Sappho Redefined

There was an island off the coast of Greece in the Aegean Sea whose inhabitants were noted for their sensuality and love for poetry. Now known as Mytilene, it used to be called the Island of Lesbos; its people -- men, women, and children -- were then referred to as Lesbians. The most famous of them all was the lyric poet Sappho, who, in 600 B.C., became as distinguished and as highly-esteemed as Homer.

Now, whether Sappho was gay or just a victim of those nasty rumor-mongering people of Lesbos Island (who are Lesbians themselves!), that is none of my business. My main concern is Sappho's contribution to literature; her outstanding, outspoken, and flawless poetry; her deep knowledge and understanding of femininity; her wisdom...

I believe Sappho of Lesbos is one of the most misunderstood writers, because the average-minded human species would rather associate her with homosexuality than with fine, sensible poetry. I believe that when Sappho penned those impeccable lyric poems, she was not parading her sexual preference; rather, she was baring her soul; she was trying to make sense of her insane world; she was trying to get her message across.

Fact is, not all of the handful of Sappho's poems that have survived to this day deal with her rumored flair for young girls. The poem that I'm posting here is my favorite Sappho poem:

To An Uncultured Lesbian Woman

by Sappho

Yea, thou shalt die,

And lie

Dumb in the silent tomb,

Nor of thy name

Shall there be any Fame

In ages yet to be or years to come:

For of the flowering Rose

Which on Pieria blows,

Thou hast no share:

But in sad Hades' house,

Unknown, inglorious

'Mid the dim shades that wander there

Shalt thou flit forth and haunt the filmy air.

Thirteen powerful lines of admonition. That's it. Then, you stop and ask yourself: How many women (and men as well) reflect on the meaning of their existence? How many of us have etched our contribution on life's Book of Fame?

I believe Sappho, gay or not, is, first and foremost an existentialist. One ought to "really" read her very few surviving poems to see the real Sappho: a woman of substance, not your average Lesbian woman.