Problem description:
Sappho, a famous poetess in ancient Greece, has always been a topic of discussion in the West. Boccaccio, Baudelaire, Bell, Solon and others all had many comments on her. Do you think she is decadent or enterprising?
Please write down your opinion of her.
Analysis:
I don't think she is decadent or active, and her attitude towards life can be summarized in these two words. She only lived for poetry and love, so she died. I saw many people on the Internet saying that she was decadent because she was gay. I think this view is irrational. Homosexuality does not mean decadence or debauchery.
The following is about Sappho:
Saffo on Lesvos Island Among the many beautiful islands in ancient Greece, there is a Lesvos Island (Le *** os), where vegetation is lush and flowers are everywhere. The sea in the sun is as clear as blue crystal, olive trees grow high, and hyacinthus orientalis is swaying in the wind. When the "Queen's Dawn" rises from the blue sea, under the marble colonnade, there is a woman overlooking the colorful sunrise on the sea, holding a lyre, "enough to wear the golden morning light" and reciting poems alone. Or when "the most beautiful of the evening stars/stars" rises, she leads her daughters, wearing elegant skirts, "dancing around the altar of God/stepping barefoot on the flowers of soft grass". Sappho, an ancient Greek poetess, is an immortal legend. Now we can only approach her by imagination. Sappho on Lesvos Island
Among the many beautiful islands in ancient Greece, there is an island called Le * * * Os, where vegetation is lush and flowers are everywhere. The sea in the sun is as clear as blue crystal, olive trees grow high, and hyacinthus orientalis is swaying in the wind. When the "Queen's Dawn" rises from the blue sea, under the marble colonnade, there is a woman overlooking the colorful sunrise on the sea, holding a lyre, "enough to wear the golden morning light" and reciting poems alone. Or when "the most beautiful of the evening stars/stars" rises, she leads her daughters, wearing elegant skirts, "dancing around the altar of God/stepping barefoot on the flowers of soft grass".
Sappho, an ancient Greek poetess, is an immortal legend. Now we can only approach her by imagination.
First, the Sappho era
Sappho was born around the 6th century BC (about 6 12 BC-about 543 BC), 2600 years ago. If she is not the earliest female poet in the world as we know at present; Then she is at least the most famous ancient poetess we know at present. However, we actually know very little about Sappho's poems. We can only get a little information from some writers after her, such as Plato, Ovid, Boccaccio and so on. Unless/kloc-papyrus with Sappho's poems was found on the Nile at the end of 0/9th century, she would always be a mystery.
The era of Sappho is an era of the rise and re-creation of Greek civilization, which represents the spirit of western culture. The reason for starting over is that according to historical records, from about 2000 BC to 1200 BC, "Minoan civilization" (2000 BC-1500 BC) and "Mycenae civilization" (BC1600-12000 BC) However, after a period called "dark age" by historians (BC 165438+ 050-800 BC), the ancient Greek civilization basically disappeared. It was not until around 600 BC that Greek civilization was re-created and became the real origin of modern western civilization. The Greeks began to learn to write again-completely different from the early Minos and Mycenae characters-and they adopted the Phoenician language system, but because the Phoenician language system only had consonants and no vowel symbols, the Greeks added some letters to make up for it, forming an alphabet with notes for each vowel and consonant. Because Greek letters were quite simple at that time, many people could read them. This has brought favorable conditions for the creation and development of civilization. Perhaps the most important point is that people lived in a very free state at that time, and democracy and equality were the main political themes at that time, which was completely different from the centralized politics in Mycenae's era. People's talents and creativity can be fully developed. I guess, the scene of the Sappho era must be different from now: the sky is blue, the sun is soft and bright, the grain is rich, the fruit is sweet, and the sea is clear and transparent; People have plenty of time to enjoy everything given by nature; Men are healthy, addicted to pleasure, engaged in sports or philosophical meditation; Women are soft and colorful, gentle and affectionate, in a good mood, and they are against poetry. Song of Songs, the greatest love poem in the west, was formed almost at that time, although it was in another land of Hebrew. Surprisingly, almost at the same time, the civilization of the whole world (mainly in the ideological field) began to break out. Around 500 BC, as if falling from the sky, the flowers of civilization quickly spread all over the world, and we are still bathed in grace: in Greece, philosophers before Socrates were full of stars (for example, Thales of Miletus; Pythagoras); In India, Sakyamuni founded Buddhism; In China, Laozi and Confucius wrote books and said; In Hebrew, the prophet appeared, and some chapters in the Old Testament began to take shape ... Why did the ideological and cultural sources of the modern world suddenly appear all over the world at the same time? Just like the Cambrian explosion of life, it is still a mystery. It is not surprising that a graceful woman who came out of the dawn of civilization left an immortal chapter by chanting poems.
