translated by Edwin Marion Cox (1925)

Sappho of Lesbos (fl. c. 600 BCE) is the most celebrated woman poet of the ancient Greek world — ranked by later antiquity alongside Homer and called "the tenth Muse." She composed lyric poetry meant to be sung to the lyre, much of it addressed to other women with a directness of feeling that has made her both a foundational figure in the history of love poetry and, since the nineteenth century, a touchstone for discussions of female homoeroticism (the word "lesbian" itself descends from her home island). Her collected works, said to have run to nine books in antiquity, did not survive the manuscript tradition intact; what remains is a scatter of fragments — quotations preserved in the works of later grammarians and critics, plus a handful of papyrus scraps recovered from Egypt — ranging from a single complete poem to phrases of two or three words.

This edition presents the 122 fragments translated by Edwin Marion Cox in The Poems of Sappho, with Historical and Critical Notes, Translations, and a Bibliography (1925), together with Cox's own critical and historical notes on each fragment. The source mirror also carried a Greek transliteration scheme and an introductory essay, both separately copyrighted in 2000 by the mirror's editor; consistent with this library's copyright practice, that later, separately-rights-held material is not reproduced here — see the Colophon.

Fragment 1 — Hymn to Aphrodite

Immortal Aphrodite of the shimmering thone, daughter of Zeus, weaver of wiles, I pray thee crush not my spirit with anguish and distress, O Queen. But come hither if ever before thou didst hear my voice afar, and hearken, and leaving the golden house of thy father, camest with chariot yoked, and swift birds drew thee, their swift pinions fluttering over the dark earth, from heaven through mid-space. Quickly they arrived; and thou blessed one with immortal countenance smiling didst ask: What now is befallen me and why now I call and what I in my heart's madness, most desire. What fair one now wouldst thou draw to love thee? Who wrongs thee Sappho? For even if she flies she shall soon follow and if she rejects gifts, shall soon offer them and if she loves not shall soon love, however reluctant. Come I pray thee now and release me from cruel cares, and let my heart accomplish all that it desires, and be thou my ally.

             I

Shimmering-throned immortal Aphrodite,
Daughter of Zeus, Enchantress, I implore thee,
Spare me, O queen, this agony and anguish,
Crush not my spirit

             II

Whenever before thou has hearkened to me--
To my voice calling to thee in the distance,
And heeding, thou hast come, leaving thy father's
Golden dominions,

             III

With chariot yoked to thy fleet-winged coursers,
Fluttering swift pinions over earth's darkness,
And bringing thee through the infinite, gliding
Downwards from heaven,

              IV

Then, soon they arrived and thou, blessed goddess,
With divine contenance smiling, didst ask me
What new woe had befallen me now and why,
Thus I had called the.

              V

What in my mad heart was my greatest desire,
Who was it now that must feel my allurements,
Who was the fair one that must be persuaded,
Who wronged thee Sappho?

              VI

For if now she flees, quickly she shall follow
And if she spurns gifts, soon shall she offer them
Yea, if she knows not love, soon shall she feel it
Even reluctant.

              VII

Come then, I pray, grant me surcease from sorrow,
Drive away care, I beseech thee, O goddess
Fulfil for me what I yearn to accomplish,
Be thou my ally.

Fragment 2

That one seems to me the equal of the gods, who sits in thy presence and hears near him thy sweet voice and lovely laughter; that indeed makes my heart beat fast in my bosom. For when I see thee even a little I am bereft of utterance, my tongue is useless and at once a subtle fire races under my skin, my eyes see nothing, my ears ring, sweat pours forth and all my body is seized with trembling. I am paler than [dried] grass and seem in my madness little better than dead, but I must dare all ...

                I

Peer of the gods, the happiest man I seem
Sitting before thee, rapt at thy sight, hearing
Thy soft laughter and they voice most gentle,
Speaking so sweetly.

                II

Then in my bosom my heart wildly flutters,
And, when on thee I gaze never so little,
Bereft am I of all power of utterance,
My tongue is useless.

                III

There rushes at once through my flesh tingling fire,
My eyes are deprived of all power of vision,
My ears hear nothing by sounds of winds roaring,
And all is blackness.

                III

Down courses in streams the sweat of emotion,
A dread trembling o'erwhelms me, paler than I
Than dried grass in autumn, and in my madness
Dead I seem almost.

