Tuesday, January 12, 2010

News at Eleven: And yes, the poems contain words

of deep and passionate love for other women; how far those relationships would have resembled homosexuality as it exists in today's culture is another matter. Sappho was admired in antiquity for the elegance and exquisiteness of her writing: that seems to me to be right. Other qualities worth admiring: her wit, teasing tone and, I think, the deeply personal nature of her poems. I love the intensely sensuous, pictorial, sometimes synaesthesic nature of her descriptions.

Most of all, I am fascinated by the way she takes on Homer--and subverts him.

from The Guardian: On Culture Blog: Sappho: the great poet of the personal

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