Online edition of a thesis presented to the Department of the Classics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts with honors, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, March 1990. Read more
Works Cited Austin, J.L. 1955. How to Do Things with Words. Ed. J.O. Urmson and Marina Sbisà. 2nd ed. 1962. Cambridge, MA. Bowra, C.M. 1961. Greek Lyr ic Poetry From Alcman to Simonides. London. Burkert, Walter. 1979. Structure and History in Greek Mythology and Ritual. Berkeley, CA. Burkert, Walter. 1977. Greek Religion. Trans. John Raffan 1985. Cambridge, MA. Burnett, Anne Pippin. 1983. Three Archaic Poets: Archilochus, Alcaeus, Sappho. Cambridge, MA. Read more
Chapter V: The Descent of the Goddess The Apotheosis of Difference Ὣς ἔφασαν κοῦραι μεγάλου Διὸς ἀρτιέπειαι καί μοι σκῆπτρον ἔδον δάφνης ἐριθηλέος ὄζον δρέψασαι, θηητόν· ἐνέπνευσαν δέ μοι ἀυδὴν θέσπιν, ἵνα κλείοιμι τά τ᾽ ἐσσόμενα πρό τ᾽ ἐόντα… Hesiod, Theogony How is the poetic voice constituted? The question has vexed critics in one form or another from the time poetry became an accepted speech act. Having seen the differentiation… Read more
Chapter IV: Epiphany The difference enacted So in a voice, so in a shapelesse flameAngells affect us oft, and worshipped bee John Donne, Aire and Angells The epiphany of Aphrodite, like the rest of the poem, has received a variety of critical response. Page’s view is that it contains “much detail irrelevant to [Sappho’s] present theme,” [1] Burnett’s, which she declares to be different,… Read more
Chapter III: Invocation and Entreaty The Difference Appears O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger; donot punish me in your wrathFor your arrows have already pierced me;and your hand presses hard againstme. Psalm 38 Throw away thy rod, Throw away thy wrath; O my GodTake the gentle path. George Herbert, “Discipline” The prayer begins with an invocation of Aphrodite… Read more
Chapter II: Performance and Prayer The Role of Difference The surprise of otherness is that moment whena new form of ignorance is suddenly activated as an imperative. Barbara Johnson, A World of Difference Performative language, the subject of J. L. Austin’s How To Do Things With Words, appears prominently in the verb structure of the poem. The first verb of the poem is λίσσομαι, “I pray,” which resembles… Read more
Chapter I: Previous Response The Critical Difference And it ends upNobody’s, there is nothing for any of usExcept that fearful vacillating around the centralQuestion that brings us closer,For better or for worse, for all this time. John Ashbery, Introduction Critical responses to the poem have varied widely. I survey here the most recent and informed readings in an effort to provide a starting point for my… Read more
Introduction: A Simple Prayer The Complexity of Sappho 1 υἱὲ Ταντάλου, σὲ δ’ ἀντία προτέρων φθέγξομαι Pindar, Olympian I Sappho’s Prayer to Aphrodite (Fragment 1 V. [1] ) holds a special place in Greek Literature. The poem is the only one of Sappho’s which survives complete. [2] Many of the conclusions we draw about Sappho’s poetry come from this one… Read more
Acknowledgments I would first like to express my gratitude to my first teachers of Greek, Leonard Muellner and Mark Davies, without whom, perhaps, none of this would have happened. I am grateful to many people for advice and encouragement throughout the research and writing of this thesis. My thanks go first to Professor Nagy, who always knew the right thing to say; then to Professor Barbara Freeman, Professor Greg Crane,… Read more
Acknowledgments I would first like to express my gratitude to my first teachers of Greek, Leonard Muellner and Mark Davies, without whom, perhaps, none of this would have happened. I am grateful to many people for advice and encouragement throughout the research and writing of this thesis. My thanks go first to Professor Nagy, who always knew the right thing to say; then to Professor Barbara Freeman, Professor Greg Crane,… Read more
