Faculty publishes translations of rare classical texts

A Grand Valley classics professor’s new book is gaining national attention thanks to its inclusion of classic Greek texts never before published or translated for contemporary audiences.

Diane Rayor’s “Sappho: A New Translation of the Complete Works” translates all of the works of Sappho. The ancient Greek poet lived around 600 BC on the island of Lesbos and has been renowned for more than 2,500 years as the earliest and most famous female Greek poet.

Rayor’s publication includes two new poems discovered in 2014, additions to five other poems from this discovery, and a poem discovered in 2004. The book is currently the only publication that includes the poems discovered in 2004 and 2014.

“Sappho: A New Translation of the Complete Works” was most notably reviewed in The New Yorker twice in one week by Daniel Mendelsohn, acclaimed literary critic and former Grand Valley Fall Arts Celebration Distinguished Lecturer.

“Coverage by The New Yorker brings attention not only to Sappho, but to classics and GVSU,” Rayor said. “It is good for our students to know that classics holds a broad appeal and also that their professors are recognized for their excellence in their fields.”

Rayor’s other translated works of ancient Greek poetry and drama include “Euripides’ ‘Medea’: A New Translation,” “Sophocles’ ‘Antigone’: A New Translation,” “Homeric Hymns: A Translation, with Introduction and Notes,” “Sappho’s Lyre: Archaic Lyric and Women Poets of Ancient Greece,” and “Callimachus.”

Mendelsohn’s article can be read here: www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/hearing-sappho.

For more information about the book, visit http://gvsu.edu/s/Rl.