Historical Homosexuality: Lesbians in Ancient History
Tuesday 29th April 2008
As a modern homosexual, it’s likely that your thoughts are focused mainly on the present and the future. Certainly the gay rights movement is concerned far more with making things better tomorrow than reflecting upon the past.
Sappho, as painted by Raffael
With that in mind, Pinke has created a new series covering the history of homosexuality in society. We kicked off the series with a piece on male homosexuality in ancient Greece, a time and place with a strong connection to homosexuality. This week we’re going to return to that same time and place, but focus on another sex. We’re going to delve into the wonders of lesbianism in ancient history.
Greece could quite literally be called the birthplace of “lesbianism”. Although the idea of women being sexually attracted to women is as old as the hills, the term “lesbian” came from an island in Greece that had, and still has, a strong association with female same-sex love. We’re talking, of course, about the island of Lesbos.
Lesbos earned its reputation as the “home of lesbianism” because of a woman, born on the island, who is something of an idol in the lesbian community. The poet Sappho was born on the island, most likely in the city of Mytilene, sometime between 630 and 612 BCE.
Sappho’s poetry, with its powerful lyrics expressing deep emotion and love towards other women, is frequently described as great lesbian love poems. Because of the association between Sappho and female homosexuality, female same-sex love ended up being named after her homeland. The term “lesbian” first popped up in the 1700s, and by the 1800s was well-known enough to be in the Oxford English Dictionary.
Sappho’s poetry is one of the first recorded instances of female same-sex love. However, lesbian love is also present in ancient Greek mythology. The goddesses Diana and Camilla had a torid lesbian love affair as well. The Olympian deities, of course, were quite used to homosexuality. Male same-sex relationships were quite common on Mt. Olympus.
Greeks were fairly accepting of lesbianism at that time, just as they had accepted male homosexual relationships. While lesbian relationships were not as common as male homosexual ones, which in some places were almost required, they were hardly uncommon. Lesbian relationships, at least some described by Sappho, were similar to the pederasty common in male homosexual relationships. Generally an older woman would “educate” a younger woman.
One group of ancient Spartans, the Lacedaemonins, was home to a particularly high proportion of lesbian relationships of this type. These relationships were common enough that the historian Plutarch later wrote that "love was so esteemed among them that girls also became the erotic objects of noble women." Indeed, it seems that in the 5th century BCE there was a bit of a fashion among Greek aristocratic women to get themselves a young female lover, just as the men would find themselves a young male to love and guide through life.
Lesbian relationships weren’t found only in the literature of ancient Greece of course. Ancient Chinese poetry and stories contain many examples of lesbian relationships. One anthropologist has even found evidence that lesbian couples were both common and socially accepted in ancient Japan as well.
The history of lesbianism throughout the world’s culture is a rich and varied one. Join us next week as we continue our journey through homosexuality throughout the ages.
Other articles in the Historical Homosexuality series:
Historical Homosexuality: Cowboys on Boys
The Surprising True Story of the Gay Saints and their Holy Homosexual Marriages
Historical Homosexuality: The Real Way of the Samurai
Historical Homosexuality: Ancient Greece
Further reading and sources:
Wikipedia's Lesbian page
GAYLY
Fordham University's gay history page.
LGBT History Month
Sappho, as painted by Raffael
With that in mind, Pinke has created a new series covering the history of homosexuality in society. We kicked off the series with a piece on male homosexuality in ancient Greece, a time and place with a strong connection to homosexuality. This week we’re going to return to that same time and place, but focus on another sex. We’re going to delve into the wonders of lesbianism in ancient history.
Greece could quite literally be called the birthplace of “lesbianism”. Although the idea of women being sexually attracted to women is as old as the hills, the term “lesbian” came from an island in Greece that had, and still has, a strong association with female same-sex love. We’re talking, of course, about the island of Lesbos.
Lesbos earned its reputation as the “home of lesbianism” because of a woman, born on the island, who is something of an idol in the lesbian community. The poet Sappho was born on the island, most likely in the city of Mytilene, sometime between 630 and 612 BCE.
Sappho’s poetry, with its powerful lyrics expressing deep emotion and love towards other women, is frequently described as great lesbian love poems. Because of the association between Sappho and female homosexuality, female same-sex love ended up being named after her homeland. The term “lesbian” first popped up in the 1700s, and by the 1800s was well-known enough to be in the Oxford English Dictionary.
Sappho’s poetry is one of the first recorded instances of female same-sex love. However, lesbian love is also present in ancient Greek mythology. The goddesses Diana and Camilla had a torid lesbian love affair as well. The Olympian deities, of course, were quite used to homosexuality. Male same-sex relationships were quite common on Mt. Olympus.
Greeks were fairly accepting of lesbianism at that time, just as they had accepted male homosexual relationships. While lesbian relationships were not as common as male homosexual ones, which in some places were almost required, they were hardly uncommon. Lesbian relationships, at least some described by Sappho, were similar to the pederasty common in male homosexual relationships. Generally an older woman would “educate” a younger woman.
One group of ancient Spartans, the Lacedaemonins, was home to a particularly high proportion of lesbian relationships of this type. These relationships were common enough that the historian Plutarch later wrote that "love was so esteemed among them that girls also became the erotic objects of noble women." Indeed, it seems that in the 5th century BCE there was a bit of a fashion among Greek aristocratic women to get themselves a young female lover, just as the men would find themselves a young male to love and guide through life.
Lesbian relationships weren’t found only in the literature of ancient Greece of course. Ancient Chinese poetry and stories contain many examples of lesbian relationships. One anthropologist has even found evidence that lesbian couples were both common and socially accepted in ancient Japan as well.
The history of lesbianism throughout the world’s culture is a rich and varied one. Join us next week as we continue our journey through homosexuality throughout the ages.
Other articles in the Historical Homosexuality series:
Historical Homosexuality: Cowboys on Boys
The Surprising True Story of the Gay Saints and their Holy Homosexual Marriages
Historical Homosexuality: The Real Way of the Samurai
Historical Homosexuality: Ancient Greece
Further reading and sources:
Wikipedia's Lesbian page
GAYLY
Fordham University's gay history page.
LGBT History Month