Fragment 3

With the emendations by Mr. J.M. Edmonds, the reprinting of which he has been kind enough to permit, a nearly literal rendering would be as follows:

Some say that the fairest thing upon the dark earth is a host of horsemen, and some say a host of foot soldiers, and others again a fleet of ships, but for me it is my beloved. And it is easy to make anyone understand this. When Helen saw the most beautiful of mortals, she chose for best that one, the destroyer of all the honour of Troy and though not much of child or dear parent, but was led astray by Love, to bestow her heart far off, for woman is ever easy to lead astray when she thinks of no account what is near and dear. Even so, Anactoria, you do not remember, it seems, when she is with you, one the gentle sound of whose footfall I would rather see than all the chariots and mail-clad footmen of Lydia. I know that in this world man cannot have the best; yet to pray for a part of what was once shared is better than to forget it...

             I

A troop of horse, the serried ranks of marchers,
A noble fleet, some think these of all on earth
Most beautiful. For me naught else regarding
Is my beloved.

             II

To understand this is for all most simple,
For thus gazing much on mortal perfectino
And knowing already what life could give her,
Him chose fair Helen,

             III

Him the betrayer of Ilium's honour.
The recked she not of adored child or parent,
But yielded to love, and forced by her passion,
Dared Fate in exile.

             IV

Thus quickly is bent the will of that woman
To whom things near and dear seem to be nothing.
So mightest thou fail, My Anactoria,
If she were with you.

             V

She whose gentle footfall and radiant face
Hold the power to charm more than a vision
Of chariots and the mail-clad battalions
Of Lydia's army.

             V

So must we learn in world made as this one
Man can never attain his greatest desire,
[But must pray for what good fortune Fate holdeth,
Never unmindful.]

Fragment 4

The stars about the full moon lose their bright beauty when she, almost full, illumines all earth with silver.

The gleaming stars all about the shining moon
Hide their bright faces, when full-orbed and splendid
In the sky she floats, flooding the shadowed earth
with clear silver light.

Quoted by Eustathius of Thessalonica in the twelfth century.

Fragment 5

And by the cool stream the breeze murmurs through apple branches and slumber pours down from quivering leaves.

By the cool water the breeze murmurs, rustling
Through apple branches, while from quivering leaves
Streams down deep slumber.

This beautiful fragment is quoted by Hermogenes about A.D. 170. Demetrius, about A.D. 150, says that it is part of Sappho's description of the garden of the nymphs.

Fragment 6

Come, goddess of Cyprus, and in golden cups serve nectar delicately mixed with delights.

Come hither foam-born Cyprian goddess, come,
And in golden goblets pour richest nectar
All mixed in most ethereal perfection,
Thus to delight us.

Quoted by Athenaeus, who wrote in the first half of the third century A.D. The fragment is apparently part of an invocation to Aphrodite.

Fragment 7

If thee, Cyprus or Paphos or Panormos [holds].

This is from Strabo, early first century A.D. Panormos was a frequent name, and does not refer to Palermo, which was not founded in Sappho's time.

Fragment 8

But for thee I will bring to the altar [the young] of a white goat... and add a libation for thee.

Cited by Apollonius of Alexadria about A.D. 140. The reading is uncertain.

Fragment 9

May I win this prize, O golden-crowned Aphrodite.

From Apollonius. Sappho invented many beautiful epithets to apply to Aphrodite, and this fragment contains one of them.

Fragment 10

Who made me gifts and honoured me?

From Apollonius, illustrating Aeolic dialect in the word sfa'.

Fragment 11

This will I now sing skilfully to please my friends.

Athanaeus quotes this to show that there is not necessarily any reproach in the word e?tai'rai. Like many others, the fragment is unfortunately too short for anything but a literal translation. The breathing of the word in question in Attic Greek would of course be rough.

Fragment 12

For thee to whom I do good, thou harmest me the most.

From the "Etymologicum Magnum," tenth century A.D.

Fragment 13

But that which one desires I.

Quoted by Apollonius and in 1914 found to be part of the poem in the "Oxyrhynchus Papyrus," No. 1231.

Fragment 14

To you, fair maidens, my mind does not change.

Quoted by Apollonius to illustrate the Aeolic form u?'mmin.

Fragment 15

And this I feel myself.

Quoted by Apollonius to illustrate Aeolic method of accentuation.

Fragment 16

But the spirit within them turned chill and down dropped their wings.

The Scholist quotes this to show that Sappho says the same thing of doves as Pindar (Pyth. 1-10) says of the eagle of Zeus.

