“Some say horsemen, some say warriors” by Sappho
HS / ELA
Beauty, Love, Poetry, Song, War
Ask participants to take part in the following “Opinion Corners” activity:
1. Post signs in the four corners of the classroom: Strongly Agree, Agree,
Disagree, Strongly Disagree.
2. Write on the board the following quote: “Love is a battle, love is a war; love is
a growing up.” (James A Baldwin)
3. Have participants move to the corner that reflects their response to this
statement.
4. Give participants three to five minutes to discuss in their corners why they
chose that response. Have each group select a spokesperson to share their
ideas.
5. Each spokesperson in turn summarizes that group’s thinking.
6. (optional depending on time) Have participants spend about 5 minutes
expressing the counter argument in writing.
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Distribute the text and have the students examine it without reading it. Ask what genre it
is (poetry, prose, fiction, non-fiction, etc.) and, assuming the response is poetry, discuss
how students recognize it as such. Have students number the lines (1-16) and letter the
four stanzas (A-D). Note the use of ellipses in Stanza C and discuss what they might
signify.
Read the poem aloud, while students identify unfamiliar (and possibly archaic) words or
phrases.
Rather than provide students with prepared background information, divide the class
into four groups and assign the groups one of the following topics to research:
1. Sappho
2. Helen of Troy
3. Chariots / Horsemen / Hoplites
4. Lyric (vs. Narrative or Dramatic) poetry
Have the Sappho and Lyric poetry teams report out in detail to the whole class.
Emphasize that it is not known whether Sappho’s poetry is autobiographical.
Assign each of the unfamiliar words or phrases (identified in the Inspectional Read) to a
team of students and ask them to research the term and write a concise footnote that
captures its definition or significance in this context. Have the teams (from the
Background section above) that researched Helen of Troy, chariots & hoplites
synthesize their research into footnotes as well. Have students share these footnotes
electronically and prepare a second version of the text with footnotes to be used in the
Analytical Read and Seminar discussion.
Now ask students to work in pairs to analyze how much of this poem is actually about
love and how much is about war. Using the original copies of the poem (before the
footnotes were added), students should:
 Highlight all the lines in the poem that refer to war with one color;
 Highlight all the lines in the poem that refer to love with a second color; and
 Highlight all the lines in the poem that refer to both with a third color.
Discuss as a whole class the results.
Finally, post the definition of Lyric Poetry (from the Background stage) and have
students note in the margin of the text elements of the poem that reflect the definition.
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 This poem is typically known by its first line. What other line in the poem
would make a better title? (random responses until all have replied)
 Why did you choose that line? (spontaneous discussion)
 Why do you think the speaker of the poem compares horsemen and
warriors to the presence of the beloved? Are these ideas opposites?
Complements?
 If you replaced the word “loveliest” in line 2 with “most awe-inspiring,”
does that change the argument of the poem? If so, how?
 Why does the speaker say that Helen was “led astray”?
 Is the speaker of the poem a man or a woman? How do you know?
 Based on our discussion, is this poem a good example of lyric poetry?
Why or why not?
 How would you revise this classic poem in order to express what you think
is “the loveliest vision in this dark world”? Why would you choose that
element of experience as “loveliest”?
3
Have participants take notes to brainstorm ideas that they heard, read, and thought
during seminar related to the ideas under discussion.
After reading and discussing “Some say horsemen, some say warriors” by Sappho
about the loveliest vision in the world write a lyric poem that relates your own idea of
what is the loveliest vision in the world. (Narrative/Sequential)
(LDC Task#: 29)
Invite participants to talk in pairs for two minutes to share thoughts about what the
writing task is asking.
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Allow a few minutes for all to sketch a list of elements they want to include in their
poems. Draft an outline for their poems based on the Sappho original and refine their
thinking.
Challenge all to draft their poems comparing what they think is “loveliest” compared to
the more common notions of what is special. Refer to the original poem by Sappho as a
model.
Have participants work in pairs to read their first drafts aloud to each other with
emphasis on reader as creator and editor. Listener says back one point heard clearly
and asks one question for clarification. Switch roles. Give time for full revisions resulting
in a second draft.
Once the second draft is complete, have participants work in groups of three-four and
this time take turns reading each other’s second drafts slowly and silently, marking any
spelling or grammar errors they find. (Have dictionaries and grammar handbooks
available for reference.) Take this opportunity to clarify/reteach any specific grammar
strategies you have identified your students needing. Give time for full revisions
resulting in a third and final draft.
Collect both the original poem by Sappho along with all of the student lyrics into an
anthology. Publish copies for circulation in the classroom library as well as the school
media center. Use as an exemplary student publication for future classes.
Terry Roberts
National Paideia Center
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“Some say horsemen, some say warriors”
Sappho
Some say horsemen, some say warriors,
Some say a fleet of ships is the loveliest
Vision in this dark world, but I say it’s
What you love.
It’s easy to make this clear to everyone,
Since Helen, she who outshone
All others in beauty, left
A fine husband,
And headed for Troy
Without a thought for
Her daughter, her dear parents…
Led astray….
And I recall Anaktoria, whose sweet step
Or that flicker of light on her face,
I’d rather see than Lydian chariots
Or the armed ranks of the hoplites.
(Translation by A. S. Kline. Source http://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Greek/Sappho.htm#_Toc76357047)
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