Sappho’s Iambics

Abstract

Although at least three ancient sources list specifically iambics as a type or form of poetry written by Sappho, few scholars seriously address the issue. The question is complicated by the lack of agreement about the sense in which archaic poets and their audiences understood the term iambos. This article explores the nuances of the term, and then addresses two main questions: first, is there convincing evidence that Sappho did indeed compose iambics? I argue that some of her work definitely belongs to the broader group of invective poetry to which iambos also belongs. And second, why are scholars so resistant to the notion of Sappho composing and performing invective verse? I suggest that scholars have tended to associate Sappho with more proper “feminine” melic content, and may have attributed to Alcaeus some of her verses that did not fit their idea of lyric propriety.