Sappho

“I watched an amazing documentary about Sappho last night! It starts with the discovery of a new poem by Sappho in 2012, and then they talk about how popular she was—she was the only Greek woman to ever be depicted on an ancient Greek vase. In Christian times, her work was banned and burned—because Patriarchy. They even had a scene with a musician singing one of her poems in ancient Greek.”

Sappho: Love and Life on Lesbos (BBC 4 Presented by Margaret Mountford)

“The documentary starts with the discovery of a new poem by Sappho in 2012, and then they talk about how popular she was—she was the only Greek woman to ever be depicted on an ancient Greek vase. In Christian times, her work was banned and burned—because Patriarchy. They even had a scene with a musician singing one of her poems in ancient Greek.”

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“They must have filmed those scenes on Lesbos itself, right?”

”Yes, that’s Skala Eressos, the tiny village where she was born. I know lesbians who go there for the Women’s festival every year.”

“A women’s festival on Lesbos! That must be amazing.”

“It amazes me that there was one poet in all of Western History who was so popular that they couldn’t destroy her memory.”

“I know. Only one. And she gave us our name for ourselves.”

“I wonder how many other popular women poets there were who we will never know?”

“There must have been thousands of women-loving female poets. What was happening when Sappho was alive?”

“She was alive at the same time as the Old Testament, when there were Kings in Judah.”

“Dammit, they teach us about those guys in bible school. We need to have a school that teaches about Sappho.”

“I think we already do, dear.”