Greek lyric
David A. Campbell (Editor, Translator)
The four volumes of Greek Lyric contain the surviving fragments of solo song and choral song. This poetry was not preserved in medieval manuscripts and few complete poems remain. Later writers quoted from the poets, but only so much as suited their needs; these book-quotations are supplemented by papyrus texts found in Egypt, most of them badly damaged. The high quality of what remains makes us realize the enormity of our loss. Volume One contains the poetic fragments of the two illustrious singers of early sixth-century Lesbos: Sappho, the most famous woman poet of antiquity, whose main theme was love; and Alcaeus, poet of wine, war, and politics, and composer of short hymns to the gods. The principal testimonia to their lives and work are given. -- Jacket, vol. 1
Print Book, English, 1982
Harvard University Press ; W. Heinemann, Cambridge, Mass., London, 1982