Sapphism (pronounced saf-iz-uhm)
A less
frequently used word for lesbianism; often in poetic or literary use.
1885-1890: Named after Sappho (Ψάπφω Psáppho in the Aeolic Greek) (circa 630-570 BC), a poet of the isle of Lesbos, the construct being Sapph(o) + -ism. The –ism suffix was from the Ancient Greek ισμός (ismós) & -isma noun suffixes, often directly, sometimes through the Latin –ismus & isma (from where English picked up ize) and sometimes through the French –isme or the German –ismus, all ultimately from the Ancient Greek (where it tended more specifically to express a finished act or thing done). It appeared in loanwords from Greek, where it was used to form abstract nouns of action, state, condition or doctrine from verbs and on this model, was used as a productive suffix in the formation of nouns denoting action or practice, state or condition, principles, doctrines, a usage or characteristic, devotion or adherence (criticism; barbarism; Darwinism; despotism; plagiarism; realism; witticism etc). Sapphism & sapphist are nouns and sapphic is a noun & adjective; the noun plural is sapphists. Sapphistry is a quasi-jocular literary term meaning "a seductive style said to be associated with women writing for a female audience" and presumably modelled on "sophistry". Sapphistry is said to differ from "chick-lit" (an often derogatory (or at least dismissive) term describing literature aimed at younger women which focuses on the dilemmas of post second-wave feminism romance) in that it contains at least hints of the lesbionic.
Sappho
Remembered for her lyric poetry, Sappho lived on the Greek island of Lesbos, from which is derived the word lesbian, the meaning of which has shifted over time. Prior to the late nineteenth century, it was used to describe things of or relating to the island, including a local wine. First extended by poets and critics in the 1870s to allude to erotic relationships between women, it entered medical literature in the 1890s, gradually supplanting sapphist and sapphism and become the standard descriptor early in the twentieth century.
American Sapphic, Lindsay Lohan & former special friend Samantha Ronson by Ben Tegel after American Gothic (1930) by Grant Wood (1891-1942).
Sappho is known to written thousands of lines, but for the complete Ode to Aphrodite, only fragments survive, some discovered as recently as 2014. The poetry has been influential for two millennia, during which it has been read by critics searching for hints of Sappho’s own sexuality, their judgements colored often by the social mores prevailing at the time. Surviving mostly in fragmentary pieces, Sappho's text is often a challenge for translators who face having to render verse into English when it can't be certain what a word in the original actually meant, one smudged letter shifting a meaning or disguising whether it be verb or noun. Translators' notes are thus helpful.
Sappho And Erinna In A Garden At Mytilene, (1864) by Simeon Solomon (1840-1905) watercolour on paper, Tate Britain.
Ode to Aphrodite by Sappho
Aphrodite, subtle of soul and deathless,Daughter of God, weaver of wiles, I pray theeNeither with care, dread Mistress, nor with
anguish, Slay thou my spirit!
But in pity hasten, come now if everFrom afar of old when my voice implored thee,Thou hast deigned to listen, leaving the golden House of thy father
With thy chariot yoked; and with doves that drew
thee,Fair and fleet around the dark earth from heaven,Dipping vibrant wings down he azure distance, Through the mid-ether;
Very swift they came; and thou, gracious Vision,Leaned with face that smiled in immortal beauty,Leaned to me and asked, "What misfortune
threatened? Why I had called thee?"
"What my frenzied heart craved in utter
yearning,Whom its wild desire would persuade to passion?What disdainful charms, madly worshipped, slight
thee? Who wrongs thee, Sappho?"
"She that fain would fly, she shall quickly
follow,She that now rejects, yet with gifts shall woo
thee,She that heeds thee not, soon shall love to
madness, Love thee, the loth one!"
Come to me now thus, Goddess, and release meFrom distress and pain; and all my distractedHeart would seek, do thou, once again fulfilling, Still be my ally!
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