Ancient
Weddings
by Jennifer
Goodall Powers, SUNY Albany
Original text
© 1997 Jennifer Goodall Powers
Sappho and Her
Wedding Songs
Some
say there are nine Muses: how careless!
Look Sappho of Lesbos is the tenth!
Introduction
Largely because of the absence of biographical accounts
from other ancient writers, what is known about Sappho now and
to the ancients has mainly been extrapolated from her poetry
or from stereotypes of women poets in general and of the women
of Lesbos specifically. One must always be wary of relying solely
on what someone says in her poetry as representing her true feelings,
but in the absence of other sources, this study must rely on
Sappho's poetry to disclose her attitude towards marriage.
Sappho (her name
was probably pronounced Psappho) was born around 612 B.C. in
the town of Mytilene on the island of Lesbos, as was Alcaeus,
a contemporary lyric poet who showed a deep respect for Sappho
in his poetry. Most likely she was from an aristocratic family;
her parents' names are thought to be Skamandronymos and Kleis.
She had three brothers: Erigyois, about whom nothing is known;
Charaxos, who had business connections and a lover in Egypt;
and Larichos, who was involved in government service in Mytilene.
Her husband, whom some scholars believe is fictional since he
is not mentioned in any of her poetry, was most likely Kerkylas
of Andros. Her daughter, who is mentioned in three fragments,
is called Kleis, after her maternal grandmother. During the unrest
on Lesbos, Sappho sought refuge in Sicily. There is a legend
that Sappho leapt to her death from the White Rock of Leukas
when Phaon rejected her as a lover.
Sappho headed a
thiasos, a school for girls, although exactly what kind
of school is not certain. Some argue it was a finishing school
for girls, while others believe that the thiasoi were
- communities
of women, the existence of which is documented not only in Lesbos
where, as well as Sappho's thiasos there were also thiasoi
of her rivals Gorgo and Andromeda, but also in other areas
of Greece, especially Sparta.
Heads of these schools, like Sappho, would teach the basic skills
of music, singing, and dancing. The girls would learn, in preparation
for their imminent marriages, "the weapons of beauty, seduction
and fascination: they learned the grace (charis) which
made them into desirable women." It is believed that homosexual
experimentation sometimes occurred at these schools. At the beginning
of the Christian era and again during the Victorian period, Sappho
was perceived not as a great poetess, but primarily as a woman
who loved other women, and who, therefore, was wicked and scandalous.
More important for this study, however, is the realization that
homosexuality between women in all likelihood did not have any
stigma attached to it for the ancients:
The circle's
present love of girl for girl ... was neither sanctioned nor
prohibited by the community; its purpose was not generation,
and its practice was consequently not deformed by fears and tabus.
The love had nothing institutional to offer but ... it could
give its devotees delight, choice, reciprocity and a heightened
sense of self. Since the question of virginity was not involved,
nothing was forbidden. ... One caress was as sweet as another,
a wreath could be as provocative as an uncovered limb, and because
pleasure was luxuriously sensual but never obscene it could be
thought of as a form of worship and sung in all aspects. Finally,
because this love was open and non-reproductive, an easy promiscuity
was the rule, allowing love to follow always, wherever beauty
was perceived.
Others argue, and
probably rightly so, that Sappho and her students were neither
exclusively homo- or heterosexual. Hallett, on the other hand,
contends that it really should not matter since Sappho
should
be regarded primarily as a poet with an important social purpose
and public function: that of instilling sensual awareness and
sexual self-esteem and of facilitating role adjustment in young
females coming of age in a sexually segregated society. Furthermore,
I believe that she should be regarded as an artist voicing sentiments
which need not be her own.
But the open love
for women she and her students seemed to share most likely did
affect her thinking and attitude towards marriage.
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