Sappho, an ancient Greek lyric poet from the island of Lesbos, is celebrated for her significant contributions to the world of poetry. Despite the mists of time having shrouded much of her work, her remaining poems offer a glimpse into her talent for capturing profound emotions in her verses. Sappho’s “Ode to Aphrodite” weaves a tapestry of emotions and desires that cascade in a nonlinear torrent. This paper is an in-depth exploration of the non-linearity that exists within the coherence of the poem, parsing the sinews of the poem’s structure and content, thereby uncovering how Sappho molds a poem that is eloquent in conveying the depths of longing and supplication. The subtle co-existence of both the immortality and capriciousness of love, and the near-abrupt addition of a stanza hopeful in tone that contradicts the cyclical nature of yearning and vulnerability unfurl the non-linearity of the poem that nevertheless encompasses a coherent theme of desire and love.

The poem starts off with a fervent invocation directed towards the “deathless Aphrodite.” The word “deathless” captures the immortality and divine stature of Aphrodite. Aphrodite, the goddess of love, stands as a symbolic link between the eternality of divinity and the mortal desire of love; therefore, it is reasonable to infer that “deathless” describes not only the goddess of love but also love itself. Love is painted as “deathless,” thus transcending time and death. The passionate invocation of the speaker pleading for divine intervention in her love crisis is immediately followed by the second stanza of recollection. The second stanza presents a memory of the speaker having received divine assistance from Aphrodite in a previous instance. Aphrodite is described as having “caught the speaker’s voice far off” and “left her father’s golden house,” leaving her heavenly abode to heed the speaker’s desperate call for love. The swiftness of Aphrodite’s response and her majestic, almost ethereal presence are tinted by an enchanting image of “fine birds” and “quick sparrows.” The introduction of a past memory following a present invocation and love turmoil is not the only nonlinear element presented here. Given the fact that the speaker received divine help from Aphrodite in her past struggles with love, why is she languishing in a painful position of unrequited love once again in the present, and why is she once again in need of more divine intervention? This insinuates that the speaker is shackled by the pangs of love in the present because she has a new love interest, or, in other words, she is in pursuit of a blossoming, new love that has yet to be made possible by Aphrodite. Then a changed loved one presents an ambiguity, or a nonlinear element, to the “deathlessness” of love. If love does in reality transcend time and death as aforementioned and is in fact “deathless” like Aphrodite, why has the speaker’s love for her past interest ceased and diverted to a new target? The nonlinearity also lies in the fact that there may be multiple perspectives in defining this “deathlessness” of love. Perhaps the eternal nature of love refers to the perpetual existence of love for someone else, or the state of being in love and not necessarily loving the same person. This assumption makes the poem’s depiction of love coherent despite the many nonlinear indications of love being deathless yet feasible to change.

A constant state of pain and emotional turmoil that exists as a product of love is established throughout the entire poem. The speaker begs Aphrodite to not break her heart “with hard pains,” imbuing herself with a patina of vulnerability caused by love. This constant state of vulnerability maintains and develops to anguish as the speaker eventually proclaims to “have suffered.” Repetition is incorporated in the lines “what (now again) I have suffered and why (now again) I am calling out.” The repeating phrase "now again" depicts how being in desperate love pulled the speaker down the depths of perpetual agony and longing, and it also sheds light on how the speaker constantly “calls out” to Aphrodite for assistance. This recurring, ritualistic quality of the speaker’s entreaties once again casts doubt on the nonlinear element of whether love for a particular person is deathless. This continuing state of agony is interrupted by yet another nonlinear stanza:

"For if she flees, soon she will pursue.

If she refuses gifts, rather will she give them.

If she does not love, soon she will love.

even unwilling."

The stanza is oddly hopeful in its view of love after countless lines of vulnerable pleading and more than direct proclamations of suffering. The speaker suddenly presumes that reciprocity of her love is more than feasible, as absolute as ordained, and that love can be won over time despite initial reluctance (“flees” and “refuses gifts” will become “pursue” and “give them”). The optimistic approach to building on the transformative nature of love seems out of place, another non-linear aspect of the poem. How does emotional vulnerability so abruptly transition itself towards a sanguine, passionate ebb of desire? However, the last stanza gets back to the pre-established tone of painful love and vulnerable state of mind: the speaker implores desperately for Aphrodite to “loose her from hard care” and begs alliance with the deity. This return to the theme of desire for divine support and intervention in the tumultuous realm of love to alleviate suffering and achieve desires creates a final presentation of love with a cyclical nature of emotional turmoil that persists regardless of the temporary breaks. The stanza that inundates with inexplicable hope and assurance now appears to be this temporary, nonlinear sanctuary that the speaker builds for herself in the coherent suffering of love. Or, if being bold enough, one can suppose that this seemingly non-linear and misplaced process of idealizing circumstances is a destined step of the cycle of love that starts from desire and a desperate call for divine intervention, proceeds to hopeful conjectures, and ultimately returns to emotional vulnerability and reliance on the divine. This perspective now makes the non-linear stanza a coherent component and makes the entirety of the poem itself a representation of this taxing, unending cycle of being in love: painful invocation, temporary yet artificial peace, and pleading request.

In summation, the felicitous deployment of nonlinearity within Sappho’s poem enhances its aptitude for portraying complex emotions. The poem's non-linearity is revealed by how the immortality and capriciousness of love coexist subtly and how a nearly abrupt hopeful stanza that defies the cyclical nature of vulnerability and yearning is written. All of these elements combine to enable a profound foray into the myriad facets of love and longing that permeate the poem as intricate as a mosaic. The emotions depicted in the poem are layered, and the nonlinear structure enhances the depth of their portrayal. The nonlinearity functions as a mirror to the ebbing and flowing of the speaker’s emotions, thereby capturing the complexity and profundity of longing and desire. While the poem does not adhere to the convention of a linear narrative, it maintains a sense of coherence through its steadfast focus on the nature of love and the supplication to Aphrodite. This nonlinearity, when intertwined with the poem’s thematic focus, beckons the reader to engage with its themes in a manner that is both abstract and nuanced, bearing testimony to Sappho’s artistry as a poet who adroitly intertwines structure and emotion to yield an emotionally resonant experience.