Sappho: A timeless, universal, feminist and queer symbol
One of the most iconic figures of antiquity, she was a woman far ahead of her time, penning brilliantly evocative lyric poetry. Over the centuries, she has inspired writers, poets, musicians, philosophers, and orators alike, inciting both passion and controversy. Despite numerous attempts at “assassination”, she has emerged as a feminist and queer symbol, achieving timeless and global recognition.
Despite our limited knowledge about her life and her work, of which only an estimated 7% survives, her impact is undeniable. The extant 655 verses, mostly found in texts by other authors, and two complete poems, the Poem of the Sisters and the renowned Hymn to Venus, pay tribute to the goddess of love she so fervently exalted.
The ongoing discovery of her poetic fragments, with the most recent find made in 2014, continually rekindles both literary and broader interest in her. New articles, studies, and authorial treatises are constantly added to the extensive bibliography on Sapphic poetry, providing a compelling counter-argument against the looming devaluation of classical studies.
Here’s what I’ve gathered about the “Tenth Muse” and her work, from both recent writings and conversations with two individuals who have studied her extensively, philologist Giorgos Pikrakis and researcher Katerina Ladiannou.
A Few Things We Know
There are few surviving literary works older than Sappho’s poems and songs: the Epic of Gilgamesh, the early hymns of the Rig Veda, the Homeric epics, and the Epics of Hesiod in the eastern Mediterranean.
Indeed, there’s a theory that the “Pseudo-Longinus”, who cites verses from Sappho, was none other than Homer himself.
However, unlike the author of the “Iliad” and the “Odyssey”, whose existence as a specific historical person is disputed, there’s no doubt that Sappho truly lived in the world she sought to beautify with her verses and teachings.
At first glance, her poetry seems personal, but when performed with musical accompaniment, often accompanied by dance, the “lyrical ego” – the voice that leads the poems – transcends personal introspection to convey broader thoughts, feelings, and concerns.
We know with certainty that Sappho was born in either Eresos or Mytilene around 617 BC and came from an aristocratic family. This is why, from the 1970s onwards, Lesvos and especially Eresos became a “pilgrimage” site and a point of reference for lesbians worldwide. In 2008, the Athens Court of First Instance dismissed an appeal by three islanders who wanted to ban the use of the term “lesbian” for gay women, arguing that it “defamed” their place. However, there was no further action, as it appears that the majority of Mytilinians, either out of understanding or pragmatism, have no problem with women loving other women, or with the name given to this love.
Sappho’s father, who was killed when she was young in a battle against the Athenians over the commercial naval station of Sigio on the Hellespont, was likely named Skamander or Skamandronymos – though there are several other versions. Her mother was Cleida, a name that Sappho later gave to her only daughter.
She had two brothers, Charaxos and Larichos, the latter of whom was appointed oenochos at the Prytanion of Mytilene. There may have also been a third brother named Eurygios. The identity of her child’s father remains uncertain, as no man is named in her surviving poetry.
Described by Plato as the “Tenth Muse”, Sappho was both the origin and the pinnacle of ancient Greek women’s writing, according to the epigraph by philologist Giorgos Pikrakis, co-editor of the excellent 2021 publication “Fragments of the Silent Ones – Women poets of the ancient world“, published by Rodakio.
But her influence extended beyond the written word.
She was a composer of melodies, an inventor of musical measures and instruments, and a renowned educator. Her famed institution, known as the “Mousopolo’s Dome”, is believed to have been a type of training school. It nurtured artistic talents, cultivated etiquette, and prepared noble-born virgins for married life. She also ventured into politics, which led to her exile in Sicily by a rival tyrannical faction.
Upon her return, she established the “thiason”, attracting noble young women not only from Lesbos but from elsewhere as well. The school, which continued to operate under female leadership even after Sappho’s death, served as a model for other similar “thiasos”, including those of Gorgos, Andromeda, and Mika. It was later recognized as the birthplace of female self-awareness and female homoeroticism, a view that most modern scholars concur with.
