by Sappho (flourished c610-c580 BCE)
Translation © by Mary Barnard (1909 - 2001)
ἢ ὥσπερ Σαπφώ•
Language: Aeolic Greek
ἢ ὥσπερ Σαπφώ• ὅτι τὸ ἀποθνῄσκειν κακόν• οἱ θεοὶ γὰρ οὕτω κεκρίκασιν• ἀπέθνησκον γὰρ ἄν.
About the headline (FAQ)
Aristotle quotes the poet SapphoText Authorship:
- by Sappho (flourished c610-c580 BCE), appears in Fragments, no. 201 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- [ None yet in the database ]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, a translation by Mary Barnard (1909 - 2001) , "We know this much", appears in Sappho: A New Translation, no. 87, first published 1958, copyright © ; composed by Eric Hudes.
Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2026-04-05
Line count: 4
Word count: 15
We know this much
Language: English after the Aeolic Greek
Death is an evil [ ... ]
This text may be copyright, so we will not display it until we obtain permission to do so or discover it is public-domain.
Confirmed with Mary Barnard, Sappho; A New Translation, Berkeley : University of California Press, 2019
Text Authorship:
- by Mary Barnard (1909 - 2001), "We know this much", appears in Sappho: A New Translation, no. 87, first published 1958, copyright © [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Eric Hudes (b. 1920), "We know this much", op. 39 no. 9, copyright © 1989 [ soprano and clarinet ], from Sapphō kynōpis kai mantis = Sappho, bitch! (and philos[o]pher), no. 9, Paigles, Perry Green, Bradwell, Braintree, Essex : Anglian Edition ; Anglian new music series, ANMS 177 [sung text not yet checked]
This text was added to the website: 2012-02-19
Line count: 5
Word count: 21