Poetry for Students, Volume 31

Sappho gathers her young female students, her
thiasosof believers who worship Aphrodite. In Sap-
pho’s private community, then, women gather
together in celebration of a strong woman. It is
likely that ‘‘Fragment 2’’ was composed for this
community of women as part of a festival or mar-
riage celebration. Sappho would have sung the
poem, perhaps joined by her female companions.
The singing of ‘‘Fragment 2’’ would have united
the women in their worship of Aphrodite, who,
though a goddess, was still accessible for Sappho’s
community.

Worship of Gods and Goddesses
Sappho’s poem represents a common Greek
sentiment—the desire for gods to participate in
the lives of humans. The Greeks of antiquity
believed fervently in their gods’ ability to offer
assistance, with different gods assigned qual-
ities and functions to fit particular aspects and
needs of human life. Aphrodite was designated the
goddess of love and the protector of marriage, as
well as the goddess of sexuality and passion. She
was very beautiful and quite promiscuous, as were
many of the gods. Sappho, with her students and
companions, created a cult devoted to the worship
of Aphrodite. Songs and poems were written to
honor the goddess, and pleas for her help were also

common. In ‘‘Fragment 2,’’ the poet opens and

closes the poem with stanzas that invite Aphrodite

to participate in their ceremonies. In the opening

stanza, she is invited to come as an honored guest.

In the final stanza, Aphrodite is invited to partic-

ipate by pouring the celebratory nectar. The Greek

worship of their gods included an understanding

that the gods could leave their heavenly homes and

come to earth to be a part of human existence.

Style

Garden Imagery

The image of an ideal garden filled with earthly

delights is an important one in Sappho’s poem. The

relationships between images can suggest impor-

tant meanings in a poem. With imagery, the poem

uses language and specific words to create mean-

ing. In ‘‘Fragment 2,’’ it is the images of spring

gardens that help to create mood and tone. Under-

standing patterns of imagery can help the reader to

infer meaning in the poem. In lyric poetry, the

connections between images become more impor-

tant, since lyric poetry draws on emotion and

the senses to create a narrative in which meaning

must be discovered. In Sappho’s poem, the garden

Sir Lawrence Alma Tadema’sSappho and Alcaeus(1881), depicting Sappho and another woman
listening to a lyre performance by fellow poet Alcaeus(Hulton Archive / Getty Images)

Fragment 2