“Lesbos, an area steeped in rich cultural tradition, was early on associated with notable musical and religious figures such as Aryon and Orpheus. It’s certain that Sappho was innovative with new rhythms, as demonstrated in the 7th century BC.
Sappho likely enhanced the traditional lyre, transforming it into an eight-stringed instrument, a testament to her innovation even in the 7th century BC.
At first glance, her poetry seems personal. However, when performed with a musical accompaniment and often dance, the “lyric ego” – the leading voice in the poems – transcends personal context to express wider thoughts, emotions, and reflections. George Pikrakis describes Sappho as a strong character, “with intense concerns, diverse interests that are intellectually inaccessible, and increased responsibilities.” This was quite unusual for a woman in the ancient world, to say the least.
Sapphic Poetry: Female Desire and the ‘Scandal’ of Female Homoeroticism
While male homosexuality – or rather, pederasty as it was understood then – was more or less commonplace in ancient Greece, lesbian relations were largely relegated to the socially marginalized and “unknown world” of female sexuality. This was often seen as merely supplementary to male sexuality and incomplete without the phallus.
It’s well-known that women were generally considered inferior to men, with Lesbos, Minoan Crete, Sparta, and the Epizephyrian Locrians being notable exceptions. Women were typically confined to very specific roles and tasks.
However, Eva Stehle argues that “since women were encouraged to publicly praise other women, the idea of lust between women was acceptable,” at least in certain circles.
“No other woman since early antiquity has been discussed so much, and in such conflicting terms…
The sources are so scarce and the legends so abundant that distinguishing between the two is almost a hopeless task,” wrote art historian Judith Scalanksy in the Paris Review. She noted that for many centuries, terms such as “triadism,” “Sapphism,” and “lesbianism” were used interchangeably in the writings of theologians, lawyers, and doctors. These terms were used to denote either a deviant sexual practice, a shameless tradition, a monstrous abnormality, or a mental illness.”
“It’s hard to deny that at least the passages invoking the power of Eros refer to a genuine love that was physically consummated,” writes Claude Calame in the edited volume “Thelixis – Fifteen Studies on Sappho” (Smiley 2004).
Feminists and queer theorists have even criticized Foucault for exclusively using male forms of erotic practice as a model for sexuality in antiquity in his “History of Sexuality”. In this work, he extensively discusses homosexuality in ancient Greece, but entirely overlooks Sappho (Helen Green, in the same volume).
“Sappho stands out from her male contemporaries as she emphasizes not competition and conquest but mutual pleasure and self-discovery in the other,” writes Marilyn Skinner. However, the heterosexual mythical romances she often refers to usually portray the relationship between a powerful goddess and a feeble mortal, contrary to the dominant model (Io – Tithon, Aphrodite – Phaon, Moon – Endymion, etc.).
“Female Homer”
The Macedonian king Antipater and the Roman emperor Julian described her as the “Female Homer”. Regardless of how she may have challenged the norms of other eras, our poetess enjoyed widespread acclaim. Statues and busts of her were displayed from Pergamum to Syracuse. Her verses adorned writings, speeches, and letters, and coins were even minted with her profile.
We have no idea, of course, how her lyrics sounded in Aeolian (the dialect she wrote in) when sung at a wedding ceremony, a banquet, or within her circle, accompanied by a stringed instrument (the musical group Avaton endeavored to give it a certain tone). Similarly, we have no knowledge of her complete works as only 7% of it has survived. This is a significantly higher percentage compared to many other poets of antiquity, and is enough to secure her a prominent place in the poetic pantheon.
For instance, from a large eight- or nine-volume edition of Alexandrian philologists on scrolls, which contained 10,000 of her verses, only one intact poem survived. This was due to the orator Dionysius of Halicarnassus preserving it in one of his treatises. Even the information we possess about her life, such as that found in the Suidas Dictionary (Constantinople, 10th century AD), is not always dependable.
