In this lecture we think about Sappho’s poetic style, focusing in particular on: (i) the two main performance contexts for poetry in archaic Greece: solo performances (or monodies) at small private gatherings and choral performances in front of larger audiences in public; (ii) the three major genres of Sappho’s poetry: songs for public rituals (e.g. fr. 140a) wedding-songs (e.g. frr. 111-12); and private love-songs (e.g. fr. 31); (iii) the extent to which Sappho’s poetry genre (and gender) expectations; (iv) the music of Sappho’s poetry, including the scale (or mode) she used (the Mixolydian) and her preferred instrument (the lyre); (v) the importance of ‘poikilia’ in Sappho’s poetry, e.g. fr. 1, frr. 98a-b; and (vi) Sappho’s used of vivid, sensuous language, especially in her private love poetry, e.g. fr. 31.

--

This lecture is part of a larger course exploring the poetry of Sappho: massolit.io/courses/sappho-hauser?source=yt

--

MASSOLIT works with university academics to produce short video lectures in the arts, sciences, humanities and social sciences. It is available to schools and colleges on an institutional license as well as via private subscription: massolit.io/?source=yt