Note 9 — BANTOCK

The extant examples of the verse of the Lesbian poetess comprise the Ode to Aphrodite, twenty-seven lines in Sapphic strophes; the four strophes instanced by Longinus as a specimen of the sublime: "Blest as the immortal gods is he"; and a hundred or more single lines and stanzas in a wide variety of metres. These are contained in the Teubner Anthologia Lyrica, in the Poetæ Lyrici of Bergk, and, with English translations, in Henry Thornton Wharton's Sappho: Memoir, Text, Selected Renderings, and a Literal Translation.

"Among the ancients," wrote John Addington Symonds in his Studies of the Greek Poets, "Sappho enjoyed a unique renown. She was called 'The Poetess,' as Homer was called 'The Poet.' Aristotle quoted without question a judgment that placed her in the same rank as Homer and Archilochus. Plato, in the Phædrus, mentioned her as the tenth Muse. Solon, hearing one of her poems, prayed that he might not see death till he had learned it. Strabo speaks of her genius with religious awe.... The epigrammists call her Child of Aphrodite and Eros, nursling of the Graces, pride of Hellas, peer of Muses, companion of Apollo. Nowhere is a hint whispered that her poetry was aught but perfect. As far as we can judge, these praises were strictly just. Of all the poets of the world, of all the illustrious artists of all literatures, Sappho is the one whose every word has a peculiar and unmistakable perfume, a seal of absolute perfection and inimitable grace."