The First Poets

A flute is a flute unless, in the works of Orpheus, Hesiod or Sappho, it was first an aulos, in which case "flute" is a poorly translated name for a reed instrument akin to our modern day oboe. Why the slip? No one knows, but this biographic compendium of 23 ancient Greek poets goes a long way toward curbing such mistakes by offering itself as a sort of reference tool with which readers-at-large can take up the once core educational practice of reading the first poets. Poet and critic Schmidt refers to his project as "protestant" because it argues that any reader can access the ancient texts in his or her own vernacular English, and without a doctorate in ancient literatures. By way of help, Schmidt complements his hints on flutes with highly readable surveys of the critical land surrounding his subjects-his discussion of the function of lyric poetry for the ancient Greeks is one brilliant example. But the book's unique value lies in its carefully crafted attention to the concerns of contemporary fans of English-language poetry. For every Pindar of Thebes or Hipponas of Ephesus, there are references to modernist luminaries such as Ezra Pound and Hilda Doolittle. A chapter on Homer includes lines penned by Keats. These more familiar names are cited not as authorities on ancient poetry but as careful readers or selfless translators, each bent over their copies of the ancient texts trying to figure out the important details, like what did Sappho mean when she used the first-person pronoun-did she really mean herself? The effect is a careful threading of old and not-so-old into a single community of readers, one into which this fine book does much to welcome us.