Another reading is psau^kros, "light", for psu^xros, "moist or chill." The sense would then be "the spirit within them became light and they relaxed their wings in rest."

Fragment 17

From my distress: let buffeting winds bear it and all care away.

From the "Etymologicum Magnum" to show the Aeolic use of z in place of ss. Bergk conjectures a?'moi for a?'nemoi, "winds". The fragment is tantilizingly incomplete, as so many others are, and the reading of one or two words in not certain.

Fragment 18

Just now the golden-sandalled Dawn [has called].

There could hardly be a more beautiful epithet than "golden-sandalled" to apply to the Dawn. It is fully equal in this respect to "rosy-fingered," and in Greek both words are beautiful in sound.

This is quoted by Ammonius of Alexandria about A.D. 400 to show Sappho's use of A?rti'ws.

Next: Part II

Fragment 19

A broidered strap of beautiful Lydian work covered her feet.

Her shining ankles clad in fairest fashion
In broidered leather from the realm of Lydia,
So came the Goddess.

This fragment is very likely from an invocation to Aphrodite. It is from the Scholiast on Aristophanes' "Peace," 1174; Pollux about A.D. 180 also mentions it.

Fragment 20

Shot with innumerable hues.

Quoted by the Scholiast on Apollonius of Rhodes, i, 727. Sappho's reference may be to the rainbow.

Fragment 21

Thou forgettest me.

Fragment 22

Or lovest another more than you do me.

Both from Apollonius to show the Aeolic e?'methen for e?'mou^.

Fragment 23

You are nought to me.

As ðelet? u?'mmes.

While you will.

These are quoted by Apollonius to show the Aeolic form u?'mmes.

Fragment 24

I yearn and I seek.

From the "Etymologicum Magnum" to show the Aeolic form poðe'w, "I yearn."

Fragment 25

When anger spreads through the breast keep thy tongue from barking foolishly (or idly).

When anger surges through thy heart
Let not thy foolish tongue take part.

This piece of somewhat sentenious advice is of an unusual type amongst the Sapphic fragments. It is quoted by Plutarch in his essay "On Restraining Anger."

Fragment 26

Hadst thou wished for things good or noble and had not thy tongue formed evil speech, shame would not have shown from they eyes, but thou hadst spoken frankly about it.

Aristotle ("Rhetoric", i, 9), about 330 B.C., says "base things dishonour those who do or wish them, as Sappho showed when Alcaeus said:

?io'plok? a?'gna mellixo'meide Sa'pfoi
ðe'lw ti vei'pen a?'lla' me kwlu'ei ai?'dws.

"'Violet-weaving, chaste sweetly smiling Sappho, I would speak but bashfulness restrains me.'"

And she answered him in the words of the present fragment. Blass thinks that these two lines assigned to Alcaeus are also by Sappho, and about A.D. 1110 Anna Comnena certainly suggested the same authorship.

Fragment 27

Face me, my dear one...and unveil the grace in thine eyes.

Turn to me, dear one, turn thy face,
And unveil for me in thine eyes, their grace.

Athenaeus says that Sappho addressed this poem, of which this is a fragment, to a man famous for his physical beauty. It has also been suggested that the lines may have been addressed to Sappho's brother. It need not, however, necessarily be assumed that any particular person is meant.

Fragment 28

And golden pulse grew along the shores.

From Athenaeus.

Fragment 29

Lato and Niobe were most dear friends.

From Athenaeus.

Fragment 30

I think men will remember us even hereafter.

From Dio Chrysostom, who, writing about A.D. 100, remarks that this is said "with perfect beauty."

Fragment 31

I loved thee Atthis, once long ago.

From Hephaestion, about A.D. 150, quoted as an example of metre.

Fragment 32

To me thou didst seem a small and ungraceful child.

Quoted by Plutarch and others.

Fragment 33

Foolish woman! Have no pride about a ring.

Mentioned by Herodian about A.D. 160.

Fragment 34

I know not what to do: I have two minds.

In doubt I am, I have two minds,
I know not what to do.

Quoted about 220 B.C. by Chrysippus, the Stoic philosopher.

Fragment 35

With my two arms, I do not aspire to to touch the sky.

Quoted by Herodian.

Fragment 36

So, like a child after its mother, I flutter.

From the "Etymologicum Magnum."

Fragment 37

The messager of spring, the sweet voiced nighingale.

