Poetry of Sappho

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Sappho was an ancient Greek lyric poet from the island of Lesbos. She wrote around 10,000 lines of poetry, only a small fraction of which survives. Only one poem is known to be complete; in some cases as little as a single word survives. Modern editions of Sappho's poetry are the product of centuries of scholarship, first compiling quotations from surviving ancient works, and from the late 19th century rediscovering her works preserved on fragments of ancient papyri and parchment. Along with the poems which can be attributed with confidence to Sappho, a small number of surviving fragments in her Aeolic dialect may be by either her or her contemporary Alcaeus. Modern editions of Sappho also collect ancient "testimonia" which discuss Sappho's life and works.

Contents

Textual history

Ancient editions

The Cologne papyrus, on which Sappho's Tithonus poem is partially preserved P.Koln XI 429.jpg
The Cologne papyrus, on which Sappho's Tithonus poem is partially preserved

Sappho probably wrote around 10,000 lines of poetry; today, only 650 survive. [1] They were originally composed for performance, and it is unclear precisely when they were first written down. Some scholars argue that books of Sappho's poetry were produced in or shortly after her own lifetime; others believe that if they were written down in that time, it was only as an aid to reperformance rather than as a literary work in their own right. [2]

In the third or second century BC, Sappho's poems were edited into a critical edition by scholars in Alexandria. [3] This may have been based on an Athenian text of her poems, or one from her native island of Lesbos. [4] It is uncertain which of the Alexandrian scholars was responsible for the edition of Sappho; both Aristophanes of Byzantium and Aristarchus of Samothrace are reported to have produced editions of Alcaeus, and one or both of these may have been responsible for the Alexandrian edition of Sappho. [5] Alexander Dale argues that Aristophanes was more likely responsible. [6]

The Alexandrian edition of Sappho's poetry was divided into eight or nine books: the exact number is uncertain. Ancient testimonia mention an eighth book of the Alexandrian edition of Sappho; [7] an epigram by Tullius Laurea  [ it ] mentions nine books of Sappho, though it is not certain that he is referring to the Alexandrian edition. [7] These books were probably divided up by metre, arranged based on the syllable count of the metre. [8] Ancient sources record that each of the first three books contained poems in a single specific metre. [a] [10] Information about the contents of the later books is less certain: the fourth book appears to have contained many poems in acephalous hipponacteans with double choriambic expansion, [b] and possibly in other metres; [c] [11] the fifth book was metrically heterogeneous, with ancient sources mentioning the use of Phaelecian hendecasyllables and lesser asclepiads; [12] of the sixth, nothing is known; a single couplet from the seventh book is preserved in Hephaestion [d] but it is unclear whether this was an entire stanza or part of a three- or four-line stanza. [13] Fragment 103 preserves 10 incipits of poems by Sappho, possibly from book 8, of which the first is in a different metre from the remaining nine; those nine may or may not all be in the same meter. [14] A ninth book may have been made up of epithalamia in various meters, though many scholars are skeptical of the evidence for this, and consider that the book of epithalamia mentioned in ancient sources might have been the eighth book of the Alexandrian edition. [15]

In addition to the Alexandrian edition, at least some of Sappho's poetry was in circulation in the ancient world in other collections. The Cologne papyrus on which the Tithonus poem is preserved was part of a Hellenistic anthology of poetry, [16] and predates the Alexandrian edition. [17] Two fragments list opening lines of poems: Fr. 103 contains openings to ten of Sappho's poems, and Fr. 213C Campbell quotes openings to poems by Sappho, Alcaeus, and Anacreon; both might be related to anthological collections. [18] [19]

Loss and recovery

Friedrich Blass, whose publication of a parchment fragment of Sappho's poetry in 1880 marked the beginning of a new era in the rediscovery of her work Friedrich Blass.jpg
Friedrich Blass, whose publication of a parchment fragment of Sappho's poetry in 1880 marked the beginning of a new era in the rediscovery of her work

Today, most of Sappho's poetry is lost. The two major sources of surviving fragments of Sappho are quotations in other ancient works, from a whole poem to as little as a single word; and fragments of papyrus, many of which were discovered at Oxyrhynchus in Egypt. [20] A few fragments survive on other materials, including parchment and potsherds. [21] The oldest surviving fragment of Sappho currently known is the Cologne papyrus which contains the Tithonus poem; [22] it dates to the third century BC. [23]

Though the Alexandrian edition of Sappho's poetry made the transition from papyrus rolls to the codex, while less popular authors were not reproduced in this new format, [24] and a significant amount of her poetry survived until the seventh century, [25] her work appears to have disappeared around the ninth century, [26] and did not make the transition to minuscule handwriting. [27] Sappho's poetry continued to be accessible only in quotations from other ancient authors, which, until printed editions of Greek texts began to appear in the Renaissance, would only have been accessible in manuscript form in monastic libraries. [28] In 1508, a collection of Greek rhetorical works edited by Demetrios Doukas and published by Aldus Manutius made a poem by Sappho (the Ode to Aphrodite) available in print for the first time; [28] in 1554, Henri Estienne was the first to collect her poetry when he printed the Ode to Aphrodite and the Midnight poem after a collection of fragments of Anacreon. [29] The first modern edition devoted solely to Sappho's work was published in 1733 by Johann Christian Wolf  [ de ], including fourteen fragments not previously included in collections of her poetry. [30] The work of collecting quotations from Sappho from ancient sources culminated in Theodor Bergk's edition of the Greek lyric poets, whose second edition contained 120 fragments of Sappho and 50 testimonia. [31]

