Sappho In The Iliad

All throughout history, the writing and story telling of myths and histories were primarily done by well educated, and wealthy men. The knowledge of the past is naturally skewed when it is seen through specific lenses that do not capture the whole picture. The voices of women and the less fortunate are often left unheard. This concept is not a unique one, and it is found in ancient Greece as well. Well known Greek scholars and writers such as Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, and Homer were all men. Sappho is the only female ancient Greek author whose work survives,

The reason why Sappho’s poems offers so much insight into the lives of Greek women in ancient Greece is because the poems are an account of Greek life from the perspective of a woman,

Looking at Poem 16, Sappho’s focus on the beginnings of the Trojan war and ultimately the epic of the Iliad is not about the rage of Achilles, the quarrelling between Agamemnon and Achilles, or Hector’s victory over Patroclus and Achilles’ subsequent retaliation, but rather it is about love. Sappho’s poem is about the love of Helen, and the power of love and how it is more important than that of any army, navy, parents or children.

Whereas in Homer’s Iliad, the theme is masculinity and action, Sappho offers a narrative of a more loving and peaceful nature. In poem 44, Sappho references characters from the Iliad, but the result of the writings of Homer and Sappho are very different. Sappho’s poem talks about the wedding of Hector and Andromache, prominent figures in the Iliad. The poem is incredibly descriptive, much like Homer’s Iliad, however the scenes and feeling of Sappho’s poem is much more soft. Rather than the rough chaos of war, and the taking of young women as prizes for the leaders of the army, the joyful wedding scene of love and celebration in Sappho’s poem certainly would have invoked a feeling of happiness and perhaps led many young female readers to long for a wedding celebration of the same