58 someone will remember us

After we discussed the ways to interpret the fragments of Sappho in class, I became very interested in seeing if I could bring one of the interpretations that my group came up with to life. The fragment is the following:

someone will remember us

I say

even in another time

Sappho, fragment 147

I found this piece especially moving among all of the fragments. The fragment expresses the desire to live on beyond its time and to be remembered. One way to view this is a more tragic one, one where we must acknowledge that so much of Sappho’s work has been lost. On the other hand, Sappho is remembered, even in her fragmentary form. Even among these giant and complete pieces that survive from the times, we do remember Sappho in another time.

I wanted to portray this sentiment rather literally by having a din of voices, the voices of surviving Greek texts, all speaking at once. Over this noise, the speaker, representing Sappho, would recite the fragment. Even though the fragment is incomplete and short, it is clear and intelligible above the din, as Sappho still is to this day. I also added ocean sounds in the background because, honestly, what’s more Sapphic than that?

Here’s a link to the video, it’s very short, but I hope I carried out my intention alright!