The last quarter of the nineteenth century began a new period in the rediscovery of Sappho's poetry, with the discovery of a parchment fragment at Crocodilopolis (modern Faiyum) published by Friedrich Blass in 1880. [32] From then until the publication of the "newest Sappho" in 2014, 24 papyri preserving texts of Sappho, and eight preserving related materials such as commentaries on her work, have been published. [33] The most recent major editions of Sappho, by Edgar Lobel and Denys Page in 1955, and Eva-Maria Voigt in 1971, in conjunction with Lobel and Page's Supplementa Lyra Graeca, collect all of the material published by 1974; despite the publication of further papyrus fragments in 1997, 2004, 2005 and 2014, Voigt's remains the standard modern edition. [34]

Poems

The fragments of Sappho's poems are arranged in the editions of Lobel and Page, and Voigt, by the book from the Alexandrian edition of her works in which they are believed to have been found. Fragments 142 are from Book 1, 4352 from Book 2, 5357 from Book 3, 5891 from Book 4; 92101 from Book 5, 102 from Book 7, 103 from Book 8, and 104117B from the Epithalamia. Fragments 118168 are those which Lobel and Page did not assign to any particular book, and are arranged alphabetically. [35] Fragment numbers with capital letters (such as 16A) were assigned by later editors to fit into Lobel and Page's numeration; lowercase letters indicate different parts of the same fragment.