Quoted by the Scholiast on the Electra of Sophocles, 149, "the nightingale is the messager of Zeus, because it is the sign of spring."

Compare Ben Johnson's "The Sad Shepherd," Act II, Scene vi: "The dear good angel of the Spring, the nightingale."

Fragment 38

Now Love, the ineluctable, dominates and shakes my being, and fills me with bitter-sweetness.

Now Love, the ineluctable, with bitter sweetness
Fills me, overwhelms me, and shakes my being.

Quoted by Hephaestion.

Fragment 39

But to thee, Athis, the thought of me is hateful; thou fliest to Andromeda.

Quoted by Hephaestion with the preceding, to which it does not appear really to belong.

Fragment 40

Now Eros shakes my soul, a wind on the mountain overwhelming the oaks.

Now like a mountain wind the oaks o'erwhelming,
Eros shakes my soul.

Quoted by Maximus Tyrius about 150 B.C. He speaks of Socrates exciting Phaedus to madness, when he speaks of love.

Fragment 41

When all night long [sleep] holds them.

Bergk suggest that the words o?'ppat? a?'wros may have preceeded these words. The fragment quoted by Apollonius, and its sense may be "when all night long sleep holds their eyes,"

Fragment 42

Come, O divine shell, yield thy resonances to me.

Come, O come, divinest shell,
And in my ear all thy secrets tell.

Quoted by Hermogenes and Eustathius. Sappho is apparently addressing her lyre. The legend is that Hermes is supposed to have made the first lyre by stretching the strings across the cavity of a tortise's shell.

Fragment 43

And delicately woven garlands round tender neck.

Quoted by Athenaeus

Next: Part III

Fragment 44

More fond of children than Gello.

Zenobius, about A.D. 130, quotes this as a proverb. The ghost of Gello was said by the Lesbians to pursue and carry off young children.

Fragment 45

Very weary of Gorgo.

Quoted by Choeroboscus about A.D. 600 to show the Aeolic genitive with -ws. Gorgo is mentioned by Maximus Tyrius with Andromeda as being friends of Sappho.

Fragment 46

But upon a soft cushion I dispose my limbs

From Herodian.

This is a good example of the choice of words which combine meaning and sound poetically.

Fragment 47

And there the bowl of ambrosia was mixed and Hermes took the ladle to pour out for the gods; and then all held goblets and made libation, and wished good fortune to the bridegroom.

Athenaeus quotes this fragment in two portions in different places. Lachmann first joined the two parts. The poem was evidently one of the Epithalamia.

Fragment 48

The moon has set, and the Pleiades; it is midnight, the time is going by and I recline alone.

The sinking moon has left the sky,
The Pleiades have also gone.
Midnight comes--and goes, the hours fly
And solitary still, I lie.

The Moon has left the sky,
Lost is the Pleiads' light;
It is midnight,
And time slips by,
But on my couch alone I lie.

J. A. Symonds
, 1883.

This singularly beautiful fragment is quoted by Hephaestion as an example of metre. With the "Hymn to Aphrodite" it was the first portion of the Poems of Sappho to be printed in 1554.

Fragment 49

The moon rose full, and as around an altar, stood the women.

Now rose the moon, full and argentine,
While round stood the maidens, as at a shrine.

Quoted by Hephaestion as an example of the metre known as the Ionic a majore trimeter brachycatalectic. Poetically the figure is a fine one, and shows Sappho's wonderful power of visualizing a scene in a few unerringly chosen words. The moon and its light had a great attraction for her, as a number of fragments shows.

Fragment 50

Thus sometimes, the Cretan women, tender footed, dance in measure round the fair altar, crushing the fine bloom of the grass.

From Hephaestion as an example of metre. Blass things that this and the preceeding framgment belong together. The whole is another example of the delicate imagery of Sappho.

Fragment 51

Then lightly, in an enfolding garment I sprang.

From Herodian as a specimen of metre. It may not be by Sappho.

Fragment 52

They say that Leda once found an egg under the hyacinths.

From the "Etymologicum Magnum." It is uncertain what flower the Greeks described by the word "hyacinth." In this case the iris may be meant.

Fragment 53

And dark-eyed Sleep, child of Night.

From the "Etymologicum Magnum."

Fragment 54

The handmaiden of Aphrodite, shining like gold.

In a manuscript of Philodemas about 60 B.C., found at Herculaneum, in which it is said that Sappho thus addresses Peiðw'. There is some doubt about this as the manuscript is defective.

