The End of Sappho (1929)

Ink wash, white watercolor, and pencil on gray board. Italian painter Fortunino Matania, a specialist in antiquity-themed art, produced many works like this for British periodicals such as "Brittania and Eve," a pictorial magazine for ladies.

Sappho was one of the most prolific and esteemed Greek poets of the Bronze Age. She appeared as a character in numerous ancient works. For instance, the Roman poet Catullus (84-54BC) use "Lesbia" as a complimentary pseudonym for his lover, in reference to Sappho's home on the island of Lesbos. According to Wikipedia, "a fragment of a play by Menander says that Sappho threw herself off of the cliff at Leucas out of her love for Phaon," a ferryman.

In the late 19th century, Sappho and Lesbos acquired a new connotation. The French author Pierre Louÿs published "Les Chansons de Bilitis" ("The Songs of Bilitis,") which he claimed was a translation of recently discovered but ancient Greek poems. The putative author, Bilitis, describes her sexual escapades with Sappho and other women on the island of Lesbos. This led to the modern use of "Lesbian" and "Sapphic" to mean "female homosexual" rather than "superbly poetic."