Fragment Number [e] SourcesMeter [f] No. of
lines
Fragment 1 P. Oxy. 2288; Dionysius of Halicarnassus Sapphic stanza 28
Fragment 2 PSI 1300 Sapphic stanza 17 [g]
Fragment 3P. Berol. 5006; P. Oxy. 424 Sapphic stanza 18
Fragment 4P. Berol. 5006 Sapphic stanza 10
Fragment 5 P. Oxy. 7; P. Oxy. 2289; P. GC Sapphic stanza 20
Fragment 6P. Oxy. 2289perhaps Sapphic stanza 15
Fragment 7P. Oxy. 2289 Sapphic stanza 7
Fragment 8P. Oxy. 2289[Sapphic stanza]5
Fragment 9P. Oxy. 2289; P. GC Sapphic stanza 20
Brothers Poem [h] P. Oxy. 2289; P. Sapph. Obbink Sapphic stanza 24
Fragment 12P. Oxy. 2289 Sapphic stanza 9
Fragment 15 [i] P. Oxy. 1231 Sapphic stanza 12
Fragment 16 P. Oxy. 1231; PSI 123; P. GC Sapphic stanza 20 [j]
Fragment 16A [k] P. Oxy. 1231; PSI 123; P. GC Sapphic stanza 12
Fragment 17PSI 123; P. Oxy. 1231; P. Oxy. 2166(a); P. Oxy. 2289; P. GC Sapphic stanza 20
Fragment 18 P. Oxy. 1231; P. GC[Sapphic stanza]15
Fragment 18AP. GC[Sapphic stanza] [39] 9
Fragment 19 P. Oxy. 1231 Sapphic stanza 12
Fragment 20 P. Oxy. 1231 Sapphic stanza 24
Fragment 21 P. Oxy. 1231; Apollonius Dyscolus Sapphic stanza 15
Fragment 22 P. Oxy. 1231 Sapphic stanza 19
Fragment 23 P. Oxy. 1231 Sapphic stanza 14
Fragment 24a P. Oxy. 1231 Sapphic stanza 8
Fragment 24bP. Oxy. 2166 Sapphic stanza 5
Fragment 24c P. Oxy. 1231 Sapphic stanza 9
Fragment 24d P. Oxy. 1231 Sapphic stanza 7
Fragment 25 P. Oxy. 1231 Sapphic stanza 7
Fragment 26 P. Oxy. 1231, P. Sapph. Obbink Sapphic stanza 16
Fragment 27 P. Oxy. 1231 Sapphic stanza 13
Fragment 28a P. Oxy. 1231 [Sapphic stanza]4
Fragment 28b P. Oxy. 1231 [Sapphic stanza]5
Fragment 28c P. Oxy. 1231 [Sapphic stanza]5
Fragment 29a P. Oxy. 1231 [Sapphic stanza]4
Fragment 29b P. Oxy. 1231 [Sapphic stanza]5
Fragment 29c P. Oxy. 1231; P. Oxy. 2166[Sapphic stanza]11
Fragment 29d P. Oxy. 1231 [Sapphic stanza]4
Fragment 29e P. Oxy. 1231 [Sapphic stanza]3
Fragment 29f P. Oxy. 1231 [Sapphic stanza]7
Fragment 29gP. Oxy. 2081[Sapphic stanza]4
Fragment 29hP. Oxy. 2166[Sapphic stanza]8
Fragment 29iP. Oxy. 2166[Sapphic stanza]5
Fragment 30 P. Oxy. 1231 Sapphic stanza 9
Fragment 31 Longinus Sapphic stanza 17
Fragment 32 Apollonius Dyscolus Sapphic stanza 2
Fragment 33 Apollonius Dyscolus Sapphic stanza 2
Fragment 34 Eustathius Sapphic stanza 5
Fragment 35 Strabo Sapphic stanza 1
Fragment 36 Etymologicum Genuinum Sapphic stanza?1
Fragment 37 Etymologicum Genuinum Sapphic stanza 3
Fragment 38 Apollonius Dyscolus Sapphic stanza 1
Fragment 39Scholiast on Aristophanes' Peace Sapphic stanza 3
Fragment 40 Apollonius Dyscolus Sapphic stanza 2
Fragment 41 Apollonius Dyscolus Sapphic stanza 2
Fragment 42Scholiast on Pindar Sapphic stanza 2
Fragment 43P. Oxy. 1232]-uu-ux, possibly Glyconic with 2x dactylic expansion9
Fragment 44 P. Oxy. 1232 Glyconic with 2x dactylic expansion34 [l]
Fragment 44Aa [m] P. Fouad. 239]-uu-uu-ux, possibly Glyconic with 2x dactylic expansion12
Fragment 44Ab [m] P. Fouad. 239xx-uu-[10
Fragment 45 Apollonius Dyscolus Glyconic with 2x dactylic expansion1
Fragment 46 Herodian Glyconic with 2x dactylic expansion2
Fragment 47 Maximus of Tyre Glyconic with 2x dactylic expansion2
Fragment 48 Julian Glyconic with 2x dactylic expansion2
Fragment 49 Hephaestion; Plutarch Glyconic with 2x dactylic expansion2 [n]
Fragment 50 Galen Glyconic with 2x dactylic expansion2
Fragment 51 Chrysippus Glyconic with 2x dactylic expansion1
Fragment 52 Herodian Glyconic with 2x dactylic expansion?1
Fragment 53Scholiast on Theocritus Glyconic with 2x choriambic expansion1
Fragment 54 Julius Pollux Glyconic with 2x choriambic expansion1
Fragment 55 Stobaeus Glyconic with 2x choriambic expansion4
Fragment 56 Chrysippus Glyconic with 2x choriambic expansion3
Fragment 57 Athenaeus ll.12 uncertain; l.3 Glyconic with 2x choriambic expansion3
Pre-58 (Oxyrhynchus)P. Oxy. 1787Acephalous Hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion10
Pre-58 (Cologne)P. Köln inv.21351+21376Acephalous Hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion [42] 8
Fragment 58 P. Oxy. 1787; P. Köln inv.21351+21376Acephalous Hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion12 [o]
Post-58 (Oxyrhynchus)P. Oxy. 1787Acephalous Hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion4
Fragment 59P. Oxy. 1787[acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion]3
Fragment 60P. Halle. 3]-uu-u-x, possibly acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion11
Fragment 61P. Oxy. 1787[acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion]2
Fragment 62P. Oxy. 1787x-uu--uu-[, possibly acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion12
Fragment 63P. Oxy. 1787x-uu--uu-[, possibly acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion10
Fragment 64aP. Oxy. 1787[acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion, possibly three line strophes based on acephalous hipponacteans with a shorter third line]15
