Sappho's View of Love

"Some say an army on horseback, some say on foot, and some say ships are the most beautiful things on this black earth, but I say it is whatever you love." Sappho obviously thought that beauty was something to be sought out, and she states here that love is the most beautiful thing of all. Sappho's love is about beauty, desire, and sacrifice. She speaks of epic loves, gods and goddesses, and her own feelings. Throughout her poetry Sappho continues a theme of love and beauty. She clearly deems love to be just as, if not more, important than courage in battle, or even one's responsibilities in other areas of life. From what we can see of her life through her poetry, Sappho's world is indeed based on love; love of friends, lovers, gods and goddesses, family, and the beauty of the world and the things in it. Sappho loves love. One of her poems is a prayer to Aphrodite, asking the goddess to come and help her in her love life. She seems to be involved, in this poem, in a situation of unrequited love. "…release me from my agony, fulfill all that my heart desires…" Sappho here is begging Aphrodite to come to her aid, and not for the first time. "What is it this time? Why are you calling again?" We don't know the situation, this time or previous times, only that Sappho has called on Aphrodite before, perhaps many times, in pursuit of love. THIS, HER PRAYER POEM, IS THE FIRST PIECE OF EVIDENCE THAT PROVES HOW MUCH SAPPHO RELIES ON LOVE IN HER LIFE. SHE SHOWS US THAT LOVE IS SO IMPORTANT TO HER, THAT IT IS SOMETHING WORTH COMING TO THE GODS ABOUT. In Poem 24, the lovers Hector and Andromache are "praised as gods" for their love, and Poem 42 is a wedding march. Helen of Troy is brought up as an example of someone who made huge sacrifices for her love by leaving her husband, and even her child. She left her entire family and everything she knew, actions which Sappho looks up to and praises. THIS IS MORE EVIDENCE THAT SAPPHO FINDS LOVE IMPORTANT, EVEN ESSENTIAL TO HUMAN LIVES. Sappho considers Helen's behavior to be admirable because it is for love. In another poem, Sappho describes her physical reaction to the sound of her loved ones voice, "it sets my heart racing…a thin flame runs under my skin…a cold sweat pours down my body…I tremble all over…just a shade from dead, but I must bear it…" The feelings she has seem to be bordering on actually being physically sick, but she says she must bear it. She, like modern women, loves the feelings of being in love even if sometimes it is uncomfortable. It is that important to her HERE AS SHE AGAIN DEMONSTRATES HOW SHE FEELS ABOUT THE IDEA OF LOVE. The fact that Sappho dedicates a large part of her surviving poetry to love and beauty and the like demonstrates just how important a topic it must have been in her life. Sappho views ALL TYPES OF love as a connective tissue holding together her relationships; from her love of beauty all around her, to her love for her friends and her family, to even her love for herself. SHE SHOWS THIS BY SPEAKING OF LOVE IN DIFFERENT CONTEXTS AND WAYS, BUT HOLDING TO THE BASIC THEME OF LOVE THROUGHOUT MUCH OF HER SURVIVING POETRY. Sappho holds dear all these things, and this in itself shows that she believes love to be very important in her life. "Truly I wish I were dead." She begins with this line in her poem about a lover who had to leave her. She is so distraught over losing a loved one, that she doesn't even feel that life is worth living anymore. Love is the basis for all of Sappho's relationships. "I love delicacy, and love has won for me" Love has won in Sappho's life. The good and the bad that comes with love are worth it for her, essential for her, because without it she has nothing and no one. Sappho prizes love as the most beautiful thing in the world, and looks for it in everything, and in everyone she cares about. HER DAUGHTER'S POEM IS ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF LOVE IN SAPPHO'S LIFE. SHE SAYS THAT SHE "WOULD NOT TRADE [HER] FOR ALL OF LYDIA OR LOVELY LESBOS." HER RELATIONSHIP WITH HER DAUGHTER IS CLEARLY ONE OF STRONG LOVE AND DEDICATION. IN WRITING A POEM ABOUT HER DAUGHTER, SHE SHOWS HER VIEWPOINT ABOUT LOVE AND FAMILY AGAIN. SAPPHO CLEARLY FOUND LOVE TO BE AN IMPORTANT ASPECT OF LIFE. THE AFOREMENTIONED EXAMPLES SHOW HOW HER POETRY STANDS TODAY AS PROOF OF THE VALUES THAT SAPPHO LIVED HER LIFE BY. HER POETRY HAS SURELY NOT ONLY SURVIVED BECAUSE OF THE FACT THAT SHE WAS GOOD WITH WORDS, BUT ALSO BECAUSE OF THE WAY THAT SHE CAPTURED TRULY HUMAN EMOTIONS AND FEELINGS ABOUT LOVE AND RELATIONSHIPS.