The Greek poet Sappho is the original queer icon. The term “lesbian” is derived from the name of the island where she lived (Lesbos), and the adjective “sapphic” is used in relation to lesbianism.
The most commonly held belief among historians is that Sappho lived on the Isle of Lesbos with a group of young women under her instruction.
She wrote lyric poetry centered primarily around love and women. Only fragments remain, except for “Ode to Aphrodite,” the only complete poem of hers we have access to.
Modern knowledge of Sappho’s life is fragmented as well.
We know she was from a wealthy family in Lesbos, had three brothers, and was exiled to Sicily around 600 BC. The rest is steeped in myth and theory, unverifiable.
It is commonly agreed on that so much of her poetry was lost because of religious disapproval as well as the inability to continue transcription from papyrus scrolls to books due to insufficient size.
Another contributing factor was that she wrote in a dialect which later Greek speakers found difficult and archaic.
Sappho was one of the most esteemed nine lyrics poets of Hellenistic Alexandria, an impressive feat for a woman at the time, and is referred to as the tenth Muse by several ancient sources.
Sappho was one of the earliest poets to use the “lyric ‘I,’” or first-person perspective, in contrast to the channel of divine perspective viewpoint in the style of Homer and Hesiod.
Characterized by clarity and coherence, Sappho’s poetry was known for its sharply-drawn images and unexpected word-play.
She was the first Western poet to describe desire as “bittersweet,” as seen in fragment 16, ”Once again Love, that loosener of limbs, bittersweet and inescapable, crawling thing, seizes me.”
Love and admiration for women permeate the works of Sappho. Her words often celebrate female beauty “You: an Achilles’ apple Blushing sweet on a high branch.”
Because so little is known about her life, Sappho’s sexuality is often called into question. Not only is there evidence of her love of women in her poetry, but it can also be drawn from historical testimony.
In the late third or early second century BC, one critic writes that Sappho was “accused by some of being irregular in her ways and a woman-lover.”
She was also thought to have sexual relationships with her female students, similar to the practice of pederasty among men in Ancient Greece.
Though we may know very little about Sappho, her mere presence in history speaks volumes. The existence of a queer woman in Ancient Greece reinforces the idea that homosexuality is nothing new.
As the lone female voice from a field dominated by men at the time, Sappho is for many a feminist symbol as well.
In the midst of misogyny, Sappho’s love and appreciation for women stands out and inspires similar thinking even now, years later.
Caroline Fritz is a third-year English major with a minor in linguistics. She can be reached at CF853302@wcupa.edu.