The Other Sappho

by Ellen Frye

Obscure Greek folklore inspires this novel about a young lesbian slave named Lykaina ("wolf-woman''). After her mistress instructs her to seek out the elegant Sappho and her famous school of poetry, Lykaina undertakes her own small odyssey from Sparta to the celebrated island of Lesbos. En route she meets Maia, a travel companion extraordinaire who initiates her into the worship of the Earth Mother. Once in Sappho's home, Lykaina thrives: ``This is a palace of love. . . . This is a land of poetry. Here I belong.'' Eventually, however, she leaves the court, offended by the other poets' disdain for the less privileged. Lykaina returns to Maia, who urges her to recite for the country people so close to her heart. With Maia's patronage, the ``other Sappho'' evolves her own school of poetry. From descriptions of markets and clothing to expositions of women's love affairs and the art of verse, Frye ( The Marble Threshing Floor: A Collection of Greek Folk Songs ) shores up her imaginings with persuasive research. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly editorial review [http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0...]

Genres: LGBT, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Lesbian

214 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1989

About the author

Ellen Frye is a writer and musician whose connection to Greece began when she lived there in the early 1950s. She makes her home in Vermont.

Reviews

[Serena · Rating 5 out of 5]

I came across this book when suggested on Twitter between June and July of 2017 when Sandstone/Quartzen and I asked around Twitter for Greek mythology F/F retellings. It did take me a while to getting around to buying it and the rest of Ellen Frye's books.

This one took me surprise from the very first page, quite by coincidence it'll be my 33 birthday come May and on the inside page of the used copy I got was "Happy Birthday -33- your friend, Dorothy" ( I don't know a Dorothy! The only Dorothy I could think of was of Oz and she has her queer community icon status... maybe, maybe)

I enjoyed immersing myself in this story of the other Sappho, Lykaina's journey took her travelling between other lovers: Arete (of Sparta) & Telesilla (of Corinth) and into the religion of Maia (Gaia, the Great Mother) and even brought a daughter, Kissa, who although unable to speak or hear, can feel the vibrations and is a musician of her own instrument.

It also brought people to her (like Soudiata, a princess of Ghana who I can easily imagine striding out of the epic of Sundiata's history, I think a story like hers -a future queen on a musical sight seeing journey of the ancient past would be fascinating taking in history Mansa Musa and The Asante Empire and mixing popularity now of Black Panther).

I have known Sappho first as a myth and of her true history we have only fragments and second hand accounts, her brother freeing a "Cinderella" slave who knew Aesop! how old Phaon was given by Aphrodite a box of beauty ointment (lol, a strange parallel to Psyche and Cupid! that repeats because Adonis was given in a box to Persephone by Aphrodite) made him youthful again! and how like Aphrodite after Adonis died at the advice of Apollo, Sappho leapt from Leukade, this Zeus would do to forget Hera to have affairs or as a Naiad in Ovid's Heroides advises Sappho "‘Since you burn with the fires of injustice,

Ambracia’s the land to be sought by you.

Apollo on the heights watches the open sea:

summoning the people of Actium and Leucadia.

Here Deucalion, fired by love of Pyrrha, cast himself down,

and struck the sea without harming his body.

Without delay love turned and fled, from his slowly sinking

breast: Deucalion was eased of his passion.

The place obeys that law. Seek out the Leucadian height

right away, and don’t be afraid to leap from the rock!"

Of any such fate, neither Sappho suffers, although their love story is passionate and they do suffer as they try to make force their lives and beliefs to fit in two very different worlds. It was a rare pleasure, comparable to reading Alcestis by Katharine Beutner.

Many others come to Lykaina, Maia and Kissa in the end and I hope if you read this, you'll find joy in them too.

If you'd like to know more about Sappho I suggest the podcast bittersweet. or Natalie Haynes #OvidNotCovid videos on Facebook or Sappho in her Stands Up for the Classics on BBC. I also suggest Heather Rose Jones podcast The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast with episodes like What’s the Difference between Lesbian and Sapphic? - Episode 199 and many more!

[lia nobody · Rating 4 out of 5]

the other sappho is the story of lykaina, a young unknown poet from the mountains of sparta who lived up to her name " wolf woman" , when she learns the truth of why shes in sparta , with the request of the old women, she goes on a journey to lesbos to learn from the poet sappho

despite some of the weird erotic symbolism you might come across reading this book, this was a particularly good story

from arete, the old woman , kissa , sappho , maia etc, youll meet some very unique women and youll learn to enjoy
even tho ancient greece was a very patriarchal society, this is a story thar centers around women and their gifts and this story goes real deep into that

lykainas journey is not an easy one but in the end she finds herself and its a great read

note to people though the font is rather small and the characters are long so if you have a really bad attention span you might have minor difficulties and want to pace yourselves

but like i said overall, great story and im actually sad that i finished it but all stories end

[Becca · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Stay with me, Lykaina, stay with me always. We will make an eternity of poetry and love, not knowing where one ends and the other begins.'
The Other Sappho tells the story of Lykaina, abandoned by her Spartan parents because of her club foot and raised by wolves and goatherds, before she is sold to an elderly woman who sets her free, encouraging her to develop her talent for poetry by seeking out Sappho on the far-off island of Lesbos. This isn't the most beautifully written, literary prose I've read, and there's a lot of exposition in dialogue - Lykaina meets various people on her journey, who tell her their histories in detailed monologues - which at first felt clunky to me, before I realised that this is a novel all about oral literature and storytelling, particularly the power of women sharing their stories and voices with each other. There's plenty of historical detail, descriptions of nature and a good pace to keep things interesting, and with its themes of self-discovery, relationships between women (platonic, romantic and everything in between), artistic integrity and found family, it's a shame this is out of print.

[Bailey McCaul · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a beautiful book, told very poetically with details that make it feel real. It's an amazing tale of love and history.