“Sappho’s poetry exudes a sense of joy in the discovery of the self. For the first time, the concerns of warriors, male athletes, and male citizens in competition with each other are given their rightful place: “Some say the finest thing on the black earth is the cavalry, others say the infantry, others still the navy, but I say it is what one loves.”
In many city-states, male homosexuality, particularly between middle-aged men and adolescents, was seen as an acceptable part of education and was often held in higher regard than heterosexual love.
The same was true for women in Lesbos. Observing a young girl flirting with a man, Sappho is so captivated by her beauty that she experiences her lover’s physical reactions: “and my lyre cried out / as if my tongue was breaking something / a slow flame runs through my body / my eyes are dazzled and cannot see / and my hearing is buzzing / sweat is pouring from my limbs / and I am trembling all over, greener in colour than grass / and I think that a little longer and I will be dead”, writes Rodrik Beaton in his book “Greeks – A World History” (Pataki ed. 2021).
The enigma of Sappho’s true appearance and her poetic style
What might Sappho have looked like? This remains unclear. In European art, she was often portrayed as an imposing beauty, and her remaining artistic depictions are likely idealized, such as in a hydria painted by Polynesian or one of his pupils, which presents her as a delicate, graceful figure reading a scroll, or in a 5th-century BC vase.
She stands tall, holding an eight-stringed lyre.
Anakreon labels her “a dyke”, Lucian calls her “melichron achion of Lesbos”, her contemporary and fellow islander Alcaeus describes her as “pure, honeyed, smiling, with violet hair”. Yet, later references portray her as unattractive, short, and even infertile.
Of course, it’s unclear how much these characterisations reflect reality. Her work may have been lauded during her lifetime, but she has since become a figure of controversy. This is due, on one hand, to her gender – given that we are talking about predominantly male societies. On the other hand, it’s due to the credible rumors of the erotic relationships she supposedly had with her students and followers, such as Athys, Telesilla, Megara, and Gogila.
About twenty women are mentioned by name in Sappho’s poetry, with emotions ranging from tender devotion to fiery passion, and from jealousy to contempt. “I beg you, Goghila, appear before me / in that dress as white as milk; / my little beauty, desire / flutters around you again”, begins one of the best-known restored extracts of her poems (translated by Tasoula Karageorgiou). This piece was beautifully set to music by Hatzidakis in “The Great Erotic”, performed by Fleury Dantonaki.
Kelomai in Turnip – Fleury Dantonaki
A devout worshipper of Aphrodite, the poet establishes a personal, ongoing connection with the goddess. She portrays Eros as a cosmogonic force, crafting unique words to convey its properties: “it paralyses my limbs (lysimeles), this sweet and bitter (γλυκύπικρον), irresistible creature”. She is part of the joyous wedding procession of Andromache and Hector before the Trojan War erupts.
She bids farewell to a student who is ready for marriage, leaving the female collective of the troupe. She admonishes her spendthrift brother for squandering his fortune on a mistress – presumably he purchased her freedom. She contemplates old age with honesty. These themes are explored in dialogue with the epic tradition, highlighting qualities and details that the epic verse glosses over in the service of the narrative.
Unlike the rhapsodist who narrates, the lyric poet describes.
Sappho crafted poetic forms, unleashed sensations and emotions from the core of human existence, coined new words, and established a fresh poetic style with its own identity. Her work’s reception, from antiquity to the present day, attests to its quality, acceptance, and criticism by every social class and gender. A large number of ostraca and papyrus fragments reproduce varied or unaltered Sapphic chants, similar to modern musical hits.
Even Roman noblewomen inscribed their pilgrimages and compositions on the Colossi of Memnon in Sapphic verse. The explicit and implicit intentions of poets and writers to associate themselves with her indicate her recognition. Her verses were copied by students in schools, suggesting she was included in the curriculum,” says George Pikrakis.
