Lesbian Desire in the Lyrics of Sappho (Paperback)

This book examines Sappho's poetry through the lens of lesbian  desire, focusing on the narrative voice that describes female  experience and desires as primary, not secondary to the dominant  male culture. Snyder discusses each of the major surviving  fragments and the one complete poem and examines the different  ways in which Sappho's lyrics focus on women's emotional lives  with one another and how female erotic desire is portrayed. She  challenges some traditional assumptions about Sappho, arguing  that rather than imitating Homer, Sappho displays her  independence by transforming Homeric material for her own  purposes. A translation is given for each, and, as well as the  original Greek text, a transliteration into the Roman alphbet is  given thus making the sound of the poetry accesible for those  without any Greek. An epilogue discusses the influence of Sappho  on a number of modern American women poets.