2006-06-05 15:14:13 · 4 answers · asked by slow wine 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Cultures & Groups ➔ Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender
Lesbos (Greek: Λέσβος - Lésvos Turkish: Midilli - see also List of traditional Greek place names) is a Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea; its inhabitants are called Lesvioi or Lesbotians. Lesbos is part of the Lesbos Prefecture, the third largest Greek island and the seventh largest in the Mediterranean. It has an area of 1630 km² (630 square miles) with 320 kilometres (230 miles) of coastline. Its population is approximately 90,000 about a third of which live in the capital city, Mytilene, located in the southeastern part of the island. The remaining population is distributed in small towns and villages. The largest towns are Kalloni, Plomari, Ayassos, Eressos, and Molyvos, the ancient Mythymna. Mytilene was founded in the 11th century BCE by the family Penthilidae who arrived from Thessaly in mainland Greece and ruled until the popular revolt (590-580 BCE) led by Pittacus .
The modern meaning of the word "lesbian" is derived from the Victorian interpretation of the poems of Sappho whose poetry was taken to mean sexual rather than emotional or Platonic love between her and her charges at her girl's finishing school [citation needed]. (This was at least partially a misinterpretation: the Victorians likely invented the idea of Sappho running a girls' finishing school, although Sappho may have had homosexual interests.) Because of this association, Lesbos and especially the town of Eressos, the birthplace of Sappho, are visited frequently by lesbian tourists.
2006-06-06 06:36:42 · answer #1 · answered by sd_smalltown_boy 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Lesbian has been in use centuries longer than "gay" has been used.
In Greek mythology, there was an island called Lesbos where all the inhabitants were women. They were called lesbians.
Gay originally meant happy or joyful and other synonyms. It has been in use to refer to homosexual people only in the approximately last 50 years. Gay in this sense originally was used for males.
2006-06-05 15:30:18 · answer #2 · answered by expatmt 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It comes after the poet Sappho from the island of Lesbos. Her poetry about her love for women was well known.
I don't know who first came up with the phrase though.
2006-06-05 15:27:59 · answer #3 · answered by Alex LaCroix 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Isn't it Greek? I remember in mythology there was the island of Lesbos.
2006-06-05 15:23:44 · answer #4 · answered by Oghma Gem 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