Let’s just take the time to appreciate that the top result when searching “Who is Sappho?” on Google is an article titled “How Gay was Sappho?” from the New Yorker which proves to show how much of a lesbian icon she is. We learn and know mostly about the homosexual tendencies and relationships in Ancient Greece, but mostly pertaining to men due to a time where patriarchy and misogynism was most notable and women’s role was deduced to baby making labourers. However, Sappho and her poems gives us a glimpse that may exhibit homosexual feelings or pleasure between women during that time. Sappho, so prominent and recognized for her poetry on longing and desiring women, that her name and the island Lesbos, where she lived, transformed into a term to describe female homosexuality, “sapphic” and “lesbian” respectively. In this blog, we explore the history of Sappho, a brief look into her poetry, the origin of the word lesbian, how historical scholars ignore the homosexual aspects of Sappho’s poetry, and finally her legacy within the lesbian and women loving women community.
History of Sappho of Lesbos
Sappho was born around 620 BC (“Sappho”) from a prominent aristocratic family in Mytilene on the island of Lesbos. Not much is known about her life, and much of what is known are often contradictory (Carstairs). But she is most famously known for her poems, many of which are undiscovered, but gives us a glimpse of her inner thoughts as most are private poems between herself and lady friends. Sappho had three brothers, in which she mentioned in her poetry, recently discovered in 2014, named Charaxos and Larichos, and another named Eurygius (Pomeroy, et al.). She also briefly mentions a father and mother
who passed away when she was seven (Carstairs). She was a leader among a circle of close-knit upper-class young women until the women married off (Pomeroy, et al.). Or in other words, Sapphos community of “Gal-pals” in current term or “thiasos” (female community) in Greek term. Sappho educated these women, especially about marriage. The group’s divinity and inspiration is the goddess of love, Aphrodite (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica “Sappho”). Her rumoured husband, named Kerkylas of Andros, can be translated as “penis man” (Darling). Take from that as you will about the legitimacy of her husband or a funny troll. Sappho; poet, possible woman lover, comedian. She’s got it all. Other depictions suggest that she and her family were banished from Lesbos in 604 BCE and fled to Syracuse, Sicily for political reasons and returned to Lesbos after 590 BCE (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica “Sappho”, Carstairs). Later legends depict Sappho as jumping to her death in the sea due to an unrequited love for a sailor (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica “Sappho”).
Lesbian Poetry
Sappho is most popularly known for her poems about her affair and longing for women and could be considered one of the greatest poets of all time. So much so that Plato had called her the “Tenth Muse”. The Greeks may have considered her as the female counterpart of Homer. She is “the Poetess” to Homer’s “the Poet” (Mendelsohn). She is the only known female poet during the Archaic period and also, one of the few women in ancient greek literature as they were not encouraged to write (Pomeroy, et al.).
Her poetry was often autobiographical and she was one of the first to write in first person and express feelings instead of writing from the view of deities, though that is also debated among scholars if it was just a stand-in for the reader's point of view (Darling). She often wrote poems for young choruses of girls to sing at weddings and political verses (Pomeroy, et al.). What has survived and been discovered are personal, private poetry, often addressed to her close friends and lovers about erotic and romantic love between women (“Sappho”). Sappho’s personal outlook on love (eros) is bittersweet (Pomeroy, et al.), something women loving women can relate to as their love is not understood or hidden, tucked away in their own personal dilemma. Her poems resonate with women loving women in that there is a sense of longing, lusting, and desiring women in a pure sense but often can’t be reciprocated as homosexuality is not the “norm” or “sinful.”
Nine books were later recorded by scholars at the Library of Alexandria, which we all know how that turned out (Mendelsohn). If not; it went down in a burning blaze. Only four poems survived the great fire, two as recently discovered in 2014 and 2004 (Pomeroy, et al.). Of the 10,000 lines supposedly written by Sappho, only 650 survived (Mendelsohn). Although it is not known whether she invented it, she popularized the “sapphic stanza” which consisted of a form with four-line stanzas (“Sapphic”).
