From Sappho

Sappho (Greek: Σαπφῖ, Sapphō), born around 630 BC on the island of Lesbos, was one of the most distinguished poets of ancient Greece. She came from an aristocratic family, which allowed her to be educated. She is known to have run a thiasos , a community of young women preparing for marriage, where music, poetry, and culture were taught.

There are many legends and speculations connected with her life, including her alleged love for Phaon, which was supposed to have ended with her suicide. Modern scholars, however, consider this story to be a myth. It is known that she stayed in Sicily, perhaps for political reasons, but she spent most of her life in Lesbos. After her death, around 570 BC, her works were widely read and appreciated for centuries.

Sappho wrote mainly lyrical poetry, composed to the accompaniment of the lyre. Her works were personal in nature and often celebrated love, friendship, beauty and emotional experiences. She wrote about women as well as deities, especially Aphrodite, to whom she dedicated a hymn – the only fully preserved poem of hers. Sappho's style is distinguished by its subtlety, precision of language and ability to convey moods.

Little of her work has survived to this day. Ancient scholars such as Aristophanes of Byzantium divided her work into nine books, but most of them have been lost. Only fragments have survived, found in later quotations and on the Oxyrhynchus papyri.

Sappho's work was copied and commented on in antiquity, but gradually began to disappear in the Christian era, when her poetry was considered immoral. In Byzantium, her works were not copied, which contributed to their almost complete oblivion. It was not until archaeological discoveries in the 19th and 20th centuries that some of her works were restored to modern culture.

In antiquity, Sappho was adored—Plato called her the "tenth Muse," and Horace and Catullus drew inspiration from her poems. In the Renaissance and Enlightenment, her legend was revived, and her figure began to fascinate writers and artists. Romantics saw her as the embodiment of female genius, and feminists of the 19th and 20th centuries emphasized her importance as an icon of women's literature.

Sappho has been translated into Polish by many outstanding poets and translators. In the 19th century, fragments of it were translated by Franciszek Wężyk, among others, and in the 20th century by Jerzy Danielewicz, Stefan Srebrny and Ludwika Osińska. Contemporary translations, such as those by Jacek Hajduk, try to convey both the content and the melody of her poetry, which is a great challenge due to the specificity of the ancient Greek language and versification form.

Sappho's work continues to fascinate and inspire, being not only a testament to ancient lyric poetry, but also an important element of world literature that has survived over the millennia.

ABOUT THE EDITION

"From Sappho" is a selection of translations by Brunon Kiciński , Jan Pietrzycki and Stefan Napierski. The whole is illustrated with graphics from Parisian editions of Sappho's poetry from the 1790s.

Edition: 25 copies. Hand-made binding in full leather with slipcase. Book set in Baskerville typeface, an electronic version of fonts cut around 1785 by Claude Jacob . 116 pages printed on Zuber Rider cotton paper.