A poesia de Safo de Lesbos: educação, performance e o feminino na Grécia arcaica

Abstract

In Antiquity, poetry was not only seen as an entertainment, but as a form of personal and moral development. It allowed society to connect with its cultural traditions and offered a means for reflection and self-knowledge. The Archaic Greek poetry encompassed both the greatness of epic and the mellic expression, which developed in around the 8th and the 7th centuries BCE. It was sung solo or accompanied by a choir, usually followed by a musical instrument, such as the lyre or the cither. One of the most famous and notable examples of Melic poetry is Sappho. A native of the island of Lesbos, in the Aeolian region, she was one of the first poets to have her creations acknowledge, but only fragments and a complete work have survived. The legacy left by the Sapphic poetry exuded emotion and sensitivity. Although many of her works have been lost over the centuries, her reputation in the poetical canon of Antiquity has lived on to the present day.