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The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius: Selections Annotated and Explained Russell McNeil, PhD Editor, Malaspina Great Books In 1862 the English literary critic and poet Matthew Arnold described Marcus Aurelius as "the most beautiful figure in history." The Stoicism of Aurelius is grounded in rationality and rests solidly on an ethical approach rooted in nature. Stoicism promises real happiness and joy in this life and a serenity that can never be soured by personal misfortune. This philosophy has universal appeal with practical implications on problems ranging from climate change and terrorism to the personal management of sickness, aging, depression and addiction. I truly believe that the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius has much to offer us now...(Click on book cover for more)

Category:	Ancient Literature Ancient Music
Name:	Sappho - GLBT Series, Feminist Series
Birth Year:	c. 625 BCE
Death Year:	na
Representative Image:
Biography, Lectures, and Research Links:	Biography - GLBT Series, Feminist Series Blog Sappho SEARCH NOW: by title by author Sappho was an ancient Greek poet, from the city of Mytilene on the island of Lesbos, which was a cultural centre in the 7th century BC. Today the island is known as Mytilene. She was born sometime between 630 BC and 612 BC It was said that she was small and dark. Sappho was married to a wealthy merchant, and they had a daughter named Cleis. She became very famous in her day for her poetry -- so much so that the city of Syracuse built a statue to honor her when she visited. Her family was politically active, which caused Sappho to travel a great deal. She was also noted during her life as the headmistress of a sort of Greek finishing school for girls. Most likely the objects of her poetry were her students. She was a lyric poet who developed her own particular meter, known as sapphic meter, and she was credited for leading an aesthetic movement away from classical themes of gods, to the themes of individual human experience. The Greeks were so enamoured of her poetry that they referred to her as the "tenth Muse". Sappho wrote mainly love poems, of which only fragments survive, save a single complete poem, Fragment 1, Hymn to Aphrodite (see below). Given her reputation in the ancient world, since only fragments of her work remain, the world lost a valuable treasure in her work. Some of her love poems were addressed to women, from which she developed a reputation for lesbianism. The word lesbian itself derives from her, being derived from the name of the island from which she came. (She is also the origin of its much rarer synonym sapphic, derived from her name.) Due to its homosexual content--and because of its explicit eroticism--her work was disapproved of by the Christian church, which is arguably the main reason why most of it has not survived, due to a combination of neglecting to copy it and undoubtedly in some cases purposeful destruction. While in the modern period this content is well known, in ancient and Medieval times she was more famous for (according to legend) throwing herself off a cliff due to unrequited love for a male sailor. However, this legend has no substantiation in Greek history, and it is generally believed that the legend was a fiction created by the Christian church to misdirect attention away from the overtones of her writing. [The material above is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License and uses material adapted in whole or in part from the Wikipedia article on Sappho..] Alternate Biography Greek poetess, was a native of Lesbos, contemporary with Alcaeus, Stesichorus and Pittacus, in fact, with the culminating period of Aeolic poetry. One of her brothers, Charaxus, fell in love with a courtesan named Doricha upon whom he squandered his property. Sappho wrote an ode, in which she severely satirized and rebuked him. Another brother, Larichus, was public cup-bearer at Mytilene - a position for which it was necessary to be well born, It is said that she had a daughter, named after her grandmother Cleis, and she had some personal acquaintance with Alcaeus. He addressed her in an ode of which a fragment is preserved: Violetweaving (or dark-haired), pure, sweet-smiling Sappho, I wish to say somewhat, but shame hinders me; and she answered in another ode: Hadst thou had desire of aught good or fair, shame would not have touched thine eyes, but thou wouldst have spoken thereof openly. The story of her love for the disdainful Phaon, and her leap into the sea from the Leucadian promontory, together with that of her flight from Mytilene to Sicily, has no confirmation; we are not even told whether she died of the leap or not. Critics again are agreed that Suidas was simply gulled by the comic poets when he tells of her husband, Cercolas of Andros. Both the aspersions which these poets cast on her character and the embellishments with which they garnished her life passed for centuries as undoubted history. Six comedies entitled