Second, Sappho himself.
It is said that Sappho was born into a noble family. I spent a carefree childhood in Lesvos Island. She enjoys a free, leisurely and quiet time on the rich Lesvos Island, and leads a refined and luxurious life. However, in his youth, he was exiled to Sicily, northern Italy, because he participated in an event that overthrew the ruling king. During her depression and exile, she married a rich Sicilian man and gave birth to a daughter. Soon, her husband died, leaving a large fortune. She leads a quiet and comfortable life in Sicily. At this time, she began to write poems, which spread from Sicily and made her famous. When she returns to Lesvos Island, she will be an unparalleled poet. At that time, she was about twenty years old and in her prime.
She founded a girls' school on Lesvos Island, teaching poetry, music, etiquette and even beauty and clothing. Many people came here, and the nobles sent their daughters to school. She likes these beautiful young girls. She not only teaches them poetry and music, but also enthusiastically teaches them the art of love in her spare time. In the morning and evening, the poetry in my heart turns into deep love, which makes her and her female disciples blossom the gorgeous flowers of same-sex love in that fragrant land. Therefore, Sappho's name has become a symbol of modern women's same-sex love. The word Le *** ian in modern English comes from Le *** os (Lesvos Island). Many of her poems are given to female disciples to express their love for each other when they learn to leave or marry a woman. For example:
I'm sad that she hasn't heard from me.
I remember when she left, tears welled up.
"It's no big deal," she said.
"Parting is always painful, Sappho.
But you know, my leaving is not what I want. "
I said, "Let's go, as long as you are happy.
But remember, you took my love,
All that's left me is pain. "
"If the moment of forgetting comes, it is good to recall.
Our dedication to the god of love
And the beauty we once had.
Think back to the purple headdress you are wearing.
The one around your neck is made of Rosebud.
A necklace made of dill and crocus.
Think back to when I put myrrh and frankincense together.
When spilled on your head and bed.
You said everything you wanted came.
Without our songs.
The earth was silent.
Without our love, the forest will never usher in spring ... "
However, in spite of this, Sappho finally died for a handsome young man. His name is faun, and he is a boatman on Lesvos Island. He floats on the sea all the year round, with a bow and arrow on his back and long hair flowing, just like a blond archer in a The Lord of the Rings movie. However, he was ruthless and ignored Sappho's crazy love, which led to Sappho's grief and falling off a cliff and sinking into the sea. She is fifty-five years old. People have different opinions about this relationship, because since she is gay, how can she fall in love with a man? Some people doubt this, saying that it was added by the dramatist later. If it does happen, I think Sappho must be tired of those female believers who keep leaving her. This sad love affair has also been sung by generations of poets. Boccaccio lamented in "Biography of Women": "The happiness she got in poetry is just like the misfortune she encountered in love: falling in love with a young man and succumbing to unbearable torture for his charm, beauty or other reasons. He refused to obey her wishes, so the sad Sappho wrote a mourning poem ... Should we blame the Muse? When Anfien plays the piano and sings poems, they are willing to move Ogilvy and Asian stones for him, but they are not willing to move young people's hearts for Sappho. " In addition, Ovid, an ancient Roman writer, wrote a poem and lamentation of more than 220 lines for Sappho to the god of agriculture and animal husbandry. Through Sappho's mouth, she expressed her deep affection: "I loved hundreds of people-the love of committing iniquity-but now,/you, an enemy, once belonged to everyone, now belongs to you alone." /You are beautiful, your age is the most suitable for romantic enjoyment,/Your charm is the ambush that attacked me. "
Third, Sappho's poems
It is said that Sappho has nine volumes of poems, but at present there is only one complete chapter, and the rest are fragmentary. Since the third century BC, Sappho's name began to appear in poems, plays and various writings, and was gradually deified or demonized according to the needs of the times, or was called the tenth muse; Or portrayed as an ugly woman with dark skin. In the Middle Ages, she was regarded as a heresy by the church, because her poems praised the love of the same sex, and all her poems were burned. If an Egyptian farmer hadn't happened to find Sappho's papyrus poems in the Nile waters at the end of 19, more poems would have been submerged. However, the legend of Sappho has been circulating, especially in the hearts of poets of past dynasties.
