From Whence The Name Came
by Jamie B
"I tell you, someone will remember us, even in another time."
Sappho, Greek poet, teacher, and lesbian
sap·phic
safik/
adjective: sapphic; adjective: Sapphic
1.formal of or relating to lesbians or lesbianism.
"sapphic lovers"
2. of or relating to Sappho or her poetry.
noun; sapphic
1. verse in a meter associated with Sappho.
les·bi·an
lezbēən/
noun
plural noun: lesbians
1.a homosexual woman.
Sappho of the Isle of Lesbos (c. 620-570 BCE)
Sappho was a Greek lyric poetess, born on the island of Lesbos. The Alexandrians included her in the list of nine lyric poets. In the seventh century BC, Lesbos was a cultural center. Sappho spent most her time on the island, though she also traveled widely throughout Greece. Her name has leant itself to `lesbian' and `Sapphic', both relating to homosexual women, because of her extant poetry which concerns itself with romantic love between women.
Glittering-Minded Deathless Aphrodite - Sappho of Lesbos
Glittering-Minded deathless Aphrodite,
I beg you, Zeus's daughter, weaver of snares,
Don't shatter my heart with fierce
Pain, goddess,
But come now, if ever before
You heard my voice, far off, and listened,
And left your father's golden house,
And came,
Yoking your chariot. Lovely the swift
Sparrows that brought you over black earth
A whirring of wings through mid-air
Down the sky.
They came. And you, sacred one,
Smiling with deathless face, asking
What now, while I suffer: why now
I cry out to you, again:
What now I desire above all in my
Mad heart. 'Whom now, shall I persuade
To admit you again to her love,
Sappho, who wrongs you now?
If she runs now she'll follow later,
If she refuses gifts she'll give them.
If she loves not, now, she'll soon
Love against her will.'
Come to me now, then, free me
From aching care, and win me
All my heart longs to win. You,
Be my friend.
A place of art, culture, and learning dedicated to lesbian and bisexual women. http://www.sappho.com/
