Sappho is like a Muse why, exactly? Because she is a glorious singer, composer, and performer, perhaps? Or is it just because she is female while doing those things and so were the Muses? The crucial point to note is that the eight other poets on the canonical list are all men. So is it a compliment that Sappho doesn’t belong there, because she belongs with the Muses, or is it a way of removing her from the conversation about who makes great art? Great poets must be male, because there they all are, proving it. The great female poet can be disregarded because she is basically inhuman, a
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