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WK 04 - Sappho Hymn To Aphrodite
WK 04 - Sappho Hymn To Aphrodite
Translation
1. There is disagreement in the manuscripts about whether the first word of Sappho’s poem is
poikiloTHron’ or poikiloPHron’. This difference of one Greek letter is quite significant; poikiloTHron means
“on a many-colored, or elaborately-worked, throne”, while poikiloPHron means “with a many-colored
mind”. The choice of reading is, ultimately, a matter of the translator’s or editor’s own taste.
2. In the original, the adjective “golden” is grammatically ambiguous, and could refer either to the house
or to the chariot that Sappho asks Aphrodite to yoke. I have tried to preserve this ambiguity by giving the
adjective “shining” to the car.
3. The text is corrupt at this point, and editors differ over whether the word *peitho* should be taken as a
verb, so that Aphrodite is saying “Whom should I persuade…” or as a noun. If one takes it as a noun, as I
have done here, the next question is whether it refers to the personified goddess Peitho, Persuasion, or
simply to the abstract concept. I have chosen to personify the noun by capitalizing it. Again, as with
*poikilothron/-phron” in line 1, the final guide is each reader’s (or translator’s) taste.
4. In the Greek, the sex of Sappho’s beloved is indicated by only one word, the feminine participle
“etheloisa”, “wishing/wanting/willing”. Unfortunately, the text may be corrupt at this point and the reading
is not absolutely certain, although it is generally accepted.
Explanation of Meter
The “Hymn to Aphrodite” is written in the meter Sappho most commonly used, which is called “Sapphics”
or “the Sapphic stanza” after her. Greek meter is quantitative; that is, it consists of alternating long and
short syllables in a regular pattern. The Sapphic stanza consists of 3 identical lines and a fourth, shorter
line, in the following pattern. (- indicates a long syllable, u a short syllable, and x a “syllable anceps,” one
that can be either long or short.)
- u - X - u u - u - -
- u - X - u u - u - -
- u - X - u u - u - -
- u u - -
In my translation, I have attempted to represent this quantitative meter by stressed and unstressed
syllables. That is, the stressed syllables in my translation correspond to the long syllables in Sappho’s
original; the unstressed syllables correspond to the short syllables of the original. For further discussion of
the use of “accentual templates” to represent quantitative meters, see Steven Willett’s introduction to
Horace’s meters.
Permission is hereby granted to distribute for classroom use, provided that both Elizabeth Vandiver
and Diotima are identified in any such use. Other uses not authorized in writing by the translator or in
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