Sappho, Fragments

LCL 142: 78-79

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Greek Lyric

29 (6a) P. Oxy. 1231 fr. 19 + 2166(a)4B (Ox. Pap. xxi p. 122)

1 ]πεπλ[ , 2 τ][ς] ὄοις 9 γ

(24) P. Oxy. 2166(a)1

3 Γ]ύριννοι

30 P. Oxy. 1231 fr. 56 + 2166(a)6A

νυκτ[ . . . ] . [ ] πάρθενοι δ[ παννυχίσδο[σ][ σὰν ἀείδοιν φ[ιλότατα καὶ νύμ- 5φας ἰοκόλπω. ἀλλ᾿ ἐγέρθς ἠϊθ[έοις στεῖχε σοὶς ὐμάλι[ας, ὠς ἐλάσσω ἤπερ ὄσσον ἀ λιγύφ[νος ὄρνις 9ὔπνον [ἴ]δωμεν.

3 suppl. Lobel 4 -οιν vel -οι[ι]ν Lobel suppl. Hunt, Wilamowitz 6-8Lobel 9 Hunt

31 ‘Longinus’ de subl. 10. 1–3 (pp. 14s. Russell) + P.S.I. (v. fr. 213B)

οἷον ἡ Σαπφὼ τὰ συμβαίνοντα ταῖς ἐρωτικαῖς μανίαις παθήματα ἐκ τῶν παρεπομένων καὶ ἐκ τῆς ἀληθείας αὐτῆς ἑκάστοτε λαμβάνει. ποῦ δὲ τὴν ἀρετὴν ἀποδείκνυται; ὅτι τὰ ἄκρα αὐτῶν καὶ ὑπερτεταμένα δεινὴ καὶ ἐκλέξαι καὶ εἰς ἄλληλα συνδῆσαι·

φαίνεταί μοι κῆνος ἴσος θέοισιν ἔμμεν᾿ ὤνηρ, ὄττις ἐνάντιός τοι ἰσδάνει καὶ πλάσιον ἆδυ φωνεί- 4σας ὐπακούει καὶ γελαίσας ἰμέροεν, τό μ᾿ ἦ μὰν καρδίαν ἐν στήθεσιν ἐπτόαισεν· ὠς γὰρ ἔς σ᾿ ἴδω βρόχε᾿, ὤς με φώναι- 8σ᾿ οὐδ᾿ ἒν ἔτ᾿ εἴκει,

78

Sappho

29 Same papyrus

(6a) . . . robe(s) . . . the necklaces . . . (Gorgo?) 1

(24) . . . Gyrinno 2

30 Same papyrus 1

. . . night . . . maidens . . . all night long . . . might sing of the love between you and the violet-robed bride. Come, wake up: go (and fetch) the young bachelors of your own age, so that we may see (less) sleep than the clear-voiced (bird). 2

31 ‘Longinus’, On sublimity

Sappho, for example, always chooses the emotions associated with love’s madness from the attendant circumstances and the real situation. Where does she display her excellence? In that she is adept at selecting and combining the most important and excessive concomitants:

He seems as fortunate as the gods to me, the man who sits opposite you and listens nearby to your sweet voice and lovely laughter. Truly that sets my heart trembling in my breast. For when I look at you for a moment, then it is no longer possible

79
DOI: 10.4159/DLCL.sappho-fragments.1982