History Creator / Sappho

Sappho's back catalog is subject to one of history's more heartbreaking cases of {{Missing Episode}}s: she left at least nine volumes of poetry... of which ''one'' complete poem survives. So do about two hundred fragments, some as short as a single word. She was dropped from the standard classical curriculum during the Byzantine era (ca. 6th century AD), possibly because her dialect of Greek was considered archaic and difficult by then.

These days, Sappho isn't known so much for her poetry as for her association with female homosexuality: her native island, Lesbos, is the [[TropeNamer source of the word]] "lesbian"; for which "UsefulNotes/{{sapphi|sm}}c" sometimes turns up as an archaic synonym.

Due partly to the loss of her work, hardly anything is known of her personal, let alone sexual life, and some scholars doubt that her poems are even meant to be autobiographical--but there is no reason to assume they were not, either. All that is certain is that the fragments where the gender of the beloved is specified all identify her as female. And that Sappho herself was one of the most important poets who ever lived, and arguably the TropeMaker, or at least TropeCodifier, for many of the concepts of romantic love in western culture.

Sappho (c. 630-570 BC) was born on the Greek island of Lesbos, about 2700 years ago. It's hard to overstate her reputation in the ancient world: she was on the Greek curriculum of classics for a ''thousand'' years [[note]]Creator/WilliamShakespeare: 400 years so far[[/note]], and there's basically no reference to her that isn't along the lines of "[[SugarWiki/GushingAboutShowsYouLike is completely fucking awesome]]".

-->"Some say horsemen, some say warriors,
-->Some say a fleet of ships is the loveliest
-->Vision in this dark world, but I say it's
-->What you love. [...]
-->And I recall Anaktoria, whose sweet step
-->Or that flicker of light on her face,
-->I'd rather see than Lydian chariots
-->Or the armed ranks of the hoplites."

** ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'': "Suffering Sappho!" is one of Wonder Woman's stock phrases.

* ''Film/{{Sappho}}'' has a woman who shares her name visiting Greece. During this visit she falls for another woman, with the historical Sappho discussed as well.

These days, Sappho isn't known so much for her poetry as for her association with female homosexuality: her native island, Lesbos, is the [[TropeNamer source of the word]] "lesbian"; for which "sapphic" sometimes turns up as an archaic synonym.

** ''ComicBook/WonderWomanRebirth'': [[ComicBook/{{Cheetah}} Barbara-Ann Minerva]] and ComicBook/EttaCandy have an innuendo filled conversation about the works of Sappho that reveals they're both attracted to women.

** ''ComicBook/WonderWomanRebirth'': [[ComicBook/{{Cheetah}} Barbara-Ann Minerva]] ans ComicBook/EttaCandy have an innuendo filled conversation about the works of Sappho that reveals they're both attracted to women.

* QueerFlowers: Her poetry is the UrExample, specifically using violets for romance between women. She would make reference to a girl or woman "with violets in her lap" as a metaphor for homosexual romance.

Due partly to the loss of her work, hardly anything is known of her personal, let alone sexual life, and some scholars doubt that her poems are even meant to be autobiographical--but there is no reason to assume they were not, either. All that is certain is that the fragments where a gender of the beloved is specified all identify her as female. And that Sappho herself was one of the most important poets who ever lived, and arguably the TropeMaker, or at least TropeCodifier, for many of the concepts of romantic love in western culture.
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Sappho (c. 630-570 BC) was born on the Greek island of Lesbos, about 2700 years ago. It's hard to overstate her reputation in the ancient world: she was on the Greek curriculum of classics for a ''thousand'' years [[note]]Creator/WilliamShakespeare: 400 years so far[[/note]], and there's basically no reference to her that isn't along the lines of "[[SugarWiki/GushingAboutShowsYouLike is completely fucking awesome]]," which in and of itself is impressive, given [[NoWomansLand the Greeks were some of the biggest misogynists of the ancient world]].

Due partly to the loss of her work, hardly anything is known of her personal, let alone sexual life, and certain scholars doubt that her poems are even meant to be autobiographical--but there is no reason to assume they were not, either. All that is certain is that the fragments where a gender of the beloved is specified all identify her as female. And that Sappho herself was one of the most important poets who ever lived, and arguably the TropeMaker, or at least TropeCodifier, for many of the concepts of romantic love in western culture.

Due partly to the loss of her work and partly to the aforementioned misogyny, hardly anything is known of her personal, let alone sexual life, and certain scholars doubt that her poems are even meant to be autobiographical--but there is no reason to assume they were not, either. All that is certain is that the fragments where a gender of the beloved is specified all identify her as female. And that Sappho herself was one of the most important poets who ever lived, and arguably the TropeMaker, or at least TropeCodifier, for many of the concepts of romantic love in western culture.

->''"Some say the muses number nine--''
->''How careless!''
->''Behold, Sappho of Lesbos: the tenth."''

