"The Astera (Stars) hide away their shining form around lovely #Selene (the Moon) when in all her fullnesss she shines over all the earth." #Sappho, Fragment 34
🏛️ Luna-Selene, relief on the pediment at the Roman Baths
yet if you had a desire for good or beautiful things and your tongue were not concocting some evil to say, shame would not hold down your eyes but rather you would speak about what is just"
"Whom again must I persuade
to lead you back to her love? Who, Sappho,
is doing you wrong?
For if she flees, swiftly she will pursue;
if she refuses gifts, soon she shall give them;
and if she does not love, swiftly she will love
even if she does not wish to.
Come to me again and ease my pain;
Take bitter care from my mind and give me
all I long for. Stand beside me, #Aphrodite, as my sister in arms."
i absolutely have to finish an essay but i also don't want to so here are random thoughts about #catullus version of #sappho's fragment 31. (source: lesbian desire in the lyrics of sappho by jane mcintosh snyder)
okay wait no. i don't have time for a whole thread. also this is a recollection from a presentation i did in 2017.
but basically catullus is a simp for "lesbia". she's a lesbian as in she's from the island of lesbos (not wlw or not in a way that is relevant for the discussion) (cf. catullus 5, 'ode to lesbia').
#sappho's fragment 31 is her most famous and has been translated and adapted many times throughout history. if you can read french, check "l'égal des dieux" (allia editions) which is a collection of some of these adaptations and translations. https://www.editions-allia.com/fr/livre/7/egal-des-dieux-l
in this poem we assume that the first person poetic voice is "sappho" and the adressee/love interest is a woman (we can infer from the use of participles which are marked for the feminine gender in the greek text).
and one of these first translations/adaptations is catullus 51. and he uses it a self insert for him and lesbia (who like sappho comes from lesbos - so you see the connection he made there). and yeah he mentions himself 'catullus' as well as 'lesbia' straight washing the poem.
and according to snyder this version was influential in the heterosexual readings of the poem throughout history. (yes even sappho, THE sappho has been a victim of galpal-ing)
so yeah i wrote this bad toot just to call out #catullus after praising him for #catullus16.
With many a flower necklace
you encircled your tender throat,
plaiting blossoms together to make a wreath,
and with flowery perfumes
precious, queenly [
you anointed yourself [
and on beds of soft luxury
you would satisfy all your longing
for that tender girl [
It's #PrideMonth! #Pride
To celebrate June, I'm going to recommend 1 #queer book every day, one that I liked and would love to have more appreciation for out there in the world!
IF NOT, WINTER: Fragments of Sappho
Translated by Anne Carson
A book compiling all of the surviving writing of the famed ancient poet #Sappho of Lesbos. With translation and history notes. (I wish there had been even more translation and history notes, honestly. Every fragment was interesting.) When I picked up the book, I thought, there’s no way these are as gay as people say. I was surprised to discover they really are.