Arbieroo reviewed Stung with Love Penguin Classics by Carol Ann Duffy
Review of 'Stung with Love\r\n \r\n Penguin Classics' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
This book collects the entire known surviving works of the Greek poet, Sappho, who managed to cause her native island of Lesbos to become permanently associated with female homosexuality and have her own name modified into an adjective. Unfortunately for such an influential woman, her extant works sum to a slim volume of fragments from larger poems. This seems to be a great loss, as what does remain is remarkable.
Sappho famously dealt with the love and life of women as seriously as Homer dealt with the feuds and plots of men and gods and she did so in delightful, vivacious language, if these translations are any kind of reliable guide to the original.
The translator has placed a commentary facing each fragment as well as providing a concise introduction to what is known about Sappho and the society she lived in. These commentaries are often longer than the fragments …
This book collects the entire known surviving works of the Greek poet, Sappho, who managed to cause her native island of Lesbos to become permanently associated with female homosexuality and have her own name modified into an adjective. Unfortunately for such an influential woman, her extant works sum to a slim volume of fragments from larger poems. This seems to be a great loss, as what does remain is remarkable.
Sappho famously dealt with the love and life of women as seriously as Homer dealt with the feuds and plots of men and gods and she did so in delightful, vivacious language, if these translations are any kind of reliable guide to the original.
The translator has placed a commentary facing each fragment as well as providing a concise introduction to what is known about Sappho and the society she lived in. These commentaries are often longer than the fragments they annotate, but they do illuminate and are worth the little amount of extra time they take to read. The entire book can be read with attention in an afternoon and if you are a fan of poetry generally, or of Greek literature, I strongly recommend you invest the time to do so.
