Synopses & Reviews
Born around 630 BC on the Greek Island of Lesbos, Sappho is now regarded as the greatest lyrical poet of Greece. Her work survives only in fragments, yet her influence extends throughout Western literature, fuelled by the speculations and romances which have gathered around her name, her story, her sexuality.
The Sappho Companion brings together many different kinds of work, ranging from blue-stocking appreciations to juicy fantasies. We see her image change, recreated in Ovid's poetry and Boccaccio's tales, in translations by Pope, Rossetti and Swinburne, Baudelaire, and H.D., in the modern versions of Eavan Boland, Carol Rumens, and Jeanette Winterson. Artists, too, have felt Sappho's power, and the,
Companion contains a rich variety of illustrations: classical statues and pre-Raphaelite paintings, Roman mosaics, and Romantic pornography.
Review
"This lively book...is sure to give a wider view of this primary writer, and provide easier access to a forbiddingly remote land and work." Publishers Weekly
Review
"An excellent example of the transformative power of literature and imagination..." Library Journal
Synopsis
Born around 630 B.C. on the Greek Island of Lesbos, Sappho is now regarded as the greatest lyrical poet of Greece. Her work survives only in fragments, yet her influence extends throughout Western literature, fuelled by the speculations and romances which have gathered around her name, her story, her sexuality. The Sappho Companion brings together many different kinds of work, ranging from blue-stocking appreciations to juicy fantasies. We see her image change, recreated in Ovid's poetry and Boccaccio's tales, in translations by Pope, Rossetti and Swinburne, Baudelaire, and H.D., in the modern versions of Eavan Boland, Carol Rumens, and Jeanette Winterson. Artists, too, have felt Sappho's power, and the Companion contains a rich variety of illustrations: classical statues and pre-Raphaelite paintings, Roman mosaics, and Romantic pornography.
Synopsis
Born around 630 BC on the Greek Island of Lesbos, Sappho is the greatest lyrical poet of Greece, and one of the greatist artists of any age. Her poems exist only as fragments, and her life is not much more than speculation, but Sappho's pull-as writer, voice, and image-affects every era. Ovid, Baudelaire, and Jeanette Winterson are just a few of the writers who, each generation, claim Sappho as their own. Who is Sappho? Lesbian, mother poet, lover, suicide warning, and icon. In this innovative blend of personal reflection and cultural history Margaret Reynolds illuminates Sappho's genius, her life, her sexuality, and the extraordinary influence she has had across centuries. Built on key themes, this book features a rich offering of poems, plays, essays, and stories by leading writers that bring Sappho's legacy to life.
Synopsis
Born around 630 B.C. on the island of Lesbos, Sappho is considered the greatest lyric poet of Greece, and one of the greatest artists of any age. Her poems exist only as fragments, and facts about her life don't go beyond much more than speculation, but Sappho's influence -- as writer, voice, and image -- is felt in every era. Ovid Baudelaire, and Jeanette Winterson are just a few of the writers who have claimed Sappho as their own. But who is the real Sappho: lesbian, mother, poet, lover, suicide, warning, or icon?
In this innovative blend of personal reflection and cultural history, Margaret Reynolds illuminates Sappho's genius, her life, her sexuality, and the extraordinary influence she has had across the centuries. Built on key themes, this book features a rich offering of poems, plays, essays, and stories by writers as diverse as Rainer Maria Rilke, Virginia Woolf, H. D. Coleridge and others that bring Sappho's legacy to life.
About the Author
MARGARET REYNOLDS is a writer, teacher, critic, and broadcaster. Her 1992 edition of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Aurora Leigh won the British Academy's Rose Mary Crawshay Prize.
Table of Contents
Before the Beginning * Introduction * A Note on the Text * The Fragments of Sappho * The Tenth Muse * The Learned Lady * Nymphs and Satyrs * Wanton Sapphoics * The Sapphic Sublime * Hellenism and Heroes * The Lady with the Lyre * Daughter of de Sade * The New Woman * Return to Mytilene * Modernist Sappho * Sapphistories * Swingers and Sisters * Fragments