A Conversation with the Goddess
Sappho,
one of the world’s greatest poets, lived in Mytilene on the Island of Lesbos in
Greece, around 600 BCE. Little is known of her life, but her work has been
acclaimed from her own time to the present day (Vanita 1300). She
was one of the great Greek lyrists and one of the few female poets of the
ancient Greek world. Sappho is
among the first poets to represent interiority. Her poems powerfully evoke
sensations of erotic longing, with woman as not only the object but also the
agent of desire (1300). Only fragments of her valuable work survive and these
fragments are a valuable treasure of poetry. The first-person speaker in her
poems, named “Sappho,” celebrates friendship, love, song, motherhood, and the
pleasures of sunlight, bathing, dancing, wine, beautiful clothes, flowers, and
sexual intimacy (1300). Sappho desires deep feeling and real friendship. She
has a close relationship with Aphrodite, goddess of love (1300).
“Fragment
One,” addressed to the goddess Aphrodite, is Sappho’s only complete poem. It is
filled with Sappho’s longing and desire for love. It expresses how strong and
beautiful real love can be. For Sappho even the most beautiful things on earth
(like sunshine, flowers, etc.) are worthless without having someone to love.
She has a very close relationship with Aphrodite. She calls upon the goddess of
love to come and help her. Sappho explains that the love she has for one person
is unrequited, and that it is killing her. She needs Aphrodite’s help to resolve the pain of love, and
she almost begs the goddesses to lend her aid and force the person to fall in
love with her.
The
poem begins with an unknown speaker calling on the immortal goddess Aphrodite,
“child of Zeus, who twists lures” (line 2), to use her amazing, unique skills
to entrap a reluctant lover. It is not easy, but Sappho believes that with Aphrodite’s
help she will be able get what she wants – the real love. The author reminds
the goddess of her past trip from her father’s golden palace, to the mortal’s
usual, more humble home. “But come here if ever before / you caught my
voice far off / and listening left your father’s / golden house” (5-8). The
goddess’s chariot is drawn by sparrows. Sappho interprets the presence of birds
as a divine sign indicating a favorable response to her request. It also
represents fertility and love, the love she longs for. When Sappho says: “and
fine birds brought you / quick sparrows over the black earth / whipping their
wings down the sky” (9-10), we find out that the goddess and Sappho have a
close relationship. Later Aphrodite arrives. Sappho begins the conversation
with the one, who can help her. Aphrodite asks the poet what she needs this
time. She asks, “Whom should I persuade (now again) / to lead you back into her
love? Who, O / Sappho, is wronging you?”(18-20). We know now that Sappho has
had the same problem in the past and the goddess has helped her to solve it.
That means she deserves the goddess’s help. Aphrodite promises that the lover
will never again be able to escape, and the one who for a long time has been
pursued will soon become pursuer, “even unwilling” (24). The poem ends with
Sappho’s now calmer voice. The need for help is still present, but the author
feels now more secure, relieved. Aphrodite will free Sappho of the pain of lost
love and bring her everything she needs to feel happiness. The pain is still
there, but the author is no longer alone in her grief. Her beloved Aphrodite
will come and help her.
Sappho’s
poetry is remarkable for its grace and beauty, and it was these qualities that
made her reputation in the ancient world. According to Strabo, “Sappho is an
amazing thing. For we know in all of recorded history not one woman who can
even come close to rivaling her in the grace of her poetry” (Carson, x). The
message of “Fragment One” is clear to both ancient and modern readers: there will
always be love, happy or unhappy, and no one, not even a goddess can do
anything to stop people from falling in love and breaking each other’s hearts.
Works Cited
Carson, Anne. If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho. New York: Vintage,
2002.
Print.
Vanita, Ruth. “Sappho.”
Encyclopedia of Sex and Gender, ed.
Fedwa Malti-
Douglas.
Vol. 4, pp. 1300-1302. Detroit: Macmillan Reference, 2007.
Print.
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