From ancient Greek sapphism to the lesbian renaissance, this is how one word endured the centuries
BY EMILY WARNER, IMAGE BY WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
“You came and I was longing for you
You cooled a heart that burned with desire”
Over 2500 years ago, on an island cradled between Greece and Turkey, a poet called Sappho was born. Alcaeus, her countryman and contemporary, described her as “violet-haired, pure, honey-smiling”, Philodemus of Gadara as “the tenth Muse”, and Socrates as “beautiful” – but she wasn’t interested in men’s opinions. She was the original sapphist.
Historians have tried to piece her life together from yellowed fragments of papyrus and broken sentences, but so much of Sappho is lost to time. We know she had two brothers – Charaxus and Larichus – and perhaps a daughter. She ran an academy for unmarried women who worshipped the goddess Aphrodite (sounds pretty gay to me) and it was “recorded” that she was married to a man named Kerkylas of Andros. However, this is nothing more than a smutty joke – Kerkylas of Andros roughly translates to Dick Allcock from the Isle of Man (essentially, Penis Penisman from the Isle of Man). It appears the Greeks had a sense of humour.
Of the 10,000 lines of poetry Sappho wrote, only 650 remain: the rest were burned by religious fundamentalists or subsumed by the centuries. What fragments of her poetry remain are filled with erotic yearning.
“Once again love drives me on, that loosener of limbs, bittersweet creature against which nothing can be done.”
And the island where Sappho was born? Its name was Lesbos.
Lesbos is located in the northeastern Aegean Sea. Some parts are shaded by trees and olive groves, while others are cratered and rocky, home to a smattering of volcanoes. The towns are a colourful amalgamation of architectural styles – a reflection of the island’s history of occupation – and it is home to many lesbians, a site of queer pilgrimage. The term “lesbian” originates here, steeped in Greek history, fertile lands and nature.
The etymology of the word “Lesbos” – from the Latin Lesbius and the Greek lesbios – is uncertain, but it may have originally meant “wooded”. The association between “lesbian” and erotic love between women dates to at least 1732 in English, but it took longer to evolve into a term of identification.
Now, the word lesbian refers widely to, “a woman who is sexually or romantically attracted exclusively to other women”. Yet it can also refer to someone from the island of Lesbos (in the same way someone might be English or Calfornian) – good luck to any straight men from Lesbos trying to explain how they’re a lesbian.
In fact, in 2008, some residents of Lesbos tried to ban homosexual women from using the word lesbian. Dimitris Lambrou, a publisher from Lesbos, told The Guardian, “We are very upset that, worldwide, women who like women have appropriated the name of our island. Until 1924, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, a Lesbian was a native of our isle but now, because of its new connotations, our womenfolk are unable to call themselves such.”
The case coincided with a highly-charged national debate over gay rights, and follows some of the first marriages between same-sex couples. However, the court rejected the lawsuit and lesbians – the homosexual kind – kept their name.
Despite this long history of suppression and censorship, in 2024 we witnessed a lesbian renaissance – from Chappell Roan to Emilia Pérez. Queer women are finally being seen and although Sappho’s words are fragmentary, her namesake lives on.
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