Page:The Poems of Sappho (1924).djvu/24

18 enjoyed a freedom from restraint unknown among the other Greeks, and it may be reasonably assumed that this freedom, so enjoyed by them in earlier ages, had, with the increase in wealth, luxury, and refinement, lost much of its simplicity, and may later have degenerated into a mode of life in which there was much more licence than had ever been known before in any part of the world inhabited by people of the Greek race. However much such licence might be deplored, if its existence could be proved, it need not therefore be assumed that there was a generally depraved state of society. In the case of Sappho it serves no good purpose to concern ourselves very much with the morality of her sentiments and conduct. We should rather concentrate our attention upon the poetic depth, intensity, and value of what she wrote, and upon its philological and historical interest. One thing is certainly evident and that is that when we read those surviving fragments which describe love and passion, we need never look elsewhere for anything nearer perfection in intensity, in sound, and in rhythm in any language. However the question may be considered, there is no trustworthy evidence to prove that, at the time when Sappho lived, the moral standards in Lesbian society were low, and it is by no means certain that the decadence and corruption which did undoubtedly develop as time went on had even begun during her lifetime.

It should also be remembered that Scandal, like Death,