:: greetings to gorgo ::

greetings to gorgo

I salute, madam,

the descendant of 
many great kings

a great many times

- - -

sappho is my new discovery. (that may sound ostentatious. pardon me. I do not even read greek.) don't take this the wrong way, but -- I am in love.

sappho is exquisite. her poetry is pure, shining, intensely lit from somewhere inside; it is raw in its sentiment, clear in its statement, beautiful in its clarity and expression. it's not what she says that is so profound or so breathtaking -- it's how she says it. nor do I mean the words themselves. really it's the picture, the feel, they leave behind.

this one, above, I chose because it was so wry, understated, and sarcastic, but incredibly simple. she is merely greeting a friend (or do I mean "friend"?) -- and insulting her.

the salutation isn't just a salute; she could simply say, "I salute you, madam," and yet she chooses to multiply words. the overabundance of near-flattery is obviously not truthful, and makes this woman -- gorgo -- more an object of mirth than respect. she may indeed be the descendant of royalty, but sappho pointedly references the many as well as the great, rather than any remembered names. too many to name? maybe. more likely too unimportant to remember.

gorgo is not only descended from many kings -- lots and lots, hoo boy -- she is greeted "a great many times." once is obviously not enough for this woman; she must be greeted (read with sarcastic inflection on words in quotes) as "grandly" as her "illustrious predecessors" require.

I can only imagine gorgo's response when she heard first heard this. "seriously, sappho? go die."
…and I can only imagine what sappho might have said to that.