From Lesbos She Took Her Honeycomb: Sappho and the ‘Female Tradition’ in Hellenistic Poetry

Abstract

The great importance that was attached to Sappho's poetry in antiquity implied that poetry by women might be of value, especially if it resembled her work. In modern discussions of Hellenistic women poets this tendency to set women apart led to the idea that women poets and their audience thought of their work as belonging to a separate female tradition. This chapter shows that, although the work of women poets offered some leads for the idea, the concept of a female literary tradition was constructed in their reception by male poets and critics, who viewed women poets as a separate group with its own traditions. It starts with a brief analysis of Sappho as a model author in Hellenistic poetry. The chapter then turns to the question of how the idea of women poets as a separate group with a specific female tradition came into being. Keywords: female literary tradition; Hellenistic poetry; Sappho; women poets