llenic
setting was due probably to Orpheus, the great lost poet of love, whose
songs charmed all nature, all hell as well. From him, through problematic
hands, it drifted to Hesiod, as already his lyre had drifted to Lesbos.
The picture persisted, the lyre as well. To the latter the Mitylenes
attributed the wonder of the beauty of their nightingales, chief among
whom was Sappho.

IV

SAPPHO

Sappho was contemporaneous with Nebuchadnezzar. While he was chastening
the Jews, she was creating love. In her day the condition of Hellenic
women differed from what it had been. Generally they were shut apart,
excluded from any exercise of their possible minds, restricted to strict
domesticity. At Athens a girl might not so much as look from a window. If
she did, she saw nothing. The window did not give on the street. But in
the temples the candor of her eyes was violated. In the festivals of Ceres
the modesty of her ears was assailed. Otherwise, she was securely guarded.
If, to her detriment, she eluded guardianship, she could be sold. With
marriage she entered into a form of superior slavery. When her husband's
friends supped with him, she was not permitted to be present. Without
permission she could not go from one apartment to the next. Without
permission she could not go out. When she did, it was at her husband's
side, heavily veiled. With his permission, she might go to the theatre,
but only when tragedy was given. At comedies and at the games she was
forbidden to assist. In case of disobedience the penalty was death.
Pleasures and privileges were limited to housekeeping and motherhood. At
the immanence of the latter her surroundings were embellished with
beautiful trifles, with objects of art, with whatever influences might
prenatally affect, and, in affecting, perfect the offspring. Otherwise,
her existence was simple and severe. The peplos tissue of gold was not for
her. Garments colored or flowered were not, either. These were reserved
for her inferiors and superiors, for the hierodules of Aphrodite Pandemos
and the images of the gods. Though her robes were simple, they had to be
heavy. If light, a fine was incurred. If they did not hang properly,
another fine was imposed. If, to the detriment of her husband, a man
succeeded in approaching her, she could be killed or merely repudiated; in
the latter case, she could no longer enter a temple, any one might insult
her. Still a slave, she was an outcast as well.