/a-scenario-for-exchanges-of-comments-on-a-planned-monograph-about-the-ancient-reception-of-sappho/


“will soon be running after Sappho and will soon be offering gifts to her and will soon love her”.

I have always liked the argument of Anne Carson (1996), also adopted by Calame (1999: 23–27), that it is unclear what exactly Aphrodite promised Sappho in the past: that the girl will come back to her or that she in turn will pursue a girl unsuccessfully, just as Sappho does now, in a form of lex talionis. This interpretation helps to explain why Aphrodite is described as ‘weaving wiles’ (δολόπλοκε) in line 2. It also helps to explain why ‘Sappho’ does not list the actual help she received from Aphrodite in the past, as is common in prayers, but only what she promised her (cf. Diller 1971: 70).