Sappho’s poetry is that of a close friend and not
just a goddess.
A significant portion of Sappho’s composi-
tions took the form of love songs, which accounts
for the high number of surviving poems and
poem fragments of hers that incorporate Aphro-
dite into the text. Sappho and her followers were
part of a ‘‘woman’s culture,’’ suggests Friedrich,
that was present on Lesbos and which reflected
the high status of women living on the island.
Although much about Sappho’s life remains
either unknown or uncertain, it is known that
Sappho lived in an aristocratic world on Lesbos,
in a privileged lifestyle. Although she was a
participant in the cult of Aphrodite, Margaret
Reynolds suggests in her studyThe Sappho Com-
panionthat Sappho was not likely a priestess.
Instead, says Reynolds, Sappho was ‘‘perhaps a
leader of young noble women, probably training
in the arts and being groomed for an advanta-
geous marriage.’’ As was the case with Sappho’s
most famous poem, ‘‘Hymn to Aphrodite,’’‘‘Frag-
ment 2’’ would have been composed for Sappho’s
female audience and performed as part of a cere-
mony or festival, as a function of the cult of
Aphrodite. Friedrich suggests that Sappho and
Aphrodite shared a common concern about love.
They were interacting in matters of love, whether
the group surrounding Sappho was composed of
students, friends, or simply women united in their
common love of poetry and song and their wor-
ship of the cult of Aphrodite. Sappho and Aphro-
dite responded as one entity, suggests Friedrich,
who claims that ‘‘Sappho’s goddess is a projection
of herself.’’ Perhaps this is because Sappho saw
herself in Aphrodite, or at least the self she hoped
would live on after her death.
Indeed, for Sappho, Aphrodite appears to
have presented a mirror image of the poet. Accord-
ing to Warren Castle, Aphrodite was ‘‘a kind of
projection of Sappho’s idealized self, the uncon-
scious personification of the self-critical reflective
faculty of her personality.’’ In his essay ‘‘Observa-
tions on Sappho’sTo Aphrodite,’’ Castle claims
that Aphrodite is the part of Sappho that stands
apart from the poet, observing and commenting
upon her actions. Castle argues that for Sappho,
‘‘the love-goddess was a real deity, faithful friend,
conventional symbol and, in a sense, Sappho
herself.’’ Aphrodite had temples devoted to
her worship, altars and statues, and of course,
many worshippers. She also had a mythology
that expressed her powers as a goddess and
her role in her admirers’ lives. She is the woman
Sappho believes herself to be—one who is beloved
and who commands followers of her own. Sap-
pho’s belief in Aphrodite as a goddess who comes
toearthtointeractwithherfollowerswouldhave
added to the poet’s self-identification with the
goddess. Sappho believed in Aphrodite, as Castle
suggests, on a ‘‘religio-mythological level, but also
as a personal deity who could and would appear
on earth to her supplicant worshippers.’’ By invok-
ing Aphrodite’s presencein the apple grove, Sap-
pho makes the goddess real. She is no longer a
mythical god but a real one, who has the power
to come to earth and participate in a celebration
with the poet and her followers. This belief in
Aphrodite as friend and not just mythical god is
one reason why her presence in Sappho’s poems
is ubiquitous. Castle’s claim that ‘‘Aphrodite
commands a prominent position in the works
of Sappho’’ becomes almost an understatement.
Although there are few poems remaining of her
prodigious poetic output, what remains is rich in
references to Aphrodite, which underscores the
importance of the goddess in Sappho’s life.
It is important to consider just how ideally
suited Aphrodite was for Sappho’s use as a poetic
muse. Margaret Williamson claims that Aphrodite
offered opportunities not provided by other Greek
gods. In her study of Sappho’s life and work,
Sappho’s Immortal Daughters, Williamson points
out that Aphrodite is ‘‘the only Olympian goddess
to step out of the polar roles of active male and
passive female.’’ Aphrodite is a strong woman, not
oppressed by men or limited in what she can
achieve. The goddess was not a passive woman,
as so many Greek women were forced to become.
Sappho’s songs about Aphrodite in turn presented
a model of a strong woman who was not passive
or submissive to men. She made it more than
acceptable to be an assertive woman; Aphrodite
made women strong. She is a Greek goddess who
speaks to women and women’s experiences, which
is why the cult of Aphrodite is such an important
element in Sappho’s poetry. Thus the poet, who
calls for Aphrodite to come to the apple grove in
the first line of ‘‘Fragment 2,’’ is speaking for a
group of women worshippers and not just for
herself. Although the poem never explicitly men-
tions any single person present at the apple grove,
the final stanza, with its mention of golden cups,
implies several participants at these festivities.
Aphrodite is both goddess and human. She
exists in both the idealized earthly world ofFragment 2