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Sappho's Desire: A Streetcar Named Desire

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Intro

Thesis: If Anaktoria would have stayed with Sappho, would she have written poetry like this? Desire
The ancient poet Sappho expresses her feelings in her work. Her beautiful and heartbroken words send out the feeling of longing and desire she feels for Anaktoria, a woman who left her to find a husband. Sappho voices this feeling multiple times in her poetry. She says:
]of desire
]
]for when I look at you
[…]
]from every care
]you could release me
(Sappho “Fragment 23” p.43)
This shows us the desire she feels for Anaktoria and Aphrodite,who she prayed to after Anaktoria left her. She desires Anaktoria for her beauty and the love she feels for her but she wants Aphrodite to release her from the pain she felt when Anaktoria left her to …show more content…

Whom should I persuade (now again) to lead you back into her love? Who, O
Sappho, is wronging you? (Sappho “Fragment 1” p.3)
These beautiful words show us how she prayed for Aphrodite's help. She wants Anaktoria to love her and return to her. When Sappho says “[…]Who, O/Sappho, is wronging you?” she is basically asking herself “Why is this happening to me when all I did is love this woman with all my heart?). Anaktoria strongly influences Sappho's words, She makes references to her on multiple occasions. When Aphrodite answered Sappho she said:”
For if she flees, soon she will pursue./If she refuses gifts, rather will she give them./If she does not love, soon she will love/even unwilling.” These words tell us how even though Anaktoria left Sappho she will find love somewhere else. She fled Sappho only to find someone else. As much as Sappho wants her there is nothing she can do to get her back. How can love have such a strong effect on someone? 1- …show more content…

Not only did her heart get shattered but she lost her love because she wanted to find a husband. Anaktoria betrayed Sappho’s love by going to find someone else’s love. She says: “you burn me” (Sappho “Fragment 38” p.77) This quotation shows us how Sappho felt the burn of betrayal after the loss of her love. Would Sappho’s words show this kind of anger if Anaktoria would have stayed? She also speaks about how she feels forgotten and how she wishes she wouldn’t be. The text states: “but me you have forgotten” (Sappho “Fragment 129A” p.263) and “or you love some man more than me” (Sappho “Fragment 129B” p.263). These show us how Sappho feels like Anaktoria easily forgot about her and how she feels betrayed that Anaktoria loves a man now more than her. Anaktoria keeps poping up in Sappho’s poetry, she’s everywhere. Even when you think she isn’t, she

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