Since the hardbound edition of Sappho and Alcaeus was first published in 1955 other fragments of the two poets have come to light (many of which have been printed in Sir Denys Page‘s Supplementum Lyricis Graecis). But the book is still of great value for the study of Lesbian poetry since it contains not only texts of most of the longer and more informative pieces, but also translations, commentaries, and explanatory essays. The primary purpose is to determine what may be said with reasonable certainty about the lives and literary achievements of the two poets, and to show how much they contribute to our understanding of the social and political conditions of the time. Book jacket.
Genre: Poetry
Subjects: Alcaeus; History / Ancient / Greece; Law / International; LITERARY CRITICISM / Gay & Lesbian; Sappho
Publication History
| Copyright Date | 1955 |
|---|---|
| Publication Date | 1955 |
| Publisher | Oxford |
| Format | Hardcover |
| No. of Pages | 340 |
| Language | English |
| Rating | Not Rated |
| ISBN | 0198143230 |
|---|---|
| Copyright Date | 1955 |
| Publication Date | 1975 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press |
| Format | Hardcover |
| No. of Pages | 340 |
| Language | English |
| Rating | Not Rated |
| ISBN | 9780198143758 |
|---|---|
| Copyright Date | 1979 |
| Publication Date | October 11, 1979 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press |
| Format | Trade Paperback |
| No. of Pages | 350 |
| Language | English |
| Rating | Not Rated |
Comment
Sappho and Alcaeus: An Introduction to the Study of Ancient Lesbian Poetry, by the classicist Denys Page, was published by the Clarendon Press, Oxford, in 1955, reprinted from corrected sheets in 1959 and issued in paperback in 1979. "Lesbian" in the subtitle refers to the island of Lesbos, home of both poets. The book was written as a companion to Page and Edgar Lobel's edition of the Lesbian poets' fragments and discusses the surviving poems of Sappho in detail before turning to Alcaeus.
Reviewing it in the Classical Review in 1957, J. A. Davison praised the treatment of Alcaeus but doubted that lovers of poetry would accept Page's views of Sappho. Barbara Grier listed it with an A in The Lesbian in Literature. Oxford kept the book in print for decades, with reprints as late as 1998, making it a standard English-language study of the poet whose name gave us the word sapphic.