Amygdalia's Blog

Lesvos

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,353457,00.html

Three islanders from Lesbos — home of the ancient poet Sappho, who praised love between women — have taken a gay rights group to court for using the word lesbian in its name.

Oh where do I begin?  I've been there . . . to Lesvos (and yes, in Greek, it's pronounced with a "v" not a "b" . . . ).  I spent my Spring Break there, while studying in Athens.  The people were friendly and hospitable.  In one shop, I was told that Skala Eressou was the town that George Dukakis’s family was from, and they had a photo proudly displayed. 

It was my experience while there that the residents referred to themselves as Lesvosians . . . though now that I’m looking for it, I cannot find it in Greek!  They are quite proud to be known for the birthplace of Sappho, and there’s a statue of her at the port in Mytilene town. 

While I was studying in Athens, the battle over the name Macedonia was taking place.  Signs everywhere shouted out “Macedonia is Greece!” , some with pictures of Alexander the Great.  So, battles of this sort are not unheard of in Greece.  But . . . why now?  Because a pride group is using the name, just as similar groups all over the world have been doing for many years?  Because the group is Greek. 

"My sister can't say she is a Lesbian," said Dimitris Lambrou. 

Well, of course she can!  Why is it different, now that there’s a pride group IN GREECE that uses the name?  Three people are involved with this lawsuit.  If it were the entire island . . . well, I’d probably still be annoyed, to tell the truth!

A memory of my week on Lesvos:

My view


*note - copied directly from my journal, no editing

21 April, 1992

It’s a perfect day to sit on a rock, by the beach, in Sappho’s world.  Listening to the water lap over the rocks, watching the sun make the blue sea glisten – peace with the world and everything in it, is how this scene makes me feel.  I suppose that this really is a pilgrimage, in a sense.  I’ve come to pay respects to the birthplace of the woman whose poetry sang the praises of the women she loved.  And I think, in a spiritual sense, I’ve found her.  And more.  The beauty of this place is in its absolute naturalness.  In the same way, I believe, that the beauty of love is in its naturalness.  Love – in whatever form it takes – is embodied in spirituality, whereas hatred can only be embodied in ignorance and close-mindedness.  Spirituality is love, for me, and love is spirituality.  I suppose that’s why living without love can be so difficult.  If god exists, she exists as the love that one creature has for another – physical, emotional, spiritual, sexual, psychological, metaphorical, metaphysical, elaborate, simple.  Love transcends the earth, and becomes the air that we breathe.  In that sense, god is love. 

Aphrodite, Sappho’s goddess, is a more true deity than any western idea that has been pushed on an unsuspecting world.  Fear and suspect replaced love and freedom.  Where do we go from here?

I baptized myself in Sappho’s waters.

This is the memory that I hold within me, when I think of Lesvos.  That a few individuals feel the need to battle over the use of their name saddens me deeply.






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