Fragment 64bP. Oxy. 1787[acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion]4
Fragment 65P. Oxy. 1787x-uu-[, possibly acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion, possibly three line strophes based on acephalous hipponacteans with a shorter third line11
Fragment 66aP. Oxy. 1787[acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion]3
Fragment 66bP. Oxy. 1787[acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion]4
Fragment 66cP. Oxy. 1787[acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion]3
Fragment 67aP. Oxy. 1787x-uu-[, possibly acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion8
Fragment 67bP. Oxy. 1787[acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion]7
Fragment 68aP. Oxy. 1787]uu--uu-u-x, possibly acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion12
Fragment 68bP. Oxy. 1787[acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion]6
Fragment 69P. Oxy. 1787[acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion] [44] 3
Fragment 70P. Oxy. 1787]--uu-[14
Fragment 71P. Oxy. 1787]uu--uu-u-x, possibly acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion8
Fragment 72P. Oxy. 1787[acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion]8
Fragment 73aP. Oxy. 1787-]uu-u-x, possibly acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion, possibly three line strophes based on acephalous hipponacteans with a shorter third line9
Fragment 73bP. Oxy. 1787-]uu-u-x, possibly acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion, possibly three line strophes based on acephalous hipponacteans with a shorter third line3
Fragment 74aP. Oxy. 1787[acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion]6
Fragment 74bP. Oxy. 1787[acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion]3
Fragment 74cP. Oxy. 1787[acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion]4
Fragment 74dP. Oxy. 1787[acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion]3
Fragment 75aP. Oxy. 1787[acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion]8
Fragment 75bP. Oxy. 1787[acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion]5
Fragment 75cP. Oxy. 1787[acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion]5
Fragment 76P. Oxy. 1787[acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion]7
Fragment 77aP. Oxy. 1787[acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion]9
Fragment 77bP. Oxy. 1787[acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion]6
Fragment 77cP. Oxy. 1787[acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion]4
Fragment 78P. Oxy. 1787[acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion]7
Fragment 79P. Oxy. 1787[acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion]6
Fragment 80P. Oxy. 1787[acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion]6
Fragment 81P. Oxy. 1787; Athenaeus acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion7
Fragment 82a Hephaestion acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion1
Fragment 82bP. Oxy. 1787acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion5
Fragment 83P. Oxy. 1787[acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion]7
Fragment 84P. Oxy. 1787[acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion]7
Fragment 85aP. Oxy. 1787[acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion]4
Fragment 85bP. Oxy. 1787[acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion]3
Fragment 86P. Oxy. 1787]-uu--uu-u-x, possibly acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion, possibly three line strophes based on acephalous hipponacteans with a shorter third line8
Fragment 87aP. Oxy. 1787[acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion]9
Fragment 87bP. Oxy. 1787[acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion]4
Fragment 87cP. Oxy. 1787[acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion]2
Fragment 87dP. Oxy. 2166[acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion]10
Fragment 87eP. Oxy. 2166[acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion]4
Fragment 87fP. Oxy. 2166[acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion]8
Fragment 88aP. Oxy. 2290-[ ]u--uu-u[-x||
x-[ ]--uu-[u-x||
-[ ]uu-u-x|||
28
Fragment 88bP. Oxy. 2290-[ ]u--uu-u[-x||
x-[ ]--uu-[u-x||
-[ ]uu-u-x|||
10
Fragment 90aP. Oxy. 2293[commentary]47 [p]
Fragment 90bP. Oxy. 2293[commentary]15 [q]
Fragment 90cP. Oxy. 2293[commentary]7
Fragment 90dP. Oxy. 2293[commentary]18
Fragment 90eP. Oxy. 2293[commentary]4
Fragment 91 Hephaestion acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion1
Fragment 92P. Berol. 9722xx-u[16
Fragment 93P. Berol. 9722]uu-u-5
Fragment 94 P. Berol. 9722glyconic ||
glyconic ||
glyconic with dactylic expansion|||
29
Fragment 95P. Berol. 9722-u-xx-[
xx-uu-[
xx-uu-u[ (possibly the same as fr.96)
