The Legacy of Sappho & Lesbos: History’s first queer icon

Of all the poets whose works survive from ancient Greece, Sappho may have the greatest claim to being a cultural icon. Both her name and the island where she lived – Lesbos – have become words we use to describe, and imagine, queer womanhood and queer female love. And yet, we know almost nothing about Sappho’s life, and her poetry survives only in fragments.

Join Dr Alecto Hardwick as she introduces her audience to the difficulties and joys of piecing Sappho together from what remains, offering them tools for reading and experiencing her poetry.

Drawing on her scholarship and her lived experience as a queer woman, Alecto explores how Sappho became what she is today, and how we – as readers, interpreters of her poetry, and humans – can participate in that story.

In this talk discover what little we know about Sappho’s life – and how much of her legend has been built on speculation and myth. Trace how Sappho and the island of Lesbos became lasting symbols of queer female identity and love. Explore the surviving remains of her poetry and learn tools for reading and interpreting incomplete ancient text.