Sappho

Anne O'Malley

Although just a small fragment of the ancient Greek poet Sappho's work remains, Snyder uses it and other sources to reconstruct the artist's life and give readers a picture of Greek and Aegean Island life around 600 B.C. What emerges is a remarkable portrait of a woman who wrote "songs" of lesbian desire at a time when poetry writing and homosexuality were considered exclusively male domains. She wrote of other subjects as well, of course, and Snyder offers a balanced account of the poet's life and work without downplaying lesbianism. Snyder also looks at how Sappho has been interpreted through the centuries and how she has served to inspire many twentieth-century women poets--such considerations add depth and interest to this title in the Lives of Notable Gay Men and Lesbians series. Black-and-white photos; source notes.