four corresponding leaps from the white rock, he earned the epithet Leukopetras the one of the white rock. iv . Oh, but no. Sappho's writing is also the first time, in occidental culture, that . The repetitive syntax of Carsons translation, as in the second line If she refuses gifts, rather will she give them, which uses both the same grammatical structure in both phrases, and repeats the verb give, reflects similar aesthetic decisions in the Greek. But what can I do? [24], Sappho asks the goddess to ease the pains of her unrequited love for this woman;[25] after being thus invoked, Aphrodite appears to Sappho, telling her that the woman who has rejected her advances will in time pursue her in turn. ix. So, the image of the doves is a very animated illustration of Sapphos experiences with both love and rejection. 4 [What kind of purpose] do you have [5] [in mind], uncaringly rending me apart 6 in my [desire] as my knees buckle? Come to me now, if ever thou in kindnessHearkenedst my words and often hast thouhearkened Heeding, and coming from the mansions goldenOf thy great Father. Her poetry is vivid, to the point where the reader or listener can feel the sentiments rising from the core of his or her own being. Hymenaon, Sing the wedding song! In the ode to Aphrodite, the poet invokes the goddess to appear, as she has in the past, and to be her ally in persuading a girl she desires to love her. She causes desire to make herself known in dreams by night or visions during the day. that venerable goddess, whom the girls [kourai] at my portal, with the help of Pan, celebrate by singing and dancing [melpesthai] again and again [thama] all night long [ennukhiai] . Come now, luxuriant Graces, and beautiful-haired Muses. Aphrodites tone here is loving but also belittling and a bit annoyed. Best summary PDF, themes, and quotes. The poet asks Aphrodite to be her symmachos, which is the Greek term for a comrade in war. 5 As for you, O girl [kour], you will approach old age at this marker [sma] as you, 6 for piles and piles of years to come, will be measuring out [metren] the beautiful sun. Ode To Aphrodite Lyrics Aphrodite, subtle of soul and deathless, Daughter of God, weaver of wiles, I pray thee Neither with care, dread Mistress, nor with anguish, Slay thou my spirit! 1 Drikha, your bones have turned into dust a long time agoand so too the ribbons 2 of your hair, and so too the shawl, exhaling that perfumed scent of yours, 3 in which you enveloped once upon a time the charming Kharaxos, 4 skin next to skin, complexion making contact with complexion, as you reached for cups of wine at the coming of the dawn. Aphrodite asks the poet who has hurt her. I say this to you the passerbyshe was left behind by him for as long a time as 4 is possible to hope [. The conspicuous lack of differentiation between the two of them speaks to the deep intimacy they share, and suggests that the emotional center of the poem is not "Sappho"s immediate desire for love and Aphrodites ability to grant it, but rather the lasting affection, on surprisingly equal footing, that the two of them share. I have a beautiful daughter The poem begins with Sappho praising the goddess before begging her not to break her heart by letting her beloved continue to evade her. .] In addition, it is one of the only known female-written Greek poems from before the Medieval era. We respond to all comments too, giving you the answers you need. Austin and Bastianini, quoted in Athenaeus 13.596c. She explains that one day, the object of your affection may be running away from you, and the next, that same lover might be trying to win your heart, even if you push them away. In this poem, Sappho expresses her desperation and heartbrokenness, begging Aphrodite to be the poet's ally. While the poems "Sappho" is concerned with immediate gratification, the story that the poet Sappho tells is deeply aware of the passage of time, and invested in finding emotion that transcends personal history. 'Hymn to Aphrodite' by Sappho is a classical Greek hymn in which the poet invokes and addresses Aphrodite, the Greek goddess who governs love. a small graceless child. But you, O holy one, kept askingwhatis itonce againthistime[, andwhatis it that I want more than anything to happen. As for everything else, 14 let us leave it to the superhuman powers [daimones], [15] since bright skies after great storms 16 can happen quickly. Where it is allowed to make this thing stand up erect, [6] Hutchinson argues that it is more likely that "" was corrupted to "" than vice versa. With my eyes I see not a thing, and there is a roar, The herald Idaios camea swift messenger, and the rest of Asia imperishable glory [, from holy Thebe and Plakia, they led her, the lovely Andromache. For by my side you put on But I love luxuriance [(h)abrosun]this, passionate love [eros] for him, and off she went, carrying him to the ends of the earth, 11 so beautiful [kalos] he was and young [neos], but, all the same, he was seized 12 in the fullness of time by gray old age [gras], even though he shared the bed of an immortal female. A Prayer to Aphrodite On your dappled throne, Aphroditedeathless, ruse-devising daughter of Zeus: O Lady, never crush my spirit with pain and needless sorrow, I beg you. This is a prayer to the goddess Aphrodite, and speaks of times of trouble in Sappho's life. Indeed, it is not clear how serious Sappho is being, given the joking tone of the last few stanzas. Our text includes three of Sappho's best known poems, in part because they are the most complete. She was born probably about 620 BCE to an aristocratic family on the island of Lesbos during a great cultural flowering in the area. The last stanza begins by reiterating two of the pleas from the rest of the poem: come to me now and all my heart longs for, accomplish. In the present again, the stanza emphasizes the irony of the rest of the poem by embodying Aphrodites exasperated now again. Lines 26 and 27, all my heart longs to accomplish, accomplish also continue the pattern of repetition that carries through the last four stanzas.