“The most glaring attempt to ‘murder’ women’s poetry writing”
“I say that someone will remember us in the future,” she writes in the surviving fragment 147 (translated by Sotiris Tselikas), and the present era is perhaps the most receptive to her teachings – the study of her personality and work flourishes in the light of feminist, gender, and queer studies.
Interest in her poetry has been intense since her death in 570 BC in Lefkada – from simple references and allusions to Sapphic verse or her name, to deep engagements with her work across various literary genres and periods.
But alongside ardent admirers, she also garnered enemies: “Sappho was first challenged by men, and then by religion. The conservative sphere of ancient comedy fabricated fictitious narratives around the poet’s life. These narratives were based partly on the ambiguity of her homoeroticism, which modern research has yet to conclusively determine as being hetero- or homo-identified, and partly on the emphasis of her eroticism, perceived through a male lens.
Thus, absurdly phallic interpretations of her life came to be. For instance, a wealthy Kerkylas (a name derived from “coin,” symbolizing the male anatomy, and the suffix -ylas, signifying someone with an exaggerated appendage) from the island of Andros (“of the true men”) supposedly made her his wife. Another comedic rendition of equal absurdity involved Sappho falling for a boatman named Phaon from her homeland. Initially old and unattractive, Phaon unknowingly provided free services to Aphrodite, who rewarded him with an ointment that rejuvenated his youth and attractiveness. After consummating his relationship with Sappho, he abandoned her, leading her to leap off a cliff to liberate herself from the forces that had “blinded” her. The POxy 1800 papyrus, ap. 1/18, preserves for us the term womanistria, a derogatory label for Sappho.”
In numerous city-states, male homosexuality, especially between middle-aged men and adolescents, was deemed an acceptable part of education and was often more highly esteemed than heterosexual love. The same held true for women in Lesbos.
The criticism against her, as part of the broader polemic against ethnic literature, escalated in the early Christian centuries and persists to this day, despite her poetry inspiring even some Church Fathers:
“Early Christian Syrian author Tatian, in his treatise “To the Greek,” (33.1-3), derogatorily referred to Greek female poets by labeling Sappho a “hag” and a “love-struck whore” [modern scholars suggest he was referring to a renowned courtesan of antiquity with the same name(!)]. Meanwhile, a medieval source cites Gregory of Nazianzus as the one who decided to publicly burn her books. Byzantine scholar John Tzetzis (12th century AD) acknowledges Sappho’s centuries-old downfall with apparent resentment.
Contemporary research suggests that her work ceased to be copied after Late Antiquity due to the difficulty copyists faced in understanding the 7th-6th century BC Lesbian dialect. However, the discovery of papyri dating between the 2nd and 4th centuries AD in 2014 challenges this plausible hypothesis.
Even though Gregory of Nazianzus was deeply influenced by Sappho’s poetry—so much so that her verses’ strong presence can be felt in his writings—this may have been a process of Christianizing classical lyric poetry and demonstrating cultural succession. In his hymns, Synesius, a disciple of Hypatia and later the bishop of Libyan Ptolemais, embraced love as expressed in the poetry of Anacreon and Sappho. He transformed this devotional expression into high theology, deftly balancing it with traditional lyric poetry, Neoplatonic theology, and the Christian Trinity.
However, modern moral exclusion rooted in sexual and gender discrimination was also present. The conservative central European idealism of the 19th and 20th centuries, which found its way into the bourgeois intelligentsia of Athens, along with the conservative and avant-garde ideologies of the 20th century, and the (mis)use of cultural capital on both sides (the “purified” Sappho – the “revolutionary” Sappho, even the “Christian” Sappho), further distorted its form.
Regular rediscoveries of her poems, the most recent being in 2014, have provided valuable material, prompting international archaeological research to carefully reassess its findings. The most recent collective study of Sappho was published last year by Brill, co-edited by Anton Briel and André Lardinois.