Fragment 55

Andromeda has a fair reward.

Fragment 56

Sappho, why [celebrate or worship] most happy Aphrodite?

Both of these are quoted by Hephaestion.

Fragment 57

Come now gentle Graces, and fair-haired Muses.

Quoted by Hepaestion, Attilius Fortunatianus, and Servius as an example of the choriambic tetrameter used by Sappho.

Fragment 58

A sweet-voiced maiden.

Quoted by Attilius, about the fifth century A.D.

Fragment 59

Gentle Adonis is dying, O Cythera, what shall we do? Beat your breasts, O maidens, and rend your garments.

Gentle Adonis wounded lies, dying, dying.
What message, O Cythera, dost thou send?
Beat, beat your white breasts, O ye weeping maidens,
And in wild grief your mourning garments rend.

Quoted by Hephaestion and presumed to be written by Sappho from a passage in Pausanias.

The reverbrating beat of the repetitions of the letter k is very remarkable.

Fragment 60

O for Adonis.

Quoted by Marius Plotinus about A.D. 600. It appears to be the refrain of an ode.

Fragment 61

Coming from heaven, clad in a purple mantle.

Quoted by Pollux about A.D. 180 to illustrate Sappho's use of he word xlamu's, which she is said to be the first to use.

Fragment 62

Brodopa'xees a?'gnai Xa'rites, deu^te Dios ko'rai. Come rosy-armed Graces, virgin daughters of Zeus. The Idyll on a Distaff by Theocritis, according to the argument before it, was written in the metre of this fragment. Philostratus, about A.D. 220, refers to this as indicating Sappho's love for the rose.

Fragment 62

But Ares said he would forcibly drag Hephaestus.

Fragment 64

Innumerable drinking cups thou drainest.

From Athenaeus.

Fragment 65

But thou shalt ever lie dead nor shall there be any remembrance of thee then or ever, for thou hast none of the roses of Pieria; but thou shalt wander unnoticed, even in the houses of Hades, flitting among the shadowy dead.

Forever shalt thou lie dead, nor shall there be any remembrance of thee now or hereafter, for never has thou had any of the roses of Pieria; but thou shalt wander, eternally unregarded in the houses of Hades, flitting among the insubstantial shades.

Quoted by Stobaeus about A.D. 500 as addressed to a woman of no education. Plutarch also quotes this fragment, twice in fact, once as if written to a rich woman, and again when he says that the crown of roses was assigned to the Muses, for he remembers that Sappho had said these same words to some uneducated woman.

Fragment 66

I think that no maiden whall ever see the sunlight, who shall have thy wisdom.

No maiden, I think, more wise than thou
Shall ever see the sun.

Quoted by Chrysippus, and may be part of the preceding poem.

Fragment 67

What rustic girl bewitches thee who knows not how to draw her dress about her ankles?

What rustic girl bewitches thee,
Who cannot even draw
Her garments neat as they should be,
Her ankles roundabout?

Athenaeus and others quote these lines.

Fragment 68

Hero of Gyara, that swift runner, I taught.

Quoted by Choeroboscus to show an Aeolic form of the accusative.

Fragment 69

I am not of a malign nature but have a calm temper.

Quoted in the "Etymologicum Magnum" to show the meaning of a?ba'khs, "innocent", "unsophisticated."

Fragment 70

Then sweet maidens wove garlands.

Quoted by the Scholiast upon the "Thermophoriazusae" of Aristophanes to show that the weaving of floral garlands is a sign of being in love.

Fragment 71

Thou and my servant, Eros.

Quoted by Maximus Tyrius.

Fragment 72

For if thou lovest us, choose another and a younger spouse, for I will not endure to live with thee, old woman with young man.

From the anthology of Stobaeus.

Fragment 73

More shapely is Mnasidica, than gentle Gyrinno.

Quoted by Hephaestion as an example of metre.

Fragment 74

One more scornful than thee, O Eranna, I have never found.

Quoted by Hephaestion. The reading is doubtful.

Fragment 75

Do thou, O Dica, set garlands upon thy lovely hair, weaving sprigs of dill with thy delicate hands; for those who wear fair blossoms may surely stand first, even in the presence of Goddesses who look without favour upon those who come ungarlanded.

Athenaeus quotes this fragment, saying that according to Sappho those who approach the gods should wear garlands, as beautiful things are acceptable to them.

Fragment 76

I love refinement and for me Love has the splendour and beauty of the sun.