Below are examples of Sappho’s gay poetries about women:
Fragment 31 / Trans. Anne Carson from If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho
He seems to me equal to gods that man
whoever he is who opposite you
sits and listens close
to your sweet speaking
and lovely laughing—oh it
puts the heart in my chest on wings
for when I look at you, even a moment, no speaking
is left in me
no: tongue breaks and thin
fire is racing under skin
and in eyes no sight and drumming
fills ears
and cold sweat holds me and shaking
grips me all, greener than grass
I am and dead—or almost
I seem to me.
But all is to be dared, because even a person of poverty [...]
Poet #31 Sappho laments watching a woman and envies men who get to talk to a girl she yearns for.
Fragment #94 / Trans. Anne Carson from If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho
I simply want to be dead.
Weeping she left me
with many tears and said this:
Oh how badly things have turned out for us.
Sappho, I swear, against my will I leave you.
And I answered her:
Rejoice, go and
remember me. For you know how we cherished you.
But if not, I want
to remind you
]and beautiful times we had.
For many crowns of violets
and roses
]at my side you put on
and many woven garlands made of flowers
around your soft throat.
and with sweet oil
costly
you anointed yourself.
and on a soft bed
delicate
you would let loose your longing
and neither and [ ] nor any
holy place nor
was there from which we were absent
no grove [ ] no dance
]no sound
Poem #94 Sappho is distraught about a woman leaving her, presumably to marry a man. The 8th stanza may refer to homosexual activity as it describes letting loose while in bed together.
Fragment #48 / Trans. Diane Rayor from Sappho: A New Translation of the Complete Works
You came, I yearned for you,
and you cooled my senses that burned with desire
Fragment #24a / Trans. Anne Carson from If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho
]
]you will remember
]for we in our youth
did these things
yes many and beautiful things
Fragment 102 / Trans. Diane Raynor from Sappho: A New Translation of the Complete Works
Sweet mother, I cannot weave
Slender Aphrodite has overcome me
with longing for a girl.
Poem #102 or in other words, “too gay to function.”
The Word "Lesbian"
It goes without mentioning that one of the most important ways Sappho contributed to female homosexuality was being the inspiration of the terms lesbian and sapphic. The word “lesbian” is derived from the word Lesbos where she lived (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica “Lesbianism). It was first used in the late 16th century to describe the people residing in Lesbos. By the 19th century, its meaning became associated with female homosexuality (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica “Lesbianism”).
"Gal Pal-ing" Sappho
In academic discussions, there is much controversy and debate about Sappho’s sexuality between scholars and prefer to “gal-pal” her relationship to women. Gal-pal is a 21st century term that is a sarcastic jab and mocking of people seeing a close bond between two women and referencing it akin to a female friendship, no matter how obviously homosexual in nature it is and has become a popular meme (“Gal Pals”). There is no precise origin on when and where the term came from, but it is initially used to ridicule the media that often would use “friendship terms” when describing an obvious female homosexual couple. While researching Sappho, many are aware of scholars who often worked hard to prove her heterosexuality, but many do acknowledge that Sappho’s poems hint at desiring women. For example, in the classical period, Sappho was documented as an “insatiable sexual predator of men” (Haselswerdt) by some scholars. But like with any historical studies, many seem to be speculation within different discourses of varying opinions unless written and proven in physical form. Especially with the fact there is very little to study on, with most of her poetry gone. So the question, “Was Sappho gay?” is still up for debate by modern scholars. I am unfortunately not an expert in all things gay but would have to side with the debate that she is a flaming homosexual (or along the lines of bisexual, or pansexual, or fluid, or maybe she just loves whoever she wants with no labels attached? That is all ok, because they are all valid!)
“They seem like good friends meme” is a very good meme to summarize “gal-pal.” Below are examples of how “gal-pals” have become popularized in the media and critiqued.
Sapphic, not just a type of poem
In the year 2020, the LGBT community continues to rise in relevancy and acceptance. As more people come to terms with their sexuality, there is an importance of labeling one’s self into sexuality. As much as Sappho is a lesbian icon, she is just as iconic to “sapphics.” With so much stress about labelling your sexuality, umbrella terms allow people to find a label that they do not find too restricting or allows a person to refer to a group of people with a commonality. Umbrella terms mean a word that encompasses more than one sexuality that have something in common, such as “queer” to describe the LGBT community. This is where the term “sapphic” comes in. Sapphic is an umbrella term for women loving women which encompasses lesbian, bisexual, and pansexual women. All three have different preferences but what they have in common is their attraction to other women. Basically, as long as a woman/woman-aligned person is attracted to another woman/woman-aligned person, she/they fall under the term “sapphic.” Also it’s much easier to say than repeating women loving women all the time (in this case, the abbreviation WLW works as well). Historically and culturally, women have had relationships with other women despite not having a word for it.
