There was a tendency in archaic Greece to categorize people in relationships as either passive or active. Sappho however did not follow this trend. The poetry of male poe ts such as Archilochus and Anacreon often focused on the domination of women by men. Perhaps it is because she is female that Sappho does not choose to depict relationships in such a light. Whatever her reasons, though, her poetry is obviously unique in i ts dealings with equality in relationships.

Ancient Greek literature is filled with metaphors and images of the separate passive and active roles in a sexual relationship. One person is the pursuer, and the other the pursued. Of course the pursuer is the man and the pursued is the woman. There are cases in which this is not true, such as in myth, but even in this context the women who take the active role are generally looked down upon. Archilochus and Anacreon are two male poets from this time wh o demonstrate this idea very clearly.

One poem written by Archilochus is about the seduction of a girl. The active role of the male speaker is evident by his coaxing language, "Do not begrudge me this, my darling..." The extremely passive role of t he girl is also very evident. She attempts to get out of the situation by suggesting another woman he might want, but to no avail. The speaker then takes full control of the situation, "I said no more, but took the girl and laid her down... ,while she [fe ll silent in fear] like a fawn [before a wolf]." The girl is quite obviously not the one pursuing the relationship. This is very blatantly a male dominated experience.

A poem of Anancreon’s is also quite blatant in its depiction of male (activ e) and female (passive) roles. As Sue Blundell puts it, "... the horse-riding metaphor is used to suggest sexual taming and domination." He describes the woman of his desire as a filly who really just needs someone skilled to ride her. Anacreon is obvious ly not thinking about an equal partnership here, "Let me tell you, I could neatly put the bridle on you and with the reins in my hand wheel you round the turnpost of the racecourse;..." The ideas of dominance and passivity are quite obvious in this poem.

Sappho takes another perspective of relationships all together. Fragment 94 is about the sorrow two women feel over their parting. Margaret Williamson discusses the meanings of the Greek words used in this poem, such as hapalos. Admittedly, I don’t know even the slightest bit of Greek, however I would tend to trust Williamson’s translation. She talks about how the word hapalos is applied and repeated throughout the poem. Its usage suggests that, "...a female singer may be p ositioned as both subject and object of desire." Even in the English translation, it is easy to see that each woman is equally desired by the other. One weeps at her imminent departure, while the speaker asks for her to, "...remember/ me there, for you kn ow how we have cherished you,..." Both women are desired just as both women desire.

Fragment 96 is another good example of Sappho’s refusal to distinguish between active and passive roles. This poem is also about separation, except that it is in the past and not the future. Atthis longs for her friend now in Sardis. She is asked by the speaker to think of this woman now in Sardis thinking of her. Atthis’ pain is made apparent by the speaker’s attempt to comfort her. She very much lov ed this woman who is now gone. Atthis’ love is reciprocated though, "[... for you know that she honored] you/ as if you were a goddess/ and, most of all, delighted in your song." Again Sappho gives each woman the role of both pursuer and pursued.

Sappho’s approach to relationships was in definite contrast with those of her male counterparts. She saw both partners as being lovers as well as being loved. As the examples from Archilochus and Anacreon made obvious, most Greeks, at least Gree k men anyway, did not feel the same way. Some might object to this thesis on the grounds that much of Sappho’s poetry portrayed female homosexual relationships, and therefore cannot be compared to heterosexual relationships. I disagree, because no ma tter how you look at it, she still did not fall into the norm of assigning an active and a passive role to sexual partners. Sappho was a unique poet in her time.

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