Scholar, historian, novelist, and professor of classics at the University of Texas (Austin), Peter Green recreates the life and times of the Greek lyric poet Sappho. The surviving fragments of Sappho's poetry reveal a mature woman of unflinching honesty. Sappho and her daily life on the island of ancient Lesbos are brought vividly to life via Green's extraordinary talent. This work was first published in 1965.
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"We have no business to romanticize the ancient past, or to see the glory that was Greece as a history of gods and heroes, remote from us, preserved in the translucent air of ancient (proper, well-intentioned) values. In fact, of course, the Greeks were just as disgraceful as we are--and Green's persuasive Sappho makes that clear."--Mary Margaret McCabe, "Times Literary Supplement
About the Author
Peter Green is Dougherty Centennial Professor of Classics at the University of Texas, Austin. A novelist and translator as well as a scholar, he is the author of many previous books, including Alexander of Macedon, 356-323 B.C.: A Historical Biography (1974; California, 1991) and Alexander to Actium: The Historical Evolution of the Hellenistic Age (California, 1990).
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
I've been touched by this powerful novel. What amaze me most is the way Sappho's character is revealed in all her plain and complex humanity. Is not a Sappho's personal account only . Besides the novel recreates its world with such authority and ease that makes a real pleasure to read it.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.5 out of 5 stars
4 reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
a very pleasureable read
29 Oct 2009
By gaetano catelli
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
in reading "The Laughter of Aphrodite", i was very pleasantly surprised. generally, i am not a fan of fiction. given how difficult it is for a great many people to accept irrefutable fact, i find it somewhat alarming that an author would intentionally write an entire work of fiction.
but, because i have found several of the classical historian Peter Green's other works to be so worthwhile, and because Plato called Sappho the 10th Muse, i decided to give "The Laughter of Aphrodite" a read.
i am very glad i did. to begin with, Green is an accomplished storyteller. he seamlessly weaves the political and cultural history of the island of Lesbos in the early 7th century BCE with an imaginative construction of Sappho's life from what survives of her poems, and what the ancients themselves wrote about her. and, though i am usually impatient with descriptive detail, i was enchanted by Green's 'proetic' evocations of sights, sounds, and scents ranging from articles in Sappho's bedroom to the Lesbian landscape.
further, i've never read a more convincing account of the emotional relationships between a woman and her relatives, friends, lovers, and adversaries.
further yet, i've never read the equal of Green's account of the internal life an artist.
oh, and as a bonus for the fictive-phobic (such as myself), in the back of this volume there is a chronology that indicates which elements are believed to be historical fact, which are reasonable conjectures, and which are the creative interpolations of the author.
so far, i have gotten 4 friends to (gratefully) read this book.
but, because i have found several of the classical historian Peter Green's other works to be so worthwhile, and because Plato called Sappho the 10th Muse, i decided to give "The Laughter of Aphrodite" a read.
i am very glad i did. to begin with, Green is an accomplished storyteller. he seamlessly weaves the political and cultural history of the island of Lesbos in the early 7th century BCE with an imaginative construction of Sappho's life from what survives of her poems, and what the ancients themselves wrote about her. and, though i am usually impatient with descriptive detail, i was enchanted by Green's 'proetic' evocations of sights, sounds, and scents ranging from articles in Sappho's bedroom to the Lesbian landscape.
further, i've never read a more convincing account of the emotional relationships between a woman and her relatives, friends, lovers, and adversaries.
further yet, i've never read the equal of Green's account of the internal life an artist.
oh, and as a bonus for the fictive-phobic (such as myself), in the back of this volume there is a chronology that indicates which elements are believed to be historical fact, which are reasonable conjectures, and which are the creative interpolations of the author.
so far, i have gotten 4 friends to (gratefully) read this book.
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
anatomy of a mid-life crisis
17 May 2001
By Arleen
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
Peter Green has created an insightful portrait of Sappho and the world in which she lived. This first person narrative is written with abundant poetic imagery -- great for giving you the feeling that Sappho is really the author, but not so great for following the storyline. Written by a reminiscing middle-aged Sappho, the plot continually shifts time frames, making it hard to keep up with what's going on. Like fragments of Sappho's poetry itself, the pieces *do* eventually come together, but only after many, many pages of frustrating reading.
One caveat: One of the back cover reviewers describes this as "an explicitly erotic modern novel," and maybe that was true when it was originally published in 1965. What sex there is is far from graphic, although it is sensual. ... .
One caveat: One of the back cover reviewers describes this as "an explicitly erotic modern novel," and maybe that was true when it was originally published in 1965. What sex there is is far from graphic, although it is sensual. ... .
6 of 8 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Extraordinary approach to a fascinating character and time.
29 Jan 1998
By A Customer
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
I've been touched by this powerful novel. What amaze me most is the way Sappho's character is revealed in all her plain and complex humanity. Is not a Sappho's personal account only . Besides the novel recreates its world with such authority and ease that makes a real pleasure to read it.
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4.5 out of 5 stars
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