(Traveler Article - 12/10/01)
FLASHBACK Paula Saffire, a visiting professor from Butler University,
performs the poetry of the Greek poet Sappho of Lesbos on Saturday.
Paula Saffire, associate professor of classics at Butler University,
provided a bit of time travel Saturday in Giffels Auditorium through her
performance lecture of the works of Greek poet Sappho.
Saffire, appearing in ancient costume complete with robes, sandals and
garland, sang Greek renditions and English translations of Sapphic poetry
while presenting slides and lecturing on Sapphos life, times and
inspirations. She accompanied herself on guitar, which she held upright
like a lyre, a type of harp used by ancient Greeks.
I have no talent at the guitar, but I gave myself a guitar for Christmas
one year, Saffire said. Then I read a book on how to be the perfect hippie
and it had a whole chapter on tuning your guitar like a tamboura, so now I
dont have to worry about chords.
While very little of Sapphos works exist today in complete form, Saffire
was able to apply her extensive knowledge of the Greek language to
complete her singing translations.
What ... was authentic in what I sing in Greek is a pitch pattern, Saffire
said. Greek is a pitch language unlike English which is a stress language
where a certain syllable is louder than the rest. In Greek, you have to
raise your pitch. It didnt have to be any louder, but it did have to be
higher.
So little of Sapphos work exists today that historians have resorted to
reconstructing strips of Egyptian mummy wrapping that exhibit bits of
Sapphos writing, Saffire said.
The Egyptians actually made mummy wrappings out of strips of Sapphos
poems, she said. Scholars found these and carefully undid all these little
strips so they could see what Sappho wrote.
To better understand the intense expression and emotion that is prevalent
in all Sappho works, Saffire devised what she calls a Sappho net, which is
a list of themes she believes all of Sapphos poems contain.
This net includes sensuality, sexuality, the presence of the divine
warmth, tenderness and amusement.
Many times Sappho will make obvious use of sensuality - with the flowers
and the wind - and there is of course the recurring presence of the
goddess [Aphrodite], but there is the question of is there sexuality as
well as sensuality, Saffire said. Sappho will never say anything crude or
coarse. She will only leave little hints, so it all depends on how far you
can travel on a hint.
Saffire gave many reasons for the universality of Sapphos works and the
love classical students hold for them in the modern world.
We love love, therefore we love Sapphos poetry, Saffire said. Also, she
depicted a complete womans world, all self-contained. She didnt
discriminate against men; she just didnt recognize them. Thats why women
of today go back to Greek images for images of power.
Saffire received a bachelors degree in philosophy from Mount Holyoke
College in Massachusetts, where she graduated summa cum laude and was
valedictorian. She earned her masters and doctoral degrees in classics at
Harvard University, where she received a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship.
Saffire has taught at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Smith
College, Hamilton College, the University of Georgia and the American
Institute of Buddhist Studies.
Saffire is the author of Ancient Greek Alive and numerous articles on the
ancient world. Her most recent project was the production of a video,
Sapphos Undying Smile.
She is fluent in French, Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Sanskrit, German and
Italian.
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The ad for the presentation, which contains more information, follows...
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THE SONGS OF SAPPHO
The University of Arkansas
Saturday, December 8, 2001
Giffels Auditorium
Old Main
4:00 PM
The University of Arkansas chapter of Eta Sigma Phi, the National
Classical Studies Honorary Society, in conjunction with the University of
Arkansas program in Classical Studies, proudly presents a
performance-slide-show-lecture by Paula Saffire, Ph.D. (Associate
Professor, Classics, Butler University). Professor Saffire appears
dressed in ancient costume and sings Sappho's songs in English and Greek.
The English songs are special "singing translations."
Sappho was a poetess on the Aegean isle of Lesbos in Greece during
the 7th-6th centuries BCE. Her poetry was known for its beauty and its
intense expression of personal emotion. Since the time of Plato, Greeks
called Sappho the "Tenth Muse," due to her poetic genius. In the ancient
world there were nine books of of her poems, but only a few of her poems
still survive. Sappho's verses strongly influenced the Roman poets
Catullus and Horace. Since the 1890's, more of Sappho's poetry has come
to light from about one hundred papyrus scraps found in Egypt -- and from
a potsherd on which someone had scratched one of her poems.
Dr. Saffire received a B.A. from Mount Holyoke College
(Philosophy), where she graduated summa cum laude, joined Phi Beta Kappa,
and was College Valedictorian. She earned her M.A. and Ph.D. in Classics
at Harvard University, where she received a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship.
Her Ph.D. Thesis was "Love and Friendship in Plato and Aristotle."
Professor Saffire has taught at the University of Massachusetts at
Amherst, Smith College, Hamilton College, the University of Georgia, and
the American Institute of Buddhist Studies (Sanskrit). She is the author
of the book ANCIENT GREEK ALIVE, and numerous articles on the ancient
world. Dr. Saffire's most recent project has been the production of a
video: SAPPHO'S UNDYING SMILE. Dr. Saffire is fluent in French, Hebrew,
Greek, Latin, Sanskrit, German, and Italian. She is an award-winning
teacher, and has received grants to make video tapes, put Sappho songs on
the Internet, and to study Mystical Literature of Islam.
For further information on the University of Arkansas performance, contact
Professor Daniel B. Levine (Classical Studies): 501-575-5937,
dlevine@uark.edu, and visit Paula Saffire's web site:
http://blue.butler.edu/~psaffire.