Ode to Aphrodite
Deathless Aphrodite, throned in flowers,
Daughter of Zeus, O terrible enchantress,
With this sorrow, with this anguish, break my spirit
Lady, not longer!
Hear anew the voice! O hear and listen!
Come, as in that island dawn thou camest,
Billowing in thy yoked car to Sappho
Forth from thy father’s
Golden house in pity! … I remember:
Fleet and fair thy sparrows drew thee, beating
Fast their wings above the dusky harvests,
Down the pale heavens,
Lightning anon! And thou, O blest and brightest,
Smiling with immortal eyelids, asked me:
‘Maiden, what betideth thee? Or wherefore
Callest upon me?
‘What is here the longing more than other,
Here in this mad heart? And who the lovely
One beloved that wouldst lure to loving?
Sappho, who wrongs thee?
‘See, if now she flies, she soon must follow;
Yes, if spurning gifts, she soon must offer;
Yes, if loving not, she soon must love thee,
Howso unwilling…’
Come again to me! O now! Release me!
End the great pang! And all my heart desireth
Now of fulfillment, fulfill! O Aphrodite,
Fight by my shoulder!
Sappho
The dominance of patriarchy in ancient societies did not allow many women to ascend in disciplines such as art and literature. In the western theatre they were non-starters until the latter part of the seventeenth century. Neither did traditional societies escape this. In West Africa, for example, the masquerade dances were performed by members of an exclusive male society, while the Egungun performers were an all-male club.
Despite an extraordinary and significant feminist treatise by the radical and controversial English writer and activist for the cause of women Mary Wollstonecraft – A Vindication of the Rights of Woman in 1792, and an even more amazing novel by her daughter Mary Shelley (1797 – 1850) – Frankenstein (1818), women writers still suffered up to as late as the late 19th century. Shelley’s novel was ahead of its time and is outstanding for the rewards it still yields.
All of this, of course, was long before the first feminist movements began in the 20th century. Patriarchy in Europe still provoked strong criticisms of society in the plays by the founder of modern drama Henrik Ibsen, who at one time was presented with an award by a women’s group.
