Sappho & Sexuality in Ancient Greece

Episode 2, Episode 8. When it comes to the words that made it through time to us, ancient Greece is particularly loud with men’s voices. But if you listen, you can hear one woman through the crowd—we still hear her today. Heralded as a genius in her time, Sappho was called “The Poetess” and “The Tenth Muse.” People made coins with her face on them and created honorary statues of her all over Greece. In our century, she’s heralded as one of the earliest same-sex love advocates, boldly writing about lesbian desire. Who was this mysterious woman poet? What did it mean, in her time, to write about same-sex relationships? What did it mean to be in one?

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To hear the amazing music featured on this episode, all make on recreated lyres of antiquity, check out Michael Levy.