Lesbian Desire in the Lyrics of Sappho

Between Men-Between Women: Lesbian and Gay Studies

by Jane McIntosh Snyder

The lyrics of Sappho are the earliest surviving examples of explicitly homoerotic literature and have often been analyzed in terms of their revelations about the island society of Lesbos. This volume examines Sappho's poetry through the lens of lesbian desire. It focuses on the active female gaze in the texts and the narrative voice - one that describes female experience and desires as primary, not secondary to the dominant (male) culture.

Genres: LGBT, Poetry, Nonfiction, History, Gay

261 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1997

Reviews

[Harper · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thoroughly engaging read, Snyder presents Sappho’s work with great care and detail. I found myself utterly lost in Sappho’s lyric, and Snyder arguments serve to enhance the experience for a beginner reader first looking into Sappho.

I’d really recommend this for anyone looking for a modern and insightful intro to Sappho. The only thing stopping me from awarding five stars is that this is a 1990s edition, and I would dearly love an updated version dealing with the most recent discoveries of Sappho’s songs.

[Dalia Alonso · Rating 5 out of 5]

Me lo leí por encima pero no dejaré que mi ascendente y marte en Virgo me puedan contra la voluntad de dejar el corsé de Goodreads y tenerlo simplemente como lugar para consultar lecturas que he ido haciendo. Por lo demás muy bien, vivan las mujeres.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

What's preserved from the nine volumes of Sappho's songs is so scanty that many authors who write about it either fail to say very much at all; or they spin out theories with precious little connection to the corpus we actually have. Snyder threads the needle and the result is a must-read book.

She explores the precious small set of verses that survive with careful attention down to the level of the line or the word. She draws out the themes and motifs that recur and makes reasonable claims about what was likely true for Sappho's work in its entirety, while being honest about the enormous amount of uncertainty around any such suggestions. In a similar way Snyder develops a literary analysis of the key concepts of Sappho's aesthetics (charis, poikilia and habrosune) and her woman-centered erotic reciprocal vision, but she is clear about the extent to which those readings are conjecture. Snyder is upfront that her version of Sappho is far from the only possible one, but she makes the case that her Sappho is a compelling version of the poet and that examining her work in that light can also highlight the unexamined and unjustified versions of Sappho presented by previous modern scholars, especially the Victorian-era classicists who come in for particular scorn. The book's final chapter explores the influence of Sappho on twentieth-century American women poets. That creates almost a polyphonic effect as the poets are read against Sappho and against each other, and it further re-enforces the argument that the woman-centered view of Sappho remains a fruitful one.

[Gwen :) · Rating 5 out of 5]

✰✰✰✰.5 / 5

A great introduction to Sappho’s poetry and themes! Very comprehensive and interesting. Perfect for those with little background in Ancient Greek or Classical Studies. My rating is only brought down by the last chapter (which goes into modern/recent poets who allude to Sappho).

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[Ella Brannaman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is such a work of love and passion. The translations are great, but the real purpose of this was to deeply and intricately analyze Sappho's poetry. Her fragments are put into context with the history and culture of when and where they were written, the mythology that influenced them, and Sappho's connections to other poets. An understanding of Greek grammar and history is essential to understanding Sappho's work, and all those explanations are provided. If you want to really understand Sappho's work, this is a great place to start.

[Noah W · Rating 5 out of 5]

a thoughtful and refreshing examination of Sappho's poetry that centres women and women-loving-women, as any good discussion of Sappho should.