For Monday, read the poems/fragments in the sections "Desire and Death Longing" (pp.20-29) and "Troy" (pp.56-61). The "Love & Death" group will answer TWO of the following questions and bring them to class on Monday. If you forget what group you're in, see the post below this one.
Q1: In general, how would you characterize Sappho's relationship to love in these poems? Is it romantic? Idealistic? Fatalistic? Tragic? Is something you wish for or something you dread, like an illness? Which poem seems to capture this best?
Q2: Since many of these poems seem to be addressed to other women, can we see what kind of relationship they had? Was it merely a deep friendship? A platonic relationship? A sexual one? What hints do these fragments offer us?
Q3: The poem on page 59 is one of her most famous, as it begins "Some call ships, infantry or horsemen/The greatest beauty earth can offer." This is one of the few poems where she tackles 'male' subject matter directly. Why might we consider this her response to the kind of subject matter she was supposed to write about? How does she contradict it?
Q4: What do these poems reveal about the realities of women's lives in ancient Greece? Who were they--what did they think, feel, fear, look forward to? What freedoms did they have? And what opportunities did they lack? Since Sappho is one of the only female voices writing at this time (that has survived), what can we learn from her?
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