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The Victorian Construction Of Sappho, 1835-1914, Megan Kulp

Honors Theses

Sappho was an ancient Greek lyric poet writing on the isle if Lesbos in the seventh century BC. Her original works were contained in seven books; however, only a few fragments are extant. These fragments are mainly about women and are erotic in nature. Considering the homoerotic tone of Sappho's poetry, it is interesting that the Victorians were fascinated with her and a proliferation of biographies, artwork, plays, operas, translated poems, appeared in that era bearing her name. How did the Victorians reconcile the homoerotic tone of her poems with their own views on what was right and proper? The …