Sappho

Grillparzer, Franz, 1791-1872Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.8

Word count: 104K words
Chapters: 11

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971, and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today. Sappho by Franz Grillparzer. Author: Grillparzer, Franz, 1791-1872. Language: German. Class: PT: Language and Literatures: Germanic, Scandinavian, and Icelandic literatures. Release Date: Oct 1, 2005

Editor's review

This Sappho is a tragedy by the Austrian playwright Grillparzer based on the ancient Greek poet Sappho; the original German text is distributed free of charge by Project Gutenberg. Its value lies not in reconstructing history but in using a classical subject to carry nineteenth-century reflections on the tension between art and life, genius and ordinary happiness; the emotional conflicts and fates of the characters are dramatically charged. As a public-domain ebook, the text is complete and easy to obtain, making it suitable as supplementary reading for German literature and for readers interested in adaptations of classical subjects. Because it is in German and in dramatic form, reading requires some knowledge of German, and attention should be paid to distinguishing stage dialogue from stage directions. Overall, it is a short classical-subject play that can be read through act by act, best entered after learning the background of the Sappho legend.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers with some German reading ability who want to encounter German classical drama
Readers interested in how the image of the ancient Greek poet Sappho has been rewritten in later literature
Teachers and students who need a short play as supplementary material for German literature courses
Literature lovers who enjoy classical tragedy and are willing to read act by act

Not a good fit for

General readers without German who hope to read a Chinese translation
Readers expecting the historical facts of Sappho's life or her original poetry
Readers who prefer the narrative pace of modern fiction and are unaccustomed to dramatic form

Reading tips

Learn the Sappho legend and ancient Greek background first, then enter the play; the relationships will be clearer.
Read act by act, noting the difference between dialogue and stage directions to grasp the dramatic rhythm.
Read alongside the German original and existing translations to help understand key phrases and emotional turns.
After reading, trace the conflict between artistic pursuit and personal happiness to form an overall judgment.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book a collection of Sappho's own poetry?

No. It is a German play by Grillparzer based on Sappho, a later literary adaptation, not the original or a translation of Sappho's poetry; readers should not treat it as a collection of Sappho's works.

What language background is needed to read this book?

The book is in German and requires some German reading ability. If your German is limited, you can first use a translation to understand the plot, then return to the original to appreciate the language and dramatic structure.

Is this work suitable for classroom use?

It can serve as supplementary material for courses on German literature or adaptations of classical subjects. It is short and clearly divided into acts, making it convenient for segment-by-segment classroom discussion of character motivation and dramatic conflict.

Comments

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About the author

Grillparzer, Franz, 1791-1872 Author

Franz Grillparzer (1791–1872) was an Austrian dramatist and novelist. Publicly available information on the details of his life is limited, but the works he left behind are enough to show his important place in the history of German-language literature. Many of his plays draw on history and classical legend: König Ottokars Glück und Ende and Ein Bruderzwist in Habsburg deal with the rise and fall of dynasties and conflicts over power, while Das goldene Vließ and Medea retell ancient Greek myths. He also wrote works such as Die Jüdin von Toledo, which involves entanglements of love and politics, and Der arme Spielmann, which portrays with delicate strokes the fate of ordinary people. His plays are tightly structured and written in concise language, and he was skilled at revealing his characters' psychological conflicts and moral dilemmas within historical frameworks, exerting a lasting influence on the later development of Austrian drama.