SAPPHO: FURTHER READING

Criticism

Arnold, Edwin. "Sappho." In The Poets of Greece, pp. 105-18. London: Cassell, Petter, and Galpin, 1869.

Praises Sappho as an artist and counters her critics by asserting that she remained "true to her womanhood."

Bergmann, Emilie L. "Fictions of Sor Juana/Fictions of Sappho." Confluencia: Revista Hispanica de Cultura y Literaura 9, no. 2 (spring 1994): 9-15.

Compares Sappho's poetry to the work of the seventeenth-century Mexican nun Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, focusing on sexuality and authorial personae.

Bonnard, Andre. "Sappho of Lesbos: Tenth of the Muses." In Greek Civilization: From the Iliad to the Parthenon, translated by A. Lytton Sells, pp. 86-100. New York: Macmillan, 1957.

Observes Sappho's movement in poetry between the outer natural world and the inner world of feeling; argues that in doing so she anticipates modern poetry.

Bowra, C. M. "Sappho." In Greek Lyric Poetry: From Alcman to Simonides, pp. 186-247. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1936.

Analyzes the social and religious themes and the imagery of Sappho's work, calling her "the most gifted woman who has ever written poetry."

Brandt, Lida Roberts. "The Status of Women." In Social Aspects of Greek Life in the Sixth Century B.C., pp. 44-72. Philadelphia: T. C. Davis & Sons, 1921.

Discusses the position of women in ancient Greece in the context of sixth-century B.C. society, religion, and domestic life; points out that the liberal spirit that characterized Lesbos facilitated Sappho's artistic development.

Burnett, Anne Pippin. "Sappho." In Three Archaic Poets: Archilochus, Alcaeus, Sappho, pp. 207-313. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1983.

Examines Sappho's major poems as representatives of the lyric genre.

DeJean, Joan. "Fictions of Sappho." Critical Inquiry 13, no. 4 (summer 1987): 787-805.

Explores the way male literary critics throughout history have interpreted Sappho's life and her poetry.

Douka-Kabitoglou, E. "Sappho of Lesbos and Diotima of Mantinea: The Maternal Subtext of Culture." In Women, Creators of Culture, edited by Ekaterini Georgoudaki and Domna Pastourmatzi, pp. 217-44. Thessaloniki, Greece: Hellenic Association of American Studies, 1997.

Interprets the works of Sappho and Diotima through the feminist literary theory of Luce Irigary; focusing on themes of motherhood.

duBois, Page. Sappho Is Burning. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1996, 206 p.

Argues that a rereading of Sappho offers a counterpoint to received histories of poetry, philosophy, and sexuality; uses Sappho to counter the work of Foucault and to reexamine Western conceptions of Asia.

Freedman, Nancy. Sappho: The Tenth Muse. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1998, 336 p.

A fictional autobiography of Sappho, using Sappho's poetic fragments as a guide.

Grahn, Judy. The Highest Apple: Sappho and the Lesbian Poetic Tradition. San Francisco: Spinsters, Ink., 1985, 159 p.

Discusses the theme of female relationships in Sappho's work and Sappho's influence in later writing; Grahn is a leading critic in the field of gay-lesbian studies.

Greene, Ellen, ed. Reading Sappho: Contemporary Approaches. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996, 303 p.

Collects essays on the themes of language and literary context, Homer and oral tradition, ritual and social context, and women's erotics; the first anthology of Sappho scholarship.

Hallett, Judith P. "Sappho and Her Social Context: Sense and Sensuality." Signs 4, no. 3 (spring 1979): 447-64.

Suggests that the emphasis on the homoerotics of Sappho's poetry has been overstated; proposes instead that the intent of the persona created by the poet was to point young women toward sexuality within a heterosexual marriage.

Lefkowitz, Mary R. "Critical Stereotypes and the Poetry of Sappho." Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 14, no. 2 (summer 1973): 113-23.

Argues that Sappho's poetry has been misinterpreted throughout history by critics who have judged her by special criteria reserved for female writers.

Patrick, Mary Mills. Sappho and the Island of Lesbos. New York: Methuen, 1912, 180 p.

Surveys Sappho's poetry, emphasizing the philosophical in addition to the erotic; praises the poet's intelligence, learning, and delicacy.

Rexroth, Kenneth. "Sappho, Poems. "In Classics Revisited, pp. 28-32. San Francisco: New Directions, 1986.

Briefly summarizes Sappho's literary accomplishments, adding that she provides a window into the hidden world of ancient Greek women.

Robinson, David Moore. "The Real Sappho: A Critical Memoir." In The Songs of Sappho, Including the Recent Egyptian Discoveries, edited and translated by Marion Mills Miller and David Moore Robinson, pp. 49-85. New York: Frank-Maurice, 1925.

Compares Sappho to Socrates and Shakespeare on the basis of their expansive minds and their passion for fellow men and women.

Snyder, Jane McIntosh. "Sappho of Lesbos." In The Woman and the Lyre: Women Writers in Classical Greece and Rome, pp. 1-37. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1989.

Gives an overview of Sappho's life and work; in the context of early women's writing, briefly discusses Sappho's image and artistic representations of her in later literature.

——. Lesbian Desire in the Lyrics of Sappho. New York: Columbia University Press, 1997, 261 p.

Interprets lesbian themes in Sappho's poetry through close readings of the fragments; a significant modern updating of the topic of lesbian desire in the works of Sappho.

Stehle, Eva. "Romantic Sensuality, Poetic Sense: A Response to Hallett on Sappho." Signs 4, no. 3 (spring 1979): 465-71.

Asserts that Sappho's depictions of lesbian relationships create a world where feminine experience and desire can be explored apart from the dominant male views on love and sexuality.

Stigers, Eva S. "Sappho's Private World." In Reflections of Women in Antiquity, edited by Helene P. Foley, pp. 45-61. New York: Gordon and Breach Science Publications, 1981.

Discusses Sappho's place in the tradition of Greek love poetry; asserts that homosexual desire in Sappho's poetry was a way of presenting a female erotic subject.

Winkler, Jack. "Gardens of Nymphs." In Reflections of Women in Antiquity, edited by Helene P. Foley, pp. 63-90. New York: Gordon and Breach Science Publications, 1981.

Analyzes Sappho's reaction to Homer as emblematic of male Greek culture and her sexual relations in a female world.

OTHER SOURCES FROM GALE:

Additional coverage of Sappho's life and career is contained in the following sources published by the Gale Group: Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism, Vols. 3, 67; Concise Dictionary of World Literary Biography, Vol. 1; Dictionary of Literary Biography, Vol. 176; DISCovering Authors Modules: Poets; DISCovering Authors 3.0; Poetry Criticism, Vol. 5; Reference Guide to World Literature, Eds. 2, 3; World Poets.