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Venus stands on a shell between wind-blown figures and a woman bringing her a mantle.
Sandro Botticelli, The Birth of Venus, c. 1485. Venus is the Roman counterpart of Aphrodite.Sandro Botticelli; Uffizi Galleries. Public-domain reproduction via Wikimedia Commons. · Source · Public domain. Full image shown.

Hymn of Sappho · Hymn 01

Aphrodite of the Many-Coloured Throne

Εἰς Ἀφροδίτην

Sappho · 28 lines · Aphrodite

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Prayer and ritual

These hymns may be spoken as complete prayers to the Gods. Within the Temple’s practice, a ritual is a direct theurgical act; hymnody gathers the mind and turns it toward the Divine, helping the initiate enter reverent communion with the Gods.

Use a hymn on its own in place of another prayer, or add it to the prayer portion of a suitable ritual. Choose according to the deity addressed and the petition expressed in the hymn. When combining them, preserve the ritual’s prescribed sequence and let the hymn give voice to its purpose.

The petition of this hymn

For prayer to Aphrodite amid the suffering of love, seeking her presence, relief, and divine companionship.

Recite the complete ode as a prayer to Aphrodite when bringing the heart’s distress before the Goddess. It may accompany an existing rite of love or a prayer for release from painful care, retaining Sappho’s own voice and the Goddess’s remembered reply.

English hieratic rendering

Hymn 01 · An English rendering aligned with the Greek lines.

  1. Immortal Aphrodite of the many-coloured throne,
  2. Child of Zeus, Weaver of guile, I beseech you:
  3. do not subdue me with anguish and torment,
  4. O Lady, in my heart.
  5. But come here, if ever before,
  6. hearing my voice from afar,
  7. you hearkened, and leaving your Father’s dwelling
  8. of gold, you came,
  9. having yoked your chariot; beautiful
  10. swift sparrows bore you above the dark earth,
  11. whirling their close-beating wings from heaven through the aether,
  12. through its very midst.
  13. Swiftly they arrived; and you, O Blessed One,
  14. with a smile upon your immortal face,
  15. asked what I had suffered now, and why
  16. I called you yet again,
  17. and what, above all, I wished to come to pass
  18. in my maddened heart: “Whom now would you have Persuasion
  19. lead into your love? Who, O
  20. Sappho, does you wrong?
  21. For if she flees, soon she shall pursue;
  22. if she will not receive gifts, yet she shall give them;
  23. if she does not love, soon she shall love,
  24. even against her will.”
  25. Come to me now also, and release me
  26. from grievous cares; whatever my heart
  27. yearns to see fulfilled, fulfil; and you yourself,
  28. be my ally.

Ancient Greek & pronunciation

Read the English pronunciation spelling directly below each Greek line.

28 Greek lines
  1. Ποικιλόθρον’, ἀθάνατ’ Ἀφρόδιτα,pee-kee-LOH-throhn’, ah-THAH-naht’ ah-FROH-dhee-tah,
  2. παῖ Δίος, δολόπλοκε, λίσσομαί σε,PEH DHEE-ohs, dhoh-LOH-ploh-keh, LEE-soh-MEH seh,
  3. μή μ’ ἄσαισι μηδ’ ὀνίαισι δάμνα,MEE m’ AH-seh-see meedh’ oh-NEE-eh-see DHAHM-nah,
  4. πότνια, θῦμον·POHT-nee-ah, THEE-mohn·
  5. ἀλλὰ τυίδ’ ἔλθ’, αἴ ποτα κἀτέρωταah-LAH TEEDH’ EHLTH’, EH poh-tah kah-TEH-roh-tah
  6. τᾶς ἔμας αὔδως ἀίοισα πήλυιTAHS EH-mahs AHV-dhohs ah-EE-ee-sah PEE-lee
  7. ἔκλυες, πάτρος δὲ δόμον λίποισαEH-klee-ehs, PAH-trohs DHEH DHOH-mohn LEE-pee-sah
  8. χρύσιον ἦλθεςKHREE-see-ohn EEL-thehs
  9. ἄρμ’ ὐπαζεύξαισα· κάλοι δέ σ’ ἆγονAHRM’ ee-pah-ZEHFK-seh-sah· KAH-lee DHEH s’ AH-ghohn
  10. ὤκεες στροῦθοι περὶ γᾶς μελαίναςOH-keh-ehs STROO-thee peh-REE GHAHS meh-LEH-nahs
  11. πύκνα δίννεντες πτέρ’ ἀπ’ ὠράνω αἴθε-PEEK-nah DHEE-nehn-dehs PTEHR’ ahp’ oh-RAH-noh EH-theh-
  12. ρος διὰ μέσσω.rohs dhee-AH MEH-soh.
  13. αἶψα δ’ ἐξίκοντο· τὺ δ’, ὦ μάκαιρα,EHP-sah dh’ ehk-SEE-kohn-doh· TEE dh’, OH MAH-keh-rah,
  14. μειδιάσαισ’ ἀθανάτῳ προσώπῳ,mee-dhee-AH-sehs’ ah-thah-NAH-toh proh-SOH-poh,
  15. ἤρε’, ὄττι δηὖτε πέπονθα κὤττιEE-reh’, OH-tee DHEEF-teh PEH-pohn-thah KOH-tee
  16. δηὖτε κάλημι,DHEEF-teh KAH-lee-mee,
  17. κὤττι ἔμῳ μάλιστα θέλω γένεσθαιKOH-tee EH-moh MAH-lee-stah THEH-loh YEH-nehs-theh
  18. μαινόλᾳ θύμῳ· “τίνα δηὖτε Πείθωmeh-NOH-lah THEE-moh· “TEE-nah DHEEF-teh PEE-thoh
  19. μαῖς ἄγην ἐς σὰν φιλότατα, τίς σ’, ὦMEHS AH-yeen ehs SAHN fee-LOH-tah-tah, TEES s’, OH
  20. Ψάπφ’, ἀδικήει;PSAHPF’, ah-dhee-KEE-ee;
  21. καὶ γὰρ αἰ φεύγει, ταχέως διώξει,KEH GHAHR eh FEHV-yee, tah-HYEH-ohs dhee-OHK-see,
  22. αἰ δὲ δῶρα μὴ δέκετ’, ἀλλὰ δώσει,eh DHEH DHOH-rah MEE DHEH-keht’, ah-LAH DHOH-see,
  23. αἰ δὲ μὴ φίλει, ταχέως φιλήσειeh DHEH MEE FEE-lee, tah-HYEH-ohs fee-LEE-see
  24. κωὐκ ἐθέλοισα.”koh-eek eh-THEH-lee-sah.”
  25. ἔλθε μοι καὶ νῦν, χαλέπαν δὲ λῦσονEHL-theh mee KEH NEEN, khah-LEH-pahn DHEH LEE-sohn
  26. ἐκ μερίμναν, ὄσσα δέ μοι τέλεσσαιehk meh-REEM-nahn, OH-sah DHEH mee TEH-leh-seh
  27. θῦμος ἰμμέρρει, τέλεσον· σὺ δ’ αὔταTHEE-mohs ee-MEH-ree, TEH-leh-sohn· SEE dh’ AHF-tah
  28. σύμμαχος ἔσσο.SEE-mah-khohs EH-soh.
Short sound guide for English speakers

