Many commentators have suggested that Sappho's use of Helen as an example in this poem is intended as a rejection of masculine in favour of feminine values. For instance, John J. Winkler argues that the poem sets Sappho's definition of beauty against a masculine ideal of military power. However, G. O. Hutchinson notes that, though the definition of beauty Sappho attacks might seem a characteristically male one, the definition she replaces it with is generally applicable, rather than being solely relevant to women.
