Among the Ancients: Sappho

Emily Wilson and Thomas Jones

In the third episode, Emily and Tom move from epic to lyric, with the poems of Sappho, or what remains of them. They consider what we know, and don’t know, about her life, and how her poetry challenges the heroic tradition, both in its subversion of Homeric ideas of war and nostos, and in its playful use of language.

This is an extract from the episode. To listen in full, and to all our other Close Readings series, sign up here: https://lrb.me/closereadings

Further Reading:

Emily Wilson: Tongue breaks

Terry Castle: Always the Bridesmaid

Mary Beard: Sappho speaks

Peter Green: What We Know

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