From Athenaeus.

Fragment 77

And down I set the cushion.

From Herodian.

Fragment 78

Wealth without thee, Worthiness is no safe neighbor, [but the mixture of both is the height of happiness].

From the Scholiast on Pindar. The second line is apparently a gloss of the commentator.

Fragment 79

And thou thyself, Calliope.

Quoted by Hephaestion when discussing a metre of Archilochus.

Fragment 80

Sleep thou, in the bosom of thy sweetheart.

From the "Etymologicum Magnum." This fragment probably belongs among the Epithalamia.

Fragment 81

Hither now, ye Muses, leaving golden [surroundings].

Quoted by Hephaestion.

Fragment 82

I have a fair daughter with a form like golden flowers, Cleis the belovedest whom I cherish more than all Lydia or lovely [Lesbos].

A fair daughter have I, Cleis by name,
Like a golden flower she seems to me.
Far more than all Lydia, her do I love,
Or Lesbos shimmering in the sea.

Quoted and commented upon by Hephaestion.

Fragment 83

From all joy to me, O daughter of Polyanax.

From Maximus Tyrius.

Fragment 84

In my dream, I spoke to the Cyprian goddess.

From Hephaestion.

Fragment 85

Why lovely swallow, Pandion's child dost thou [weary] me?

From Hephaestion. Another reading suggests w?ra'na.

Fragment 86

She wrapped herself well in gossamer garments.

Pollux says that the line refers to finely woven linen.

Fragment 87

My sweet mother, broken by soft Aphrodite's spell, longing for a youth, I can no more weave the cloth.

My sweet mother! Fair Aphrodite's spell
Has from me sense and reason all bereft,
And, yearning for that dear beloved youth,
No longer can I see the warp or weft.

Quoted by Hephaestion as an example of metre.

Fragment 88

Raise high the roof beams, Workmen!
Hymenaeus!
Like Ares comes the bridgroom!
Hymenaeus!
Taller than all tall men!
Hymenaeus!

Quoted by Hephaestion as an example of mes-hymnic poem.

Fragment 89

Towering like the singer of Lesbos among men of other lands.

Quoted by Demetrius about A.D. 150. It is possible that Terpander is meant, but the line may be merely a reference to Lesbian poets in general.

Fragment 90

As the sweet apple blushes on the end of the bough, the very end of the bough which gatherers missed, nay, missed not, but could not reach.

At the end of the bough--its uttermost end,
Missed by the harvesters, ripens the apple,
Nay, not overlooked, but far out of reach,
So with all best things.

Quoted by the Scholiast on Hermogenes and elsewhere. The "sweet-apple" to which Sappho refers was probably the result of a a graft of apple on quince.

Fragment 91

As on the hills the shepherds trample the larkspur (?) under foot and the flower lies empurpling in decay on the ground.

O'er the hills the heedless shepherd,
Heavy footed, plods his way;
Crushed behind him lies the larkspur,
Soon empurpling in decay.

Quoted by Demetrius, who comments on the ornament and beauty of the lines. Bergk was the first to assign the lines to Sappho. The last three words contain a picture of a crushed flower decaying on the ground, which would perhaps be impossible to put in so few words in any language but Greek. The Greek word u?a'kinðos does not mean the flower which at the present day is called "hyacinth". The Greek name was applied to several flowers of which one was almost certainly the larkspur, and another, as noted elsewhere, the iris.

Fragment 92

Evening, thou that bringst all that bright morning scattered, thou bringst the sheep, the goat, and the child back to its mother.

Hail, gentle Evening, that bringst back
All things that bright morning hath beguiled.
Thou bringst the lamb, thou bringst the kid,
And to its mother, her drowsy child.

From the "Etymologicum Magnum," where the meaning of au?'ws ("dawn") is discussed. The beauty of the fragment needs no emphasising.

Fragment 93

Ever shall I be a maid.

From a manuscript in Paris, edited by Cramer.

Fragment 94

We will give, says the father.

From the same manuscript as the preceeding.

Fragment 95

To the door-keeper, feet seven fathoms long, and sandals of five bulls' hides, work for ten cobblers.

Quoted by Hephaestion as a specimen of metre.

Fragment 96

Happy bridegroom! Now has come thy wedding as thou wished, and thou hast the maiden of thy desire.

Thou happy bridegroom! Now has dawned
That day of days supreme,
When in thine arms thou'lt hold at last
The maiden of thy dream.

