Sappho And St. Teresa De Avila

Day by day women are faced with obstacles simply because of gender. In the plays we have read women are faced with obstacles but overcome them. Women in the past were expected to be submissive and not object to the men’s decisions. The world today has changed its face. No longer are women quiet. Sappho and her work is a good example in our readings to represent today’s day and time. Her poems seem contemporary, very modern. The Descent of Inanna ,on the other hand, is a prime example of works we’ve read that represent the past much more.

I strongly believe that each generation is a product of the previous generation, and during the Ancient World, women were not expected to write. They were submissive and their religious superior had the final say. Sappho broke these rules and went against the odds. She wrote and produced wonderful work that everyone can relate to during any time period. Although religious leaders successfully destroyed a great amount of her work, the few parts and pieces that survived still describe things of today in such short lines and phrases. “At noontime'; is a good example of this. It describes the sun and its’ heat and the cricket which till today “sets up a high-pitched singing in his wings.'; “If you will come'; is another example. “At noontime'; is simple to say it relates to today’s world, the sun will always be hot the cricket will always live, but the customs and traditions of people do and Sappho still describes customs from her time that live today. “If you will come'; tells of things that generally a person would do for visitors. It says, “ If you will come I shall put out new pillows for you to rest on.'; In just these few lines so much is said. This can be taken as literally taking our new pillows for a visitor to sleep on and rest after a long drive to your home. It may also mean that the host is making the visitor feel at home by welcoming him with open arms. Nevertheless, this poem describes customs that a person would do now. For these reasons Sappho’s works are the most modern in our readings.

The Descent of Inanna is quite the opposite of Sappho. It describes Inanna going into the “underworld'; a place that we do not relate to as easily as a worldly location.