39†

I want to tell you something but shame prevents me …

if you truly desired something honest or good

and your tongue were not concocting some new evil,

there would be no shame in your eyes

and you would plead your cause outright …

*****

† Aristotle claimed that this fragment was a dialogue between Sappho and her male contemporary, Alcaeus. The first line has been seen as part of Alcaeus’s speech and the rest as Sappho’s reply. There is no other evidence to support this claim and here, as in other translations, I have concentrated on the actual evidence of the text rather than later interpretations.