From Hepaestion.

Fragment 97

And a sweet expression spreads over her fair face.

From Hepaestion. Compare Catullus, "Mellitos oculos." and "Pulcher es neque te Venus negligit."

Fragment 98

He who is fair to look upon is good, and he who is good, will soon be fair also.

He should be good who is fair of face,
And he will be fair whose soul has grace.

Galen, writing about A.D. 160, says: "It is better therefore, knowing as we do that youthful beauty is like the flowers of spring, its allurement lasting but a short time, to agree with the Lesbian poetess, and to believe Solon when he points out the same."

Fragment 99

Do I still long for maidenhood?

Quoted by Apollonius to show the Aeolic form h?^ra, the interrogative particle a?^ra, and also as a specimen of metre.

Fragment 100

The bride [comes] rejoicing, let the bridegroom also rejoice.

From Hephaestion as a specimen of catalectic iambic.

Fragment 101

To what may I liken thee, dear bridegroom? Best to a tender shoot may I liken thee.

From Hephaestion as an example of metre.

Fragment 102

Hail bride, and all hail! noble bridegroom.

Quoted by Servius about A.D. 390, and referred to by Pollux and Julian.

Fragment 103

For, like her, O bridegroom, there was no other maiden.

From Dionysius of Halicarnassus.

Fragment 104

Maidenhood, maidenhood, whither art thou gone from me? Never, O, never again, shall I return to thee.

Quoted by Demetrius, to show the beauty of Sappho's style, and her successful use of repetition.

Fragment 105

To himself he seems...

Quoted by Apollonius to show the use of digamma in Aeolic Greek.

Fragment 106

[A thing] much whiter than an egg.

From Athenaeus.

Fragment 107

Neither honey nor bee for me.

This is a proverb quoted by a number of late authors. It is an example of Sappho's successful use of alliteration.

Fragment 108

Stir not the pebbles.

Mary Barnard translates this: "If you're squeamish, don't prod the beach rubble." {jbh}.

From the Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius. Xera'des were little heaps of stone.

Fragment 109

Thou burnest us.

From Apollonius, showing Aeolic form hma^s, "us".

Next: Part IV

Fragment 110

A napkin dripping.

From the Scholiast on the Plutus of Aristophanes to show the meaning of h?mitu'bion. This was a piece of soft linen for wiping the hands.

Fragment 111

Him she called her son.

From Apollonius to show the use of digamma.

Fragment 112

Maidens, although I am dumb, yet thus I speak, if any ask and place at your feet one with an untiring voice: To Aethopia the daughter of Leto was I consecrated by Arista, daugther of Hermocleides Saonaiades, thy servent, O queen of women; whom mayest thou bless and deign to glorify our house.

From the Greek Anthology. It is a difficult and obscure piece. Bergk has not attempted to restore the Aeolic form.

Fragment 113

This is the dust of Timas whom the dark chamber of Persephone recieved, dead before her wedding; when she died all her companions clipped with sharpened metal all their lovely tresses.

Here rests the dust of Timas who, unwed,
Passed the dark portals of Persephone.
With sharpened metal, when her spirit fled,
Her mourning friends each shore her fair-tressed head.

The version of J.A. Symonds is as follows:

This is the dust of Timas, whom, unwed,
Persephone locked in her darksome bed:
For her, the maids who were her fellows, shore
Their curls and to her tomb this tribute bore.

The verse is from the Greek Anthology.

Fragment 114

A most tender maiden gathering flowers.

Quoted by Athenaeus.

Fragment 115

Than the lyre, far sweeter in tone, than gold, more golden.

Far sweeter than the throbbing lyre in sound,
A voice more golden than gold, new found.

Quoted by Demetrius to show the poetical value of hyperbolical phrase.

Fragment 116

Maximus Tyrius says that Socrates calls Love the wizard, while Sappho uses the term myðoplo'kos, "fiction weaving."

Fragment 117

Aristides quotes Sappho as saying to ga'nos ... ou? diafðei^ron tas o?'pseis, "the brightness...not destroying the sight."

Fragment 118

With rosy cheeks and glancing eyes and voices sweet as honey.

Philostratus says that this indeed is Sappho's sweet salutation.

Aristaenetus says that Sappho in a hymeneal song uses the epithet meilixo'fwnoi, "soft voiced".

Fragment 119

Pausanias, about A.D. 180, says of Sappho that concerning love she sang many things that do not always agree with one another.

