How does Sappho identify sexually? In class, it was mentioned that Sappho is a lesbian and that the word “lesbian” is derived from Lesbos, which is where Sappho lived. With that being said, the collection of poems and fragments offer some confusion as her pronoun use changes throughout the collection. For instance, in poem/fragment 1, Sappho is seeking Aphrodite’s assistance as her lover left. “She may run now…but soon she will, willing or not” (1). This is the first time, of many, in the collection that Sappho references a female companion with the use of the pronoun “she’. Others can be found in poem/fragments 11, 54, and 56. Now, if we continue on to poem/fragment 20, she says “Look at him, just like a god, that man sitting across from you”,…show more content… In 62, she says she “will not endure an affair in which I am older than the man” (62). However, I am not sure that Sappho is happy that she fell in love with a man/boy. In poem/fragment 36, Sappho says “slender Aphrodite has made me fall in love with a boy” (36). When “made me” is used, it suggests that the person speaking is not necessarily happy about what has happened. She also alludes to confusion on this matter in 41 when she says “I do not know what to do, I am of two minds” (41). While this could mean multiple things, I cannot help but feel she is confused as to whether she prefers men or women. There is also a lack of specificity to gender in poem/fragments 27, 28, 38, and 71, but all of them have a sexual connotation, if not a rather clear sexually proposition message as found in 27, and 28. It would just be a question as to who she is propositioning, which I think is further support for her confusion in her sexual