16
Fragment 96 P. Berol. 9722creticus; 3x glyconics; baccheus|||36
Fragment 97P. Berol. 9722uncertain27 [r]
Fragment 98aPap. Haun. 301glyconic||glyconic||creticus glyconic|||12
Fragment 98bPap. Mediol. 32glyconic||glyconic||creticus glyconic|||9
Fragment 100 Julius Pollux uncertain1
Fragment 101 Athenaeus perhaps: glyconic||glyconic||glyconic with dactylic expansion|||4
Fragment 101A [s] Demetrius, On Style [t] uncertain; perhaps glyconic||hipponactean||4
Fragment 102 Hephaestion iambus glyconic bacchius2
Fragment 103P. Oxy. 2294]-uu-uu-u[
^hipp2ch or 3cho ba [u] . [47]
10
Fragment 103AaP. Cair. Mediol. 7[Alcaic stanza]9
Fragment 103AbP. Cair. Mediol. 7[Alcaic stanza]4
Fragment 103B [v] P. Oxy. 2308]--uu--[5
Fragment 103Ca [w] P. Oxy. 2357uncertain [48] 8
Fragment 103Cb [w] P. Oxy. 2357uncertain [48] 6
Fragment 104aDemetrius, On Style [t] l.1: 6 dactyls catalectic, l.2 iamb|pherecratean with 2x dactylic expansion2
Fragment 104b Himerius uncertain1
Fragment 105a Syrianus on Hermogenes dactylic hexameter3
Fragment 105b [x] Demetrius, On Style [t] 6 dactyls catalectic2
Fragment 106Demetrius, On Style [t] 6 dactyls catalectic1
Fragment 107 Apollonius Dyscolus Possibly dactylic hexameter [49] 1
Fragment 108 Himerius Possibly dactylic hexameter [49] 1
Fragment 109Homeric Parsings [y] Possibly dactylic hexameter [50] 1
Fragment 110 Hephaestion pherecratean with dactylic expansion3
Fragment 111 Hephaestion uncertain, perhaps pherecratean||iamb||acephalous pherecratean with dactylic expansion||iamb|||8
Fragment 112 Hephaestion choriambus bacchius choriambus bacchius||5
Fragment 113 Dionysius of Halicarnassus 3x ionics?2
Fragment 114Demetrius, On Style [t] l.1 3 choriambus bacchius; l.2 uncertain2
Fragment 115 Hephaestion pherecratean with 2x dactylic expansion2
Fragment 116 Servius uncertain1
Fragment 117 Hephaestion 3 iambs catalectic?1
Fragment 117A Hesychius of Alexandria -uu-uu [51] 1
Fragment 117Ba [z] Marius Plotius Sacerdos -uu-uu1
Fragment 117Bb [z] Marius Plotius Sacerdos -uu-uu1
Fragment 118 Hermogenes uncertain2
Fragment 119Scholiast on Aristophanes' Plutus uncertain1
Fragment 120 Etymologicum Magnum glyconic with choriambic expansion2
Fragment 121 Stobaeus uncertain2
Fragment 122 Athenaeus uncertain1
Fragment 123 Ammonius Grammaticus creticus hipponactean?1
Fragment 124 Hephaestion --uu-uu-(x-u-u--)1
Fragment 125Scholiast on Aristophanes' Thesmophoriazusae uncertain1
Fragment 126 Etymologicum Genuinum uncertain1
Fragment 127 Hephaestion ithyphallicus|ithyphallicus||1
Fragment 128 Hephaestion 3 choriambs bacchius1
Fragment 129a Apollonius Dyscolus uncertain1
Fragment 129b Apollonius Dyscolus uncertain1
Fragment 130 [aa] Hephaestion glyconic with dactylic expansion4
Fragment 132 Hephaestion uncertain3
Fragment 133 Hephaestion ia 2io anacl2
Fragment 134 Hephaestion 3 io anacl1
Fragment 135 Hephaestion 3 ionics1
Fragment 136Scholiast on Sophocles' Electrapherecratean with 2x dactylic expansion1
Fragment 137 Aristotle Alcaic stanza 7
Fragment 138 Athenaeus ia ^gl or ia ^gl ia2
Fragment 139 Philo uncertain [52] 2
Fragment 140 [ab] Hephaestion pherecratean with 2x choriambic expansion2
Fragment 141 Athenaeus ll.1 and 4 acephalous pherecratean?
ll.2-3 and 5-6 uncertain
6
Fragment 142 Athenaeus dactylic hexameter (or pherecratean with 3x dactylic expansion) [ac] 1
Fragment 143 Athenaeus dactylic hexameter (or pherecratean with 3x dactylic expansion) [ac] 1
Fragment 144 Herodian glxd2
Fragment 145Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius xx-uu-? [54] 1
Fragment 146 Tryphon pherecratean with dactylic expansion1
Fragment 147 Dio Chrysostom uncertain1
Fragment 148Scholiast on Pindar uncertain2
Fragment 149 Apollonius Dyscolus pherxd?1
Fragment 150 Maximus of Tyre glyconic with 2x choriambic expansion?2
Fragment 151 Etymologicum Genuinum pherecratean with choriambic expansion1
Fragment 152Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius glxd?2
Fragment 153 Atilius Fortunatianus uncertain1
Fragment 154 Hephaestion ^gl ba||2
Fragment 155 Maximus of Tyre cr|^hippd or cr ^gl1
Fragment 156Demetrius, On Style [t] possibly glyconic with 2x dactylic expansion2
Fragment 157 Etymologicum Genuinum Sapphics?1
Fragment 158 Plutarch 2 ad?2
Fragment 159 Maximus of Tyre uncertain1
Fragment 160 Athenaeus Sapphics?2
Fragment 161P. Bouriantuncertain, perhaps ^ia pher2d [55] 1
Fragment 162 Choeroboscus [u-u---u] [56] 1
Fragment 163 Julian [uu-u-u] [56] 1
Fragment 164 Apollonius Dyscolus [---uu-] [57] 1
Fragment 165 Apollonius Dyscolus [Sapphic stanza] [57] 1
Fragment 166 Athenaeus glc2
Fragment 167 Athenaeus glxd1
Fragment 168 Marius Plotius Sacerdos Sapphic stanza?1
Fragment 168A [ad] Etymologicum Genuinum glyconic?1
Fragment 168B [ae] Hephaestion Acephalous hipponacteans4
Fragment 168C [af] Demetrius, On Style [t] Alcaic stanza?1

