The moon was also associated with the virgin goddess Artemis, who Sappho praises in “Fragment 44Aa.” The lunar cycle echoes women’s menstrual cycles, while the way its silvery light pours out over the earth suggests another model of female fertility independent of the reproductive functions of women’s bodies. It symbolizes the possibility for love across a distance, and the ability to see beauty from afar, themes that resonate with the poet’s devotion both to women who have departed, and to the immortal goddess Aphrodite. Sappho celebrates the beauty of the moon in “Fragment 34,” and again, at length, in “Fragment 96.” In Sappho’s work, the moon isn’t just a glowing celestial body, but rather a complex symbol of the kinds of womanhood and love for women that Sappho’s poetry celebrates.
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