Reviews

Σαπφώ ποιήματα: άπαντα σωζόμενα by Sappho

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jose_kg's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing medium-paced

5.0

I absolutely adore these translations by Poochigian. I've read other translations that are probably more word for word accurate to the originals, but I feel that he has really found the essence of the poems and translated them so that a modern audience can appreciate that.

The poems are lush and lively, so full of relatable human experiences despite the thousands of years between them being written and now. Sappho has an incredible eye for what connects us all and her boldness in talking about female desire and despair is wonderfully refreshing.

I read these fragments originally about 10 years ago and have recently reread them, I found that 10 years on I was struck by her lines on aging and her expression of the complicated feelings around feeling older, reminiscing on youth, yearning for the past but also not wanting to return to it. This was clearly something I didn't relate to when I first read it at 22! This highlights how much is in these short fragments, there is so much to connect to for people at different places and ages in their lives.

I highly recommend this book and Poochigian's introduction and notes are very clear and helpful for adding context for those that may be new to Ancient Greek literature or just want more specific context about Sappho's life and words.

cobhlaith's review against another edition

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emotional informative

the_bookish_kat's review against another edition

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5.0

I stumbled across Sappho’s poems on Instagram as someone posted this book and I loved the cover. I had never heard of Sappho before, but she was an Archaic Greek poet whose work has been largely lost. She was considered one of the greatest lyrical poets of her time, and it’s a shame that what survives are mostly fragments of her work because I loved the poetry in this book as it was poignant and beautiful. I found it very helpful that there were comments by the translator before each poem to give more context. I would highly recommend reading this book and it’s one that I’m very glad to have read.