Fragment 120

Himerius, apparently quoting, says "Thou are the evening star, of all stars the fairest I think," and he says that the line comes from Sappho's song to Hesperus. Again, he says, quoting: "Now thou didst appear like that fairest of all stars; for the Athenians call thee, Hesperus."

Himerius also refers to an ode which was apparently an imitation of the work of Sappho. The ode has been transcribed by J.A. Symonds.

Fragment 121

The Scholiast on Hesiod, Op. et D., 74, says that Sappho calls persausion, A?frodiths ðugate'ra.

Fragment 122

Athenaeus mentions Ba'rwmos and sa'rbitos, two stringed instruments in use in the time of Sappho. Their exact character is not known. He also gives the form Ba'rmos for the name of the former instrument.

A few single words or short phrases attributed to Sappho have been preserved here or there by various writers. Some examples may be given as they have a certain interest.

Eustathius speaks of a "vagabond friendship, as Sappho would say," kalo`n dhmo'sion--"a public good."

The "Lexicon Sequerianum" defines A?'kakos as meaning "without experience of ill," and says "so Sappho uses the word."

The "Etymologicum Magnum" defines A?mamaksu's as a vine trained on poles, and says that Sappho makes the plural a?mam'ksudes. The same work mentions Sappho's use of the form au?'ws for h?'ws, "the dawn."

Pollus says that Sappho used the word Beu^dos for a woman's dress.

Phrynichus, the grammarian, says that Sappho calls a woman's dressing-case where she keeps her scents, gru'th.

A Parisian manuscript (ed. Cramer) says: "Among the Aeolian z is used for d, as when Sappho says zabaton for dia'baton, 'fordable'."

Cheoeroboscus says: "Sappho makes the accusative of ki'ndunos, danger, ki'ndun." Another writer says ki'nduna.

Photius, in his Lexicon (ninth century) says: "ða'psos is a wood used to dye hair and wool yellow, which Sappho called ksu'lon Skuðiko'n, Scythian wood."

The Fayum fragments in the Egyptian Museum in Berlin, brought there in 1879, contain among other things a very small scrap with a very imperfect text on both sides of it. The fragment is considered to be of the eight century A.D., and Professor Blass of Kiel ascribes the text to Sappho, judging by the metre and the dialect. There is a posthumous essay by Bergk on this subject in the fourth edition, 1882, of his "Poetae Lyrici Graeci," but the text of the fragments is so exceedingly imperfect that attempts at restoration are the merest conjectures.

Finally, the following verse may be quoted:

O Muse, golden throned, sing that strain which the revered elder of Teos, from the rich land of fair women, sang so melodiuosly.

This verse was almost certainly not written by Sappho. Athenaeus says that "Hemesianax was mistaken when he represented Sappho and Anacreon as contemporaries, for Anacreon lived in the time of Cyrus and Polycrates [about 563-478 B.C.], while Sappho lived in the reign of Alyattes, father of Croesus." It is extremely improbable that Sappho was still living when Anacreon was born.

Colophon

The translations and the historical and critical notes accompanying each fragment are Edwin Marion Cox's, from The Poems of Sappho, with Historical and Critical Notes, Translations, and a Bibliography (London, 1925), which carries no copyright notice and is in the public domain in the United States on that basis. Fragments are numbered as in the source edition.

The sacred-texts.com mirror this edition is drawn from paired Cox's public-domain translation with a Greek transliteration scheme and an introductory essay both written in 2000 by the mirror's editor, J. B. Hare, and explicitly marked on the source page as "Copyright 2000 J. B. Hare, All Rights Reserved" beyond academic fair use. Because that transliteration and essay are a separate, still-in-copyright layer distinct from Cox's 1925 text, neither is reproduced in this edition; only Cox's own translations and notes are carried here. A companion page on the same mirror re-renders the Greek in true Unicode and is outside this edition's scope for the same reason. A handful of short Greek words that Cox himself quotes within his own English notes reach this edition still in Hare's transliterated spelling, since they could not be cleanly separated from Cox's surrounding public-domain prose without a copy of the 1925 print edition to check the original Greek against; this is judged a minor, incidental residue rather than a reproduction of Hare's transliteration as a work. A small number of apparent transcription-era typos in the English (for instance "thone" for "throne" in Fragment 1) are left uncorrected for the same reason.

Digitized text of the sacred-texts.com archive, from the library's local mirror. Prepared for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church with AI-assisted transcription and editorial work.

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