| Sapphic | |
Sapphic derives from the name of the ancient Greek lyric poet Sappho of Lesbos (ca 630 B.C.E.), who wrote, among other works, love poems addressed to young women. Called the "Tenth Muse" by Plato, she was the first known woman writer of note. Between the late seventeenth and the earlier nineteenth centuries, several accomplished women writers were compared to her, frequently with the disavowal of any lesbian tendencies on their part. In 1895, Les Chansons de Bilitis (Songs of Bilitis) by Pierre Lou˙s consolidated Sappho's position as the classical examplar of female homosexuality, and she became in the twentieth century a foremother of lesbian feminists. As a result, Sapphic is now most commonly used as a synonym for lesbian.
