You make some great pints here, especially in regards to transition and the "gaps and uncertainties" of history.
I wonder about two possibilities for the sexuality in Sappho's poetry: the more generous one is bravery, as in she was fearless enough to pen her true feelings despite the relative censorship. The other is shrewdness, as in she knew that, even then, sex sold, and was writing to an audience.
I'm not enough of an expert to have a stronger opinion than this, but those are what come immediately to mind. Either way, she is worth our scrutiny.
Personally, I think neither. There was no censorship when it came to *writing* about sex, and there is no evidence that Sappho would have had any other reason to be scared. Remember: concepts of feminism and female sexual oppression simply didn't exist yet. I also doubt she was writing for an audience.. sure she gained celebrity from her work, but I don't think writing 10,000+ lines, with such mastery, was an attempt to gain popularity. She was an excellent, highly technical writer, who clearly enjoyed the art of crafting poetry. And the themes of sex and desire.. that's just what she wanted to write about. Sometimes there is no great scheme.
A great read, well researched and wonderfully written!
As a Classicist, I fall into the camp that believes we shouldn't try to label her sexuality, but this is my opinion purely based on my own research. After all, Ancient Greek sexuality doesn't fall as nicely into our modern labels as we would like. Nonetheless, I understand where you are coming from. It is undoubtable she loved women, and her being displayed as a lesbian is vital representation for a community that doesn't have many ancient figures to stand with. This is one of the rare instances where no matter the historical truth, which we will likely never fully know anyway as you pointed out, the modern view of her is more significant and important!
Thank you so much! I agree with you there: we will never know the historical truth. But then again, we'll never know the *whole* historical truth about anything.. so it's more about persuasiveness to me, and that's certainly where the evidence points.
Fascinating. And the pieces of poetry you quoted in the article seem strikingly modern and relatable. Some themes never die..
The relatability part is one of the main reasons I love history.. we can really connect with people in the past over so much time and space
You make some great pints here, especially in regards to transition and the "gaps and uncertainties" of history.
I wonder about two possibilities for the sexuality in Sappho's poetry: the more generous one is bravery, as in she was fearless enough to pen her true feelings despite the relative censorship. The other is shrewdness, as in she knew that, even then, sex sold, and was writing to an audience.
I'm not enough of an expert to have a stronger opinion than this, but those are what come immediately to mind. Either way, she is worth our scrutiny.
Personally, I think neither. There was no censorship when it came to *writing* about sex, and there is no evidence that Sappho would have had any other reason to be scared. Remember: concepts of feminism and female sexual oppression simply didn't exist yet. I also doubt she was writing for an audience.. sure she gained celebrity from her work, but I don't think writing 10,000+ lines, with such mastery, was an attempt to gain popularity. She was an excellent, highly technical writer, who clearly enjoyed the art of crafting poetry. And the themes of sex and desire.. that's just what she wanted to write about. Sometimes there is no great scheme.
A great read, well researched and wonderfully written!
As a Classicist, I fall into the camp that believes we shouldn't try to label her sexuality, but this is my opinion purely based on my own research. After all, Ancient Greek sexuality doesn't fall as nicely into our modern labels as we would like. Nonetheless, I understand where you are coming from. It is undoubtable she loved women, and her being displayed as a lesbian is vital representation for a community that doesn't have many ancient figures to stand with. This is one of the rare instances where no matter the historical truth, which we will likely never fully know anyway as you pointed out, the modern view of her is more significant and important!
Thank you so much! I agree with you there: we will never know the historical truth. But then again, we'll never know the *whole* historical truth about anything.. so it's more about persuasiveness to me, and that's certainly where the evidence points.