Think Through: Poems by Sappho.

1. Out of all of the three poems written by Sappho, I think that I understand "To Aphrodite of the Flowers, at Knossos". This one is my favorite, because it talks about leaving all you know just to go and experience something beautiful and great. You may have a great life as it is, but sometimes you have to take chances in order to find the even greater life that you could have.

3. In the first poem, "Some say thronging cavalry...", when she talks about Helen of Troy, it makes her think of her own friend, Anactoria, because Helen and herself have something in common. They both are suffering from one of their loved ones being away, Helen's love being off at war, and Sappho's love having moved away. They're both longing to see their faces. In the second poem, "He Is More Than a Hero", I think that Sappho has mixed feelings about the man she talks about. She talks about getting excited and out of breath when the man is around, but then she goes into how if she's around him a lot, she feels like she's going to die. I think that she loves him so much that she wants to hold on to him and keep holding because she fears of losing him. If she did lose him, she feels that she wouldn't be able to go on. So she could be thinking so much about him, and loving him so much, that she gets herself so worried about what would happen if he wasn't there anymore, and dreading life with out him. In the third poem, "To Aphrodite of the Flowers, at Knossos", Sappho describes such a wonderful, vivid place. It's so heavenly that even the goddess Aphrodite graces herself upon the land. The place that she describes is the most wonderful place that anyone could ever imagine, the perfect utopia.

4. 'She values intimate moments of friendship', and 'She appreciates the beauty of nature' best apply to Sappho. You can tell that she loves her friendship with Anactoria, and she misses her friend dearly. She shows that she misses her so much that she even relates herself to Helen of Troy. Also, she clearly appreciates the beauty of nature in her poem "To Aphrodite of the Flowers, at Knossos", the way she describes the land so intimately, and vividly. She makes the land come alive, and actually puts you there, in the poem, enjoying all of the aspects of nature that she describes.

6. If Sappho's poems were to be set to modern day music, I think that The Shins would do the best job with her poems. They are mellow, and often sing about nature, and struggles with other things in life. The mood of these poems to me, were mostly mellow, and laid back, while still getting to the point and addressing her opinions really strongly. They would definitely set the mood for these poems, making everything that she wrote come to life, and actually put you into the song/poem.