Glosses

These fragments are isolated words quoted by other ancient authors, arranged alphabetically.

Fragment NumberSources
Fragment 169Scholiast on the Iliad
Fragment 169A Hesychius, Lexicon
Fragment 170 Strabo, Geography
Fragment 171 Photius, Lexicon
Fragment 172 Maximus of Tyre, Orations
Fragment 173 Choeroboscus on Theodosius
Fragment 174 Orion, Lexicon
Fragment 175 Apollonius Dyscolus, Adverbs
Fragment 176 Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae
Fragment 177 Julius Pollux
Fragment 179 Phrynichus
Fragment 180 Hesychius
Fragment 181Scholiast on Dionysius of Thrace
Fragment 182Scholiast on the Iliad
Fragment 183 Porphyry on the Iliad
Fragment 184 Choeroboscus on Theodosius
Fragment 185 Philostratus, Images
Fragment 186 John of Alexandria
Fragment 187Homeric Parsings [y]
Fragment 188 Maximus of Tyre
Fragment 189 Phrynichus
Fragment 190Scholiast on the Iliad
Fragment 191 Julius Pollux
Fragment 192 Julius Pollux

Testimonia

The testimonia are ancient accounts of Sappho, her life, and her poetry, which are conventionally included in critical editions of her work. [58] The selection included in these editions varies considerably. [59] Along with the seventy included in Voigt's edition, those given in Campbell's Loeb edition are listed here.

