the origin of the word...?

Question

where does the word 'lesbian' come from? does it fully describe the type of person that you are or is it just a social tag? this question is not meant to be offensive, i'm just curious.

Answer 1

The origin of the word "lesbian"

By Phil Martoma
Senior Writer

While I was at the Craft Center recently, I made a patch for my jeans that said, "Sappho was a lesbian." One of the goals of the Craft Center is to allow students to practice a craft to express themselves individually, which is exactly what I felt I was doing while making my patch.

The people who noticed the patch tended to not understand the significance of its message. Either they did not know who Sappho was or they did not know why it would be extraordinary to call her a lesbian.

As a classics major, I always have felt that a classical background in your education can be helpful in any area of knowledge. However, this sentiment is usually not shared by many of my fellow students who have never had the joy of reading the Illiad.

I do not think there is anything wrong with being a management major, but I do think there is something wrong when we forget that the liberal arts is about developing yourself intellectually as a whole person. As the old adage goes, "If we do not know where we came from, then we will not know where we are going."

This does not mean that we should not be afraid to try new things that break some traditions. So long as we learn to incorporate our past into our present, then we will truly learn to be a whole person, which brings me back to the patch I made at the Craft Center. The patch is supposed to be a joke because in truth the ancient Greeks had no concept of a sexual identity as we do today.

Sappho was the first female poet to write about her love for women and men. While this may tempt us to say that she must have been bisexual, we must understand that this is a sexual identity and therefore not applicable.

Sappho remains significant to the history of lesbians as an identity, and resided on the island of Lesbos. This is where the word lesbian comes from and this is why I chose to make my patch the way I did.

I seek to claim not that she was attracted to members of her own sex, but that she was a resident of the isle of Lesbos. In this way I show her importance within today’s contexts to modern lesbians with the play on words. To leave it at the fact that she had no sexual identity would be a disservice to her, and her contributions to the idea of the lesbian identity. Also, it is important that we do not try to put our modern understandings of sexuality on those to which they do not apply.

Unfortunately, few people understand or are aware of all the issues brought up by my patch. In order for it to be fully effective, therefore, we all need to have a common background in history that applies to all of our lives no matter who we are. It is only then that we can apply these stories in a meaningful way to where we are now. Also, this is the only way we can learn when and where it would be good to break traditions as well as how to apply the traditions we want to keep.

Answer 2

While I was at the Craft Center recently, I made a patch for my jeans that said, "Sappho was a lesbian." One of the goals of the Craft Center is to allow students to practice a craft to express themselves individually, which is exactly what I felt I was doing while making my patch.

The people who noticed the patch tended to not understand the significance of its message. Either they did not know who Sappho was or they did not know why it would be extraordinary to call her a lesbian.

As a classics major, I always have felt that a classical background in your education can be helpful in any area of knowledge. However, this sentiment is usually not shared by many of my fellow students who have never had the joy of reading the Illiad.

I do not think there is anything wrong with being a management major, but I do think there is something wrong when we forget that the liberal arts is about developing yourself intellectually as a whole person. As the old adage goes, "If we do not know where we came from, then we will not know where we are going."

This does not mean that we should not be afraid to try new things that break some traditions. So long as we learn to incorporate our past into our present, then we will truly learn to be a whole person, which brings me back to the patch I made at the Craft Center. The patch is supposed to be a joke because in truth the ancient Greeks had no concept of a sexual identity as we do today.

Sappho was the first female poet to write about her love for women and men. While this may tempt us to say that she must have been bisexual, we must understand that this is a sexual identity and therefore not applicable.

Sappho remains significant to the history of lesbians as an identity, and resided on the island of Lesbos. This is where the word lesbian comes from and this is why I chose to make my patch the way I did.

I seek to claim not that she was attracted to members of her own sex, but that she was a resident of the isle of Lesbos. In this way I show her importance within today’s contexts to modern lesbians with the play on words. To leave it at the fact that she had no sexual identity would be a disservice to her, and her contributions to the idea of the lesbian identity. Also, it is important that we do not try to put our modern understandings of sexuality on those to which they do not apply.

Unfortunately, few people understand or are aware of all the issues brought up by my patch. In order for it to be fully effective, therefore, we all need to have a common background in history that applies to all of our lives no matter who we are. It is only then that we can apply these stories in a meaningful way to where we are now. Also, this is the only way we can learn when and where it would be good to break traditions as well as how to apply the traditions we want to keep.

Answer 3

The word lesbian is derived from Lesbos (Λέσβος), a Greek island located in the East Aegean Sea where the ancient Greek lyric poet Sappho lived and ran a school for girl in the 6th century BC. Sappho's literary association with love between females has led to the term lesbian having its modern meaning, as well as its rarer synonym Sapphism.

Answer 4

Sappho
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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This article refers to the Greek poet. For the asteroid, see 80 Sappho

Ancient Greek bust of Sappho the Eresian.Sappho (Attic Greek Σαπφώ Sapphô, Aeolic Greek Ψάπφα Psappha) was an Ancient Greek lyric poet said by some to have been born in Eressos on the island of Lesbos. In history and poetry texts, she is most often associated with Mytilene (now the capital city of Lesbos), which was a major city even in the 7th century BCE, when the island was a significant cultural centre. She was born sometime between 630 BCE and 612 BCE, and it is said that she died around 570 BC. The bulk of her poetry has been lost, but her reputation is immense.

Answer 5

Being a greek i can reply correctly to that. It is indeed from the greek island Lesvos. The first known lesbian woman was Sappho, a poet that used to write in her poems her love for some girls. She was from Eressos, a village in the island of Lesvos. This same village is the place that concentrates a great number of girls every summer.

Indeed the word lesbian in greek means a woman originated from that very island. When we say lesbian oil (for example) we mean oil that is produced in that island. It became an international term much later.

Answer 6

All these long winded answers have really confused me I thought the origin of the word was in the toilet of my junior school,the graffitti said "Miss jones is a lesbian" I was only 10 at the time

Answer 7

it is greek It is a referance to Sapphô who was a female poet who spoke wrote about her love for women. she lived on the island of lesbos so lesbians are residenst of that island but also the female homosexual comunity has adopted that word in deferance to the poet Sapphô

Answer 8

From the Greek Island of Lesbos. The Ancient Romans used to exile women there and the Roman Poet Catullus lost his love to that island and in one of his poems he called her by the island's name "Mia Lesbia"...

Answer 9

It's from the Greek island of Lesbos.

Answer 10

The Greeks are Homosexual pioneers, don't know about the Lesbos thing though.