In this context, I believe that the international intelligentsia and academic community have been slow to free Sappho studies from the shackles of the recent past. “Her case is the most glaring attempt to ‘murder’ women’s poetic writing,” concludes George Pikrakis.
Timeless, Global, and “Multi-Faceted”
The aforementioned study also involved two Greek women: Anastasia Erasmus Peponi, a professor at Stanford University in California, and Katerina Ladiannou, an independent researcher at Ohio University. Both have worked extensively on issues of figuration in the poetry of Sappho and Anacreon.
“The University of Cambridge’s ‘Guide to Sapphic Poetry,’ published in 2021, includes chapters on the reception of Sapphic poetry not only by the Greco-Roman world, but indeed by the entire globe throughout the centuries. It’s not surprising that Roman poets like Horace, Ovid, Virgil, and Catullus studied and engaged with Sapphic poetry, or even the Alexandrians and Byzantines. But it is remarkable that it is studied not only by European and American literature but also by Asian literature. The Guide contains truly fascinating chapters on the reception of the poet’s work in Chinese, Japanese, and Indian literature,” she explains.
“Catullus, for instance, crafts poems in a Sapphic stanza, dubs the muse for whom he composes them as Lesbian, and translates one of Sappho’s most notable passages into Latin. Poem 51 is virtually a rendition of her Poem 31, where she articulates her tormented passion and feelings of impotence in the face of her beloved. It is the most potent expression of the bittersweet essence of erotic longing.
The poem also distinctively maps out Catullus’ attempt at a poetic dialogue with his Greek precursor, allowing the gap defined by both gender and cultural divergence to be illuminated. Thus, the Roman world of commerce and male dominance is juxtaposed with Sappho’s feminine Greek private realm, yielding intriguing outcomes.
In Rome, however, Sappho’s gynocentric poetry and its homoerotic allusions are repurposed into a medium for expressing heterosexual love. Subsequently, due to the homoerotic undertones of her poems and the fervent expressions of erotic longing, Sapphic poetry often becomes synonymous with sexual deviance and immorality.
Catullus leverages this perception to question traditional Roman views on erotic desire, masculinity, and poetry. By employing Sappho as a medium, Roman poets introduce new poetic genres and forms to Rome, innovating by ushering in fresh poetic voices and ethics,” he elaborates.
Regarding her historical and cultural imprint, “it has become a norm for classical scholars, when discussing Sappho, to mention the clever way in which Monique Wittig and Sande Zeig incorporated her into their Lesbian Dictionary. In the entry about Sappho, they left the page blank, thereby highlighting the fact that there are no certainties about the poet. There is, however, some sparse evidence: her biographies have been in circulation since ancient times, vases featuring her, and, of course, the few surviving snippets of her poems. Regrettably, all these testimonies about Sappho are more attempts to interpret her poetry to glean biographical details, making them of limited reliability.
Nonetheless, employing them as a guide to the reception of her poetry in antiquity, we uncover the multifaceted Sapphic personae, or more accurately, personas: the poet, the choir master, the mentor of young girls, the mother, the wife, the seductress, the courtesan, the spurned lover who ends her own life.
Over time, the various Sapphic personas cloud rather than clarify the historical persona, but they do unveil her allure and amplify the enigma that surrounds her.
Every era has sought its own version of Sappho. The Romans saw her as a courtesan and a passionate lover, Christians painted her as a sinful womanizer, the Victorians cast her as a part-time schoolmistress, and the queer movement hailed her as a symbol.
What remains undeniable is Sappho’s enduring influence. Her poetry continues to captivate, and her music, though lost to time, still manages to enchant us. After all, she is one of the few ancient female voices to have been set to music. Today, we continue to uncover new facets of Sappho, both literally, as unknown poems of hers are discovered, and metaphorically. This ongoing discovery cements her status as a truly great classical poet.
