Ode to Aphrodite (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: Sappho
- Type of Work: Poetry
- Type of Plot: Erotic
- Setting: Indeterminate
- Genres: Poetry, Lyric poetry, Ode
- Subjects: Suffering, Love or romance, Supernatural, Poetry or poets, Gods or goddesses, Earth, Greek or Roman times, Prayers
Characters Discussed
Sappho (SAF-oh), the most famous poetess of ancient Greece, a member of an aristocratic family in the city-state of Mytilene (miht-ih-LEE-nee) on the island of Lesbos, which is located in the Aegean Sea off the western coast of Asia Minor (modern Turkey). This poem of twenty- eight verses is in the form of a prayer addressed to the goddess Aphrodite. In it, Sappho pleads with the goddess not to overwhelm her with misery but to come to her, remove her anguish, fulfill her heart’s desire, and be her ally. The central portion of the poem reveals that the...
[The entire page is 575 words long]
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