But because of Sappho of Lesbos, we now have the word Lesbian and Sapphic to thank her for. Sapphist used to be changed interchangeably with lesbian but, eventually lesbian won out (“The Fascinating History of ‘Lesbian’”). So don’t be surprised when you see a username like “XxSapphicPrincessxX” hitting your DMs nowadays. Sapphic is the new “rawr XD” for the gays. I have done a bunch of research looking for the origin of “sapphic” to describe one’s self as a woman loving woman rather than just a type of poetry form, but have not found any results. However, it’s widely popular today, as one browses through the internet. Sapphic is a fun new word that everyone should add to their vocabulary.
Legacy & Conclusion
Sappho, whose life is pretty much unknown yet often debated among scholars along with her poems, has a tremendous reputation among lesbians and women loving women alike. Her existence alone has changed the way we describe female homosexuality. Described as a “sex crazed whore who sings about her own wantonnes” by a theologian, she is truly an inspiration and one of the greatest poets of all time, to the point of angering many scholars for her homosexual in nature lyric (Mendelsohn). There may be many lesbian or WLW icons nowadays and the future, but Sappho will literally be known for the reason the word "lesbian" and "sapphic" exists. How one’s gay longing becomes a legacy centuries later has big “Kerkylas” energy. Regardless whether she truly loved women in a homosexual sense, her poetry resonated among lesbian and WLW. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be dreaming about a wide-eyed maiden fair singing the fragmented remains of poetry from Sappho in my deep slumber.
References
Carson, Anne, translator. If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho. By Sappho, Vintage Books, 2003.
Carstairs, Irene. “Damn, Girl-Sappho, and her Immortal Daughters.” That History Nerd, 2019, http://www.thathistorynerd.com/2019/06/damn-girl-sappho-and-her-immortal.html.
Darling, Laura. “Sappho: The Poetess.” Making Queer History, https://www.makingqueerhistory.com/articles/sappho.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Lesbianism.” Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/topic/lesbianism.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Sappho.” Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sappho-Greek-poet.
“Elders React to Shakira - Can't Remember To Forget You ft. Rihanna.” Youtube, uploaded by REACT, 6 March 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSYTWMnsHg0.
“The Fascinating History of "Lesbian."” Into, 2017, https://www.intomore.com/travel/the-fascinating-history-of-lesbian.
“Gal Pals.” Know Your Meme, 2016, https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/gal-pals.
Haselswerdt, Ella. “Re-Queering Sappho.” Eidolon, 2016, https://eidolon.pub/re-queering-sappho-c6c05b6b9f0b.
Mendelsohn, Daniel. “Girl, Interrupted: Who was Sappho?” A Critic at Large, March 16, 2015. The New Yorker, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/03/16/girl-interrupted.
Mengin, Auguste Charles. “Sappho.” 1877. Oil on Canvas. Manchester Art Gallery. https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/sappho-205579#.
Pomeroy, Sarah B., et al. A Brief History of Ancient Greece: Politics, Society, and Culture. 4th ed., Oxford University Press, 2019. VitalSource Bookshelf.
Rayor, Diane, translator, et al. Sappho: A New Translation of the Complete Works. Cambridge University Press, 2014.
“Sapphic.” Poets.org, https://poets.org/glossary/sapphic.
“Sappho.” Poetry Foundation, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/sappho.
Selva, Miguel Carbonell. “Safo.” 1881. https://narrativepainting.net/?p=1197.
Solomon, Simeon. “Sappho and Erinna in a Garden at Mytilene.” 1864. Watercolour on paper. Tate. https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/solomon-sappho-and-erinna-in-a-garden-at-mytilene-t03063#:~:text=Catalogue%20entry-,Summary,on%20the%20island%20of%20Lesbos.&text=The%20principal%20subject%20of%20her,her%20relationship%20with%20a%20woman.
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