Sappho's poems are gentle and elegant, sincere and frank, and most of them pay attention to people's love and desire-different from her previous poems, which take God as the object of singing-full of love advice, sweetness and pain in love or their intertwined feelings, full of pity and jealousy. Reading her poems is like sailing on an adventure;
The most beautiful/should be a person's beloved-no matter who it is, it is easy to understand, as long as you think of Helen/unparalleled beauty in the world/she abandoned her noble husband/and lover and boarded a ship bound for Troy to pick flowers/how slim the girl is/lying on her soft chest/finding her sleeping in * * */like a maze of valleys/desires where I will come, many of her poems are written directly. When they followed the man, she was in great pain: now she and I are far apart/I want to see her more. In my eyes/the way she walks/and the charming brilliance on her face/are better than Lydia's most gorgeous chariots and knights. Gongyila, my dear Bai Yutang/Put on your ivory robe-I want you/to come back early, because/your beauty moistens my desire. Every time I see your dressing gown, I feel powerless and ecstatic ... Gong Aiai: You are my favorite of all women.
Sappho's poetic skills are very high. In the only remaining poems, we can see that she skillfully used metaphor (different from the simile used in Homer's time), which made the images and internal meanings of the poems richer and fuller. For example, she describes pigeons: "Their hearts are gradually cooling down/their wings are hanging down", and the image is beautiful and sad, inlaid with some lonely feelings that she can't say; Another example is "Chariot and Xiao Qi" in the above quotation, which is a metaphor for men except for specific allegations. In addition, sometimes her poems are like The Romantic Period's lyric poems, symbolizing her delicate mood with natural scenery and mountains:
At sunset, the rose pointed to the moon/overwhelmed all the stars, and shone on the salt sea and the plain full of flowers as deep as the sea. Dew pours gracefully/... She lingers and keeps thinking about tender love, because your/her heart is full of longing.
Sappho's poetic style is unique. In the history of western poetry, this style of poetry is called "Sappho style". They are in the form of solo-many tragedies in Homer's era and ancient Greece are collective choruses of choirs-poems are short, mainly expressing feelings and feelings, and syllables are simple and clear. In the meter of "Sappho Style", each paragraph is divided into four lines, and the long and short syllables in each line change slightly in a relatively fixed way. The first three lines are a bit like Homer's six-rhyme verse, and the fourth line is short and lively. According to legend, Solon, the contemporary Athenian ruler of Sappho, was also a poet. When he overheard Sappho's poem, he said, "If I learn her melody, I can die without regret".
Fourth, the lyre
In ancient Greece, poetry was sung with the accompaniment of a musical instrument called lyre, just like the poetry in the Book of Songs in ancient China (also produced at the same time as Sappho). This instrument is also called lyre, lyre or lyre, because it has seven strings and can be held in your arms. Lyric in English comes from lyre. According to legend, the handsome and brave Apollo was not only good at martial arts, but also good at the harp. According to Greek mythology, the earliest lyre was made by Hermes, the son of Zeus, and then he gave it to Apollo, who used it to defeat the enemy (not the bow and arrow). Later, he gave the piano to his son orpheus, making him a famous pianist. His piano can make people forget their troubles, the river stops flowing, the beast tames, and the stone opens its mouth. He even touched Hades with a lyre and summoned his wife from the underworld. The sound and shape of the lyre are a bit like a small harp, but the sound is softer, more beautiful and has a mysterious rhyme. At that time, according to the emotions expressed in the poem, the melody could be adjusted, while playing and singing. Sappho once sang in a poem: "Speak to me, sacred harp-find a voice for yourself."
Sappho is one of the most talented poets in ancient Greece. Her singing is elegant and euphemistic, just like Sai Ren's singing in my imagination, full of temptation. She herself proudly said in the poem, "The singer on Lesvos Island is unparalleled". Similarly, as a person, she dares to love and hate, and is a strong woman. There used to be many modern poets-such as Baudelaire and John? Dunn, Rilke, Matthew? Arnold and Christina? Rossetti, Emily? Dickinson, Pound and Sylvia? Plath, H.D., etc. -regard her as the object of praise in his own poems. Her immortal poems and the act of resolutely giving her life for love are the ideal realm of life that those poets yearn for. They turned her into a goddess and put her in the temple of the soul.
However, Sappho didn't write poetry to win praise or fall into the sea for love. Her poems and her sinking into the sea came from her natural nature, from the sincere and simple feelings unique to people at that time, from a natural law prevailing between heaven and earth at that time, and from the hymn for love according to her nature-every poem was born and every love act was like this.