Enquête sur le « tout oser / tout endurer » de Sappho (fr. 31 LP)

l’audace comme principe d’une paideia sapphique

Abstract

This article aims at explaining Sappho’s concept of tolma (daring), as it appears in fragment 31’s truncated last line: “one shall dare everything / can dare everything / can endure everything (alla pan tolmaton) […]”, according to the various existing translations and interpretations, quickly examined. We reject the resignation understanding (*dare everything) as well as the heroic and romantic one (*dare everything as a call for transgression of a social situation). According to us, putting this poem in perspective with its circumstances of composition and with the whole thought of Sappho necessarily leads to formulate a positive comprehension of daring as an ethical and pedagogical principle, without transgression nor compromise.