Sappho

What a pleasure it was to hear from Dr. Burris about Sappho. And might I add it was even better to learn that Sappho was a female. I especially admire the fact that she was respected and followed in her time, however I wonder how she came to possess such influence. I imagine her being a Maya Angelou of her time; prolific, insightful, and intellectual in every sense of the word. I liked the distinction Dr. Burris pointed to as well: Sappho was not a “woman poet” but a poet. That is significant not only in terms of Greek culture and thought, but also in terms of the philosophical ideas that came from her work. He grouped her with Xenophanes in terms of verse and the ability they had to interact with philosophical thought resembling Thales, Anaximander and Anaximenes, and Greek traditions stemming form Homer and Hesiod. She too did not interact with the “Gods” per se, but made her pieces to interact with the individual. I like that she wrote for different occasions as well. It was humorous to note the translations from some, who assumed she was writing of love all the time simply because she was a woman.