In reality, no one knows much about Sappho's life, much less her sex life. Love was a frequent subject of her work, some of her love-poems were addressed to women, and scholars aren't sure how much of her work is autobiographical. There's no particular reason to assume any of it ''is'' autobiographical--after all, people today don't think the lyrics to a song necessarily reflect the songwriter's sexuality--but no reason to assume it isn't, either. All anyone can agree on is that she's one of the most important poets who ever lived, and arguably the TropeMaker, or at least TropeCodifier, for many of the concepts of romantic love in western culture (At the very least, she is, by far, the earliest surviving example of such tropes, and Creator/{{Catullus}}, another writer who described similar feelings, used the name "Lesbia" as a pseudonym for his lover).

Sappho (c. 630-570 BC) was born on the Greek island of Lesbos, about 2700 years ago. It's hard to overstate her reputation in the ancient world: she was on the Greek curriculum of classics for a ''thousand'' years[[note]]Creator/WilliamShakespeare: 400 years so far[[/note]], and there's basically no reference to her that isn't along the lines of "[[SugarWiki/GushingAboutShowsYouLike is completely fucking awesome]]," which in and of itself is impressive, given [[NoWomansLand the Greeks were some of the biggest misogynists of the ancient world]].

Sappho's back catalogue is subject to one of history's more heartbreaking cases of {{Missing Episode}}s: she left at least nine volumes of poetry... of which ''one'' complete poem survives. So do about two hundred fragments, some as short as a single word. She was dropped from the standard classical curriculum during the Byzantine era (ca. 6th century AD), possibly because her dialect of Greek was considered archaic and difficult by then.

Sappho (c. 630-570 BC) was born on the Greek island of Lesbos, about 2700 years ago. It's hard to overstate her reputation in the ancient world: she was on the Greek curriculum of classics for a ''thousand'' years[[note]]Creator/WilliamShakespeare: 400 years so far[[/note]], and there's basically no reference to her that isn't along the lines of "[[SugarWiki/GushingAboutShowsYouLike is completely fucking awesome]]," which in and of itself is impressive, given the Greeks were some of the biggest Misogynists of the Ancient World.

'''Sappho''' (c. 630-570 BC) was born on the Greek island of Lesbos, about 2700 years ago. It's hard to overstate her reputation in the ancient world: she was on the Greek curriculum of classics for a ''thousand'' years[[note]]Creator/WilliamShakespeare: 400 years so far[[/note]], and there's basically no reference to her that isn't along the lines of "[[SugarWiki/GushingAboutShowsYouLike is completely fucking awesome]]," which in and of itself is impressive, given the Greeks were some of the biggest Misogynists of the Ancient World.

In reality, no one knows much about Sappho's life, much less her sex life. Love was a frequent subject of her work, some of her love-poems were addressed to women, and scholars aren't sure how much of her work is autobiographical. There's no particular reason to assume any of it ''is'' autobiographical--after all, people today don't think the lyrics to a song necessarily reflect the songwriter's sexuality--but no reason to assume it isn't, either. All anyone can agree on is that she's one of the most important poets who ever lived, and arguably the TropeMaker, or at least TropeCodifier, for many of the concepts of romantic love in western culture (At the very least, she is, by far, the earliest surviving example of such tropes, and {{Catullus}}, another writer who described similar feelings, used the name "Lesbia" as a pseudonym for his lover).
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[[quoteright:250:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Sappho_4143.jpg]]

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-->--attributed to '''{{Plato}}'''

Sappho (c. 630-570 BC) was born on the Greek island of Lesbos, about 2700 years ago. It's hard to overstate her reputation in the ancient world: she was on the Greek curriculum of classics for a ''thousand'' years[[note]]Creator/WilliamShakespeare: 400 years so far[[/note]], and there's basically no reference to her that isn't along the lines of "[[SugarWiki/GushingAboutShowsYouLike is completely fucking awesome]]," which in and of itself is impressive, given the Greeks were some of the biggest Misogynists of the Ancient World.

Sappho (c. 630-570 BC) was born on the Greek island of Lesbos, about 2700 years ago. It's hard to overstate her reputation in the ancient world: she was on the Greek curriculum of classics for a ''thousand'' years[[hottip:*:{{Shakespeare}}: 400 years so far]], and there's basically no reference to her that isn't along the lines of "[[SugarWiki/GushingAboutShowsYouLike is completely fucking awesome]]," which in and of itself is impressive, given the Greeks were some of the biggest Misogynists of the Ancient World.

These days, Sappho isn't known so much for her poetry as for her association with female homosexuality: her native island, Lesbos, is the [[TropeNamer source of the word]] "lesbian"; for which "sapphic" sometimes turns up as an archaic synonym.

-->''"Some say the muses number nine--''
-->''How careless!''
-->''Behold, Sappho of Lesbos: the tenth."''
-->--attributed to '''Plato'''

In reality, no one knows much about Sappho's life, much less her sex life. Love was a frequent subject of her work, some of her love-poems were addressed to women, and scholars aren't sure how much of her work is autobiographical. There's no particular reason to assume any of it ''is'' autobiographical--after all, people today don't think the lyrics to a song necessarily reflect the songwriter's sexuality--but no reason to assume it isn't, either. All anyone can agree on is that she's one of the most important poets who ever lived, and arguably the TropeMaker, or at least TropeCodifier, for many of the concepts of romantic love in western culture (At the very least, she is, by far, the earliest surviving example of such tropes, and Catallus, another writer who described similar feelings, used the name "Lesbia" as a pseudonym for his lover).