Every line beneath the Greek uses English pronunciation spellings. Say each hyphenated syllable in sequence and emphasize the syllable in CAPITALS. For example, οὐρανόθεν is oo-rah-NOH-thehn. Read adjacent vowels separately: theh-AH has two syllables; oo-rah-NEE-een has four. Hyphens guide the voice; they do not mark pauses.

SpellingSound to make
ah · eh · ee · oh · oofather · met · see · go without its final glide · moon. Keep these vowels clear in unstressed syllables too.
th · dhThe unvoiced th in thin · the voiced th in this. Thus DHEE begins with the sound in “thee.”
khThe ch in Scottish loch or German Bach: let air pass at the back of the mouth, without closing it into a k.
hyThe breathy beginning of a carefully spoken Hugh. Raise the middle of the tongue toward the roof of the mouth and let air pass without voice. In shy, sound s followed by hy; do not use the English sh sound or the English word “shy.”
ghMake the kh sound above, then add voice. Keep the passage open; this is a flowing sound, not a hard g.
y · gy as in yes, with gentle friction · always a hard g as in get.
rTap the tongue lightly behind the upper teeth, or use a light roll.
ks · psSound both consonants, even at the beginning of a word: ks as in backs, ps as in lips.
n-g · m-b · n-dSound the nasal and the following consonant. In AHN-geh-leh, the n-g group is like finger, with the g audible.

Always sound s as in hiss, even at the end of DHEE-kees; z is voiced, as in zero. All other consonants have their usual English sounds. Initial consonant groups may be unfamiliar: sound every written consonant, without inserting an extra vowel. A word without capitals carries no written stress in the Greek. Where two syllables have capitals, both written accents are retained. An apostrophe marks a vowel already elided in the Greek; do not add it back. A hyphen at the end of a Greek verse joins the unfinished word to the next verse.

These spellings follow the Modern Greek liturgical reading used throughout this library. Breathings and iota subscripts are silent; separately pronounced vowels remain separate. The few Greek consonants without an exact English equivalent use the sound cues above. Ancient vowel length, pitch accent and metre are not reconstructed.

Hymn notes

Sacred meaning

The invocation rests upon remembrance of an earlier divine arrival: Aphrodite has heard from afar and has drawn near with an immortal smile. The remembered dialogue gives the present supplication its assurance, while the final request names the Goddess as the speaker’s ally. The poem holds longing, distress, the beloved woman’s changing response, and divine companionship within a single prayer.

Textual note

Smyth, Greek Melic Poets (1900), Sappho I, pp. 24–25, supplies the continuous 28-line text reproduced here. Lines 18–19 follow the edition’s Πείθω / μαῖς ἄγην reading, a conjectural reconstruction of a disputed passage; Smyth discusses the Seidler/Bergk reading and alternatives on p. 232. The translation therefore names Persuasion, as this edition does, without representing that reading as certain in the manuscripts. The metrical word-division αἴθε- / ρος at lines 11–12 is preserved and should be pronounced continuously. The Aeolic dialect, including the forms of Aphrodite’s and Sappho’s names, is retained. The ancient promise at lines 21–24 is translated in full.

Text and attribution

Herbert Weir Smyth, Greek Melic Poets (1900), Sappho I, printed pp. 24–25; commentary on 18–19, p. 232. Greek source. The English hieratic rendering and suggested devotional use are new editorial work. The applications are guidance for this library, not additional lines of the ancient poem.