Sappho and two Phaon, were produced by the Middle Comedy; but, when we consider, for example, the way in which Socrates was caricatured by Aristophanes, we are justified in putting no faith whatever in such authority. We may conclude that Sappho was not utterly vicious, though by no means a paragon of virtue. All ancient tradition and the character of her extant fragments show that her morality was what has ever since been known as "Lesbian." At Lesbos she was head of a great poetic school, for poetry in that age and place was cultivated as assiduously and apparently as successfully by women as by men. Her most famous pupils were Erinna of Telos and Damophyla of Pamphylia. In Antiquity her fame rivalled that of Homer. She was called "the poetess," he "the poet." Different writers style her "the tenth Muse," "the flower of the Graces," "a miracle," "the beautiful," the last epithet referring to her writings, not her person, which is said to have been small and dark. Her poems were arranged in nine books, on what principle is uncertain; she is said to have sung them to the Mixo-Lydian mode, which she herself invented. The perfection and finish of every line, the correspondence of sense and sound, the incomparable command over all the most delicate resources of verse, and the exquisite symmetry of the complete odes.which are extant, raise her into the very first rank of technical poetry at once, while her painting of passion, which caused Longinus to quote the ode to Anactoria as an example of the sublime, has never been since surpassed, and only approached by Catullus and in the Vita Nuova. Her fragments also bear witness to a profound feeling for the beauty of nature. The ancients also attributed to her a considerable power in satire, but in hexameter verse they considered her inferior to her pupil Erinna. Fragment 1, Hymn to Aphrodite Shimmering-throned immortal Aphrodite, Daughter of Zeus, Enchantress, I implore thee, Spare me, O queen, this agony and anguish, Crush not my spirit Whenever before thou has hearkened to me-- To my voice calling to thee in the distance, And heeding, thou hast come, leaving thy father's Golden dominions, With chariot yoked to thy fleet-winged coursers, Fluttering swift pinions over earth's darkness, And bringing thee through the infinite, gliding Downwards from heaven, Then, soon they arrived and thou, blessed goddess, With divine contenance smiling, didst ask me What new woe had befallen me now and why, Thus I had called thee. What in my mad heart was my greatest desire, Who was it now that must feel my allurements, Who was the fair one that must be persuaded, Who wronged thee Sappho? For if now she flees, quickly she shall follow And if she spurns gifts, soon shall she offer them Yea, if she knows not love, soon shall she feel it Even reluctant. Come then, I pray, grant me surcease from sorrow, Drive away care, I beseech thee, O goddess Fulfil for me what I yearn to accomplish, Be thou my ally. [Alternative biography adapted from the Encyclopedia Britannica (1911).] The Great Books: Sappho Please browse our Amazon list of titles about Sappho. For rare and hard to find works we recommend our Alibris list of titles about Sappho. Post Comments, Questions or Suggestions! This database is maintained by Malaspina Great Books.
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	Biographical & Documentary Video Research
Best Choice Books, Music, Art:	If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho Sappho: A New Translation The Love Songs of Sappho
Browse Books, Music, Art & Book Reviews:	Books from Alibris: Sappho Books from Amazon: Sappho
	Audiobooks at iTunes: Thousands of Classics
Library Catalogs:	COPAC UK: Sappho Library of Canada: Sappho Library of Congress: Sappho Other Library Catalogs: Sappho
External Links:	Research Links - Literature: Sappho Research Links - Music: Sappho Malaspina Canada Links: Sappho Representative Image: www.livius.org
Online Research:	Literature Research Online at Questia Music Research Online at Questia
Records from Related Period and Category:	Ancient Literature Ancient Music

About this Database:

This web page is part of a biographical database on Great Ideas. These are living ideas that have shaped, defined and directed world culture for over 2,500 years. By definition the Great Ideas are radical. As such they are sometimes misread, or distorted by popular simplifications. Understanding a Great Idea demands personal engagement. Our selection of Great Ideas is drawn from literature and philosophy, science, art, music, theatre, and cinema. We also include biographies of pivotal historical and religious figures, as well as contributions from women and other historically under-represented minorities. The result is an integrated multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary database built upon the framework of the always controversial Great Books Core List published in 1940 by the late Great Books Pioneer Mortimer Adler (1902-2001). Most of the works on that list are available in the 60 volume Great Books of the Western World.