Voigt NumberCampbell NumberSources
Fragment 194 Himerius
Fragment 194A [ag] Michael Italikos
Fragment 195Demetrius, On Style [t]
Fragment 196 Aelius Aristides
Fragment 197 Libanius
Fragment 198aScholiast on Apollonius Rhodius
Fragment 198bScholiast on Theocritus
Fragment 198c Pausanias
Fragment 199Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius
Fragment 200Scholiast on Hesiod
Fragment 201 Aristotle
Fragment 203a Athenaeus
Fragment 203b Eustathius of Thessalonica
Fragment 203cScholiast on Iliad
Fragment 204aScholiast on Pindar
Fragment 204b Pausanias
Fragment 205 Aulus Gellius
Fragment 206 Servius on Virgil
Fragment 207 Servius on Virgil
Fragment 208 Himerius
Fragment 209 Eustathius of Thessalonica
Fragment 210Scholiast on Theocritus
Fragment 211aT. 3, 23 [ah] Pseudo-Palaephatus; Strabo; Alciphron; Plutarch; Scholiast on Libanius; Suda; Servius; Lucian; Scholiast on Lucian; Hesychius
Fragment 211b Pliny the Elder
Fragment 211c [ai] Aelian; Athenaeus; Comes Natalis
Fragment 212 Comes Natalis
Fragment 213P. Oxy. 2292
Fragment 213AaP. Oxy. 2506
Fragment 213AbP. Oxy. 2506
Fragment 213AcP. Oxy. 2506
Fragment 213AdP. Oxy. 2506
Fragment 213AeP. Oxy. 2506
Fragment 213AfP. Oxy. 2506
Fragment 213AgP. Oxy. 2506
Fragment 213AhT. 14P. Oxy. 2506
Fragment 213AiP. Oxy. 2506
Fragment 213AkP. Oxy. 2506
Fragment 213BPSI (Ommaggio all' XI congresso internationale di papirologia, Florence 1965, 16s.)
Fragment 213C [aj] P. Mich. inv. 3498
Fragment 214 [ab] Pausanias
Fragment 214A [ak] P. Oxy. 2637
Fragment 214B [al] P. Colon. 5860
Fragment 214C [am] P. Colon. inv. 8
Fragment 215T. 45Demetrius, On Style [t]
Fragment 216 Philostratus
Fragment 217 Philostratus
Fragment 218 [x] Himerius
Fragment 219T. 20 Maximus of Tyre
Fragment 220 Himerius
Fragment 221T. 50 Himerius
Fragment 222T. 47 Menander
Fragment 223T. 21 Philostratus
Fragment 224T. 18 Horace
Fragment 225T. 51 Horace
Fragment 226T. 29Scholiast on metre of Pindar
Fragment 227 Hephaestion
Fragment 228T. 30 Hephaestion
Fragment 229 Hephaestion
Fragment 230T. 31 Caesius Bassus
Fragment 231 Atilius Fortunatianus
Fragment 232 Hephaestion
Fragment 233T. 32 Photius
Fragment 234 Servius on Virgil
Fragment 235 Suda
Fragment 236 Hephaestion
Fragment 237T. 36 Dionysius of Halicarnassus
Fragment 238 Atilius Fortunatianus
Fragment 239 Marius Victorinus
Fragment 240Scholiast on Hephaestion
Fragment 242 Marius Victorinus
Fragment 243 Servius
Fragment 244T. 22 Seneca the Younger
Fragment 245T. 41 Strabo
Fragment 246T. 37 Aristoxenus [an]
Fragment 247T. 38Menaechmus [ao]
Fragment 248T. 40 Suda
Fragment 249T. 6 Eusebius
Fragment 250T. 8 Athenaeus
Fragment 251T. 5 Parian Chronicle
Fragment 252T. 1 P. Oxy. 1800
Fragment 253T. 2 Suda
Fragment 254a [ap] Herodotus
Fragment 254b [ap] Strabo
Fragment 254c [ap] Athenaeus
Fragment 254d [ap] Photius
Fragment 254e [ap] Suda
Fragment 254f [ap] Appendix Proverbiorum
Fragment 254g [ap] John Tzetzes
Fragment 255Scholiast on Plato
Fragment 256T. 4 Aelian
Fragment 257 Suda
Fragment 258 Maximus of Tyre
Fragment 259Scholiast on Lucian
Fragment 260aT. 34 Horace
Fragment 260bT. 17 Porphyrio
Fragment 260cT. 17Dionysius Latinus [aq]
Fragment 261 Ovid
Fragment 262 Tatian
Fragment 263T. 13, 16, 19, 44 [ar] Heroides 15
Fragment 264T. 7 Strabo

Uncertain authorship

Sappho and Alcaeus, illustrated on an Attic red-figure kalathos by the Brygos Painter. The two poets were contemporaries, and both wrote in the same Aeolic dialect; there are several fragments where it is uncertain which of the two is the author. Brygos Painter ARV 385 228 Alkaios and Sappho - Dionysos and maenad (05).jpg
Sappho and Alcaeus, illustrated on an Attic red-figure kalathos by the Brygos Painter. The two poets were contemporaries, and both wrote in the same Aeolic dialect; there are several fragments where it is uncertain which of the two is the author.

Fragments where the authorship is uncertain. In most cases, this is because the dialect is identifiable as Aeolic, but the poem may be by either Sappho or Alcaeus of Mytilene. [61]

Fragment NumberSourcesMeter [f] Lines
Fragment 1Scholiast to Odyssey glxc1
Fragment 2 Etymologicum Genuinum 1
Fragment 3 Apollonius Dyscolus 1
Fragment 4Homeric Parsings [y] aeolxc1
Fragment 5a Herodian gl2d?1
Fragment 5b Herodian 1
Fragment 5c Herodian 1
Fragment 6Anonymous grammarianuncertain1
Fragment 10 Herodian Alcaic stanza 2
Fragment 11 Herodian uncertain1
Fragment 12Homeric Parsings [y] uncertain (u--uuu) [62] 1
Fragment 14Homeric Parsings [y] uncertain ((-)u---uu-) [62] 1
Fragment 15a Zenobius 1
Fragment 15bScholiast on Aelius Aristides 1
Fragment 16 Hephaestion ^hippc3
Fragment 18Anonymous]uu-u-u--, ^gl ba?2
Fragment 19 Apollonius Dyscolus 1
Fragment 20 Joannes Zonaras 1
Fragment 21 Hephaestion ia ^gl ia2
Fragment 22 Hephaestion uncertain1
Fragment 23 Philodemus cho 2io anacl or hemiepes u-u--1
Fragment 25Scholiast on Theocritus uncertain (5da^) [63] 1
Fragment 25A Etymologicum Genuinum 1
Fragment 25B Etymologicum Magnum 1
Fragment 25C [as] Eustathius of Thessalonica 2
Fragment 27P. Vind. 29777 Sapphic stanza?3
Fragment 28 [at] P. Oxy. 2299uncertain [65] 8
Fragment 29P. Oxy. 22992
Fragment 30P. Oxy. 2299uncertain8
Fragment 31aP. Oxy. 2299]u-u--uu-[15
Fragment 31bP. Oxy. 2299]u-u--uu-[4
Fragment 32P. Oxy. 2299uncertain11
Fragment 33P. Oxy. 22993
Fragment 34aP. Oxy. 2299xx-uu[17
Fragment 34bP. Oxy. 2299xx-uu[5
Fragment 35P. Oxy. 2299]u---uu-u--, ^hippxc or 3cho ba8
Fragment 36aP. Oxy. 2299uncertain (-u-[) [66] 6
Fragment 36bP. Oxy. 2299uncertain (-u-[) [66] 4
Fragment 37P. Oxy. 2299uncertain13
Fragment 38P. Oxy. 2299uncertain (]u--[) [67] 3
Fragment 39P. Oxy. 2299uncertain (]uu-[) [67] 3
Fragment 40P. Oxy. 2299uncertain (]u--[) [68] 4
Fragment 41P. Oxy. 22997
Fragment 42 [au] P. Oxy. 2378uncertain16
Alcaeus 303Aa [av] P. Oxy. 2291^gl ||^gl ia9
Alcaeus 303Ab [av] P. Oxy. 22912 ia || ? || 2 ia |||15
Alcaeus 303Ac [av] P. Oxy. 2291uncertain (ia? gl?) [69] 25

Spurious epigrams

According to the Suda, Sappho wrote epigrams and elegies. Three epigrams in the Greek Anthology are attributed to Sappho, though none of them are authentic. [70] These are nonetheless included in Campbell's and Neri's editions.

Poem number (Neri)Poem number (Campbell)SourceMeterLines
307157DGreek Anthology 6.269 elegiacs 6
308158DGreek Anthology 7.489 elegiacs 4
309159DGreek Anthology 7.505 elegiacs 2

Notes

  1. For book 1, Sapphic stanzas; for book 2, glyconics with double dactylic expansion in distichs; for book 3, glyconics with double choriambic expansion in distichs. [9]
  2. x x - u u - - u u - - u u - u - -
  3. No ancient source describes the contents of book 4 of the Alexandrian edition of Sappho's works. Lobel & Page assigned the fragments of poems found on P. Oxy. 1787 to book 4 on the grounds that all are compatible with the same metre and that the first three books of Sappho were metrically homogeneous while the fifth was not; if there was another metrically homogeneous book, it was therefore likely the fourth. [10]
  4. Fr. 102; the meter of the two lines quoted by Hephaestion is an iambic dimeter, followed by a glyconic and a bacchius (u - u - u - - u u - u - u - -).
  5. Fragment numbers are largely those of Voigt 1971, the standard critical edition of Sappho's poetry, whose numeration in most cases matches that of Lobel & Page 1955. Fragments discovered between 1955 and 1963 were included as addenda to Lobel & Page 1963, a reprint of the 1955 volume; those have different numberings in Voigt and in Lobel-Page. Fragments published after Voigt's edition was completed up to 1974 are included in Lobel & Page 1974 (SLG); the numbers are those as given in Campbell 1982 to fit in with Voigt's and Lobel & Page's numerations. [36] A small number of fragments attributed to Sappho by Voigt are not included in Lobel-Page; they are instead found in Page 1962 (PMG). Two major discoveries from 2004 and 2014 postdate all of these editions; in this list they are referred to by the names given in Rayor & Lardinois 2014, and follow the Greek texts given in Obbink 2011, Obbink 2014 and Burris, Fish & Obbink 2014.
  6. 1 2 Except where otherwise noted, metres are those given in Voigt 1971. Where a metre is only partially reconstructed, it is expressed using "-" to indicate a long syllable, "u" to indicate a short syllable, and "x" to indicate a syllable which can be either long or short, with "]" and "[" respectively indicating that the metre before and after that point is lost. "||" and "|||" indicate the end of a line and a stanza, respectively.
  7. Voigt numbers the lines 1a, followed by 116; [37] line 1a is not in the Lesbian dialect and may not have been part of the original poem. [38]
  8. Follows fragment 9 in the Alexandrian edition. Called fr.9a by e.g. West 2014 and fr.10 by Neri 2021. Overlaps with fr.10 LP (omitted from Voigt).
  9. Voigt divides the fragment into 15a and 15b, but the two fragments join from line 9
  10. Voigt gives 32 lines; P. GC shows that the final 12 lines of Voigt are a separate poem (16A)
  11. Included in both Lobel & Page 1955 and Voigt 1971 as part of fragment 16. The discovery of P. GC shows that fragment 16A comes from a different poem to fragment 16.
  12. Voigt numbers the lines up to 34, including l.3a, which is entirely lost [40]
  13. 1 2 44A Voigt = Alcaeus 304 LP.
  14. Though often presented as a single fragment, the lines come from two separate sources, and Rayor & Lardinois 2014 follow Parker 2006 in taking the fragments as separate. [41]
  15. Voigt's edition groups the 26 lines of Pre-58 (Oxyrhynchus), Sappho 58, and Post-58 (Oxyrhynchus) as a single fragment. [43] A second papyrus which overlapped 12 lines of Sappho 58V, first published in 2004, preserves different text both before and after what is here called Fragment 58. Pre-58 Cologne is apparently also by Sappho. The text which comes after Fragment 58 in the Cologne papyrus is not in an Aeolic metre, and in a different hand; it is therefore not by Sappho. [23] Some, such as Obbink 2011, divide these poems into four separate Sapphic fragments; others, such as Rayor & Lardinois 2014, consider Post-58 (Oxyrhynchus) to be an alternative ending to fragment 58.
  16. Voigt divides 90a into Col. II, ll.127, and Col. III, ll.1130
  17. Voigt numbers from l.5
  18. ll.112 and 1923 are illegible
  19. 101A V = Alcaeus 347b LP. The fragment cited in Demetrius is not attributed to any author, but comes after three fragments of Sappho. Campbell says that Lobel and Page's identification of the fragment as by Alcaeus is more probable. [45]
  20. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Demetrius was the author of a stylistic handbook for writers and orators, once identified with Demetrius of Phalerum; this theory is now rejected. The date of his treatise is disputed: one view attributes it to the late-Hellenistic period; another to the Second Sophistic. [46]
  21. Fr. 103 lists the first line of ten poems by Sappho. The first appears to be in an Aeolic metre with dactylic expansion; the remaining nine are all metrically compatible though they may not all have been the same metre and can be reconstructed as either acephalous hipponacteans with double choriambic expansion, or as catalectic choriambic tetrameter
  22. 103B V = inc. auc. 26 LP
  23. 1 2 103C V = 214 LP
  24. 1 2 105b Voigt = 105c LP; 105b LP = 218 Voigt
  25. 1 2 3 4 5 The Homeric Parsings, or Epimerismoi, are a Byzantine textbook which explains single words from Homer.
  26. 1 2 117B V = inc. auc. 24 LP
  27. Lobel & Page 1955 assigns ll.12 of this fragment to 130 LP, and ll.34 to 131 LP. Campbell 1982 and Rayor & Lardinois 2014 follow Lobel and Page on this, but Voigt groups them as a single fragment.
  28. 1 2 140 Voigt = 104a LP; 140b LP = 214 Voigt
  29. 1 2 Fragments 142 and 143 can be analysed either as dactylic hexameters, or according to Aeolic principles. [53]
  30. 168A Voigt = 178 LP
  31. Not included in Lobel & Page 1955. Fr.976 PMG .
  32. Not included in Lobel & Page 1955. Fr.964 PMG .
  33. First published in 1960 by Robert Browning, and so not in Lobel & Page 1955. Included in the addenda to Lobel & Page 1963 as 117A.
  34. Campbell includes only Pseudo-Paelaphetus under the lemma Sappho 211a; he quotes Suda Σ108 as T. 3 and Strabo 10.2.9 as T. 23
  35. 211b V = 211c LP; 211c V = 211b LP
  36. List of incipits of poems by Sappho, Alcaeus, and Anacreon. First published in 1973 and therefore not included in Voigt. Campbell 213C = SLG S286 = Neri 306A
  37. Not included in Voigt. Campbell 214A = SLG S259261
  38. Not included in Voigt. Campbell 214B = SLG S261A
  39. Not included in Voigt. Campbell 214C = SLG S476 = Neri 87A
  40. Cited by Plutarch in On Music, under whose name Campbell lists the fragment.
  41. Greek historian, c.300 BC. [60]
  42. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 254 V = 202 LP
  43. A scholiast on Horace
  44. While 263 V refers to the whole of Heroides 15, Campbell quotes four parts of it separately.
  45. Eustathius says that this poem was variously attributed to Sappho, Alcaeus, and Praxilla of Sicyon. Not included in Lobel & Page 1955, Page lists it among the fragments of Praxilla as fr. 749 PMG , and among the carmina conviviala as fr. 897 PMG .
  46. The fragments of poetry preserved in P. Oxy. 2299 are attributed to Alcaeus in Lobel & Page 1955 but listed among the fragments of uncertain authorship by Voigt 1971. A possible reference to Atthis (inc. auc. 31 Voigt = Alcaeus 256 Lobel-Page l.5; cf. frr. 8, 49, 96, 131, and fr. 214C Campbell) and a mention of Abanthis (inc. auc. 35 Voigt = Alcaeus 261b col. I Lobel-Page; cf. fr. 22) suggests that these fragments are authored by Sappho. [64]
  47. Not included in Lobel-Page; fr. 919 PMG
  48. 1 2 3 Alcaeus 303A Voigt = Sappho 99 LP. Lobel identified the fragment as probably by Sappho when it was first published in 1951; Lobel & Page 1955 also attributed it to Sappho. Campbell 1982, Rayor & Lardinois 2014, and Neri 2021 all follow Lobel and Page in listing it as Sappho 99. Gauthier Liberman excludes it from his edition of Alcaeus as being more likely by Sappho.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sappho 96</span> Fragment of a poem by Sappho

Sappho 96 is a poem by the archaic Greek lyric poet Sappho. 37 lines of the fragment are preserved on a 6th-century parchment. The first twenty lines describe an imaginary scene in which an unnamed woman is struck by grief remembering an absent companion, Atthis; the remaining 17 lines, possibly originally a separate poem, reflects more generally on the foolishness of trying to compare human and divine beauty. As with other poems by Sappho such as poem 16 and 94, memory is a major theme.

If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho is a book by the Canadian classicist and poet Anne Carson, first published in 2002. It contains a translation of the surviving works of the archaic Greek poet Sappho, with the Greek text on facing pages, based on Eva-Maria Voigt's 1971 critical edition. Carson's translation closely follows the word-order of Sappho's Greek, and marks lacunae in the manuscripts with square brackets. If Not, Winter was widely praised and is considered a significant modern translation of Sappho's work.

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