The surprising origins of the word “lesbian” - Diane J. Rayor

譯者: Mina Huang 審譯者: Amanda Zhu

More than 2,500 years ago,

兩千五百多年前，

one of ancient Greece’s most celebrated popstars and erotic poets

有一位把古希臘人迷得神魂顛倒、

如偶像般受喜愛的情色詩人。

enraptured listeners.

In one legend, a prominent Athenian heard his nephew singing one of their songs

在某個傳說中，一位有名望的雅典人 從一個甥姪輩口中聽到了他的歌，

and enjoyed it so much that he asked the boy to teach it to him—

因為太喜歡了，因此雅典人 要這個男孩他怎麼唱。

“So that I may learn it and die,” he said.

他說：「學會了，我死而無憾。」

So, who was this revered figure?

那麼，這位令人敬佩的詩人 到底是誰呢？

Her name was Sappho.

她的名字叫沙芙。

She lived on the Greek island of Lesbos around 600 BCE.

公元前 600 年她居住在 希臘勒斯博島上。

Like other singer-songwriters of the time,

像當時所有的歌唱兼作曲者一樣

she sang while playing the lyre,

她邊唱著歌邊彈奏七弦豎琴，

a stringed instrument from which the term “lyrics” is derived.

這是一種弦樂器，其英文「lyre」 就是「lyrics」，即歌詞，的由來。

But Sappho lyrics offered a uniquely intimate perspective

不同的是，在關於 愛情、熱情及渴望上，

on love, passion, and longing.

沙芙所做歌詞往往都有 別於他人的觀點。

She’s the first on record to combine the words “bitter” and “sweet,” for instance,

在目前所有紀錄中，她是第一個 使用 「甜蜜」和「苦澀」

to describe at once the thrills and devastations of romance.

來形容愛情的狂喜與悲傷的人。

Sappho was an aristocrat thought to have married a man,

沙芙應該是位已婚的貴族，

though none of her surviving work mentions him.

然而，她流傳下來的作品中 卻一次都沒有提起她的丈夫，

It does reference other family as well as festivals,

倒是提到了其他家族、慶典、

colorful clothing, and growing old.

五顏六色的衣服，和衰老的過程。

But Sappho is best known for her lyrics about homoerotic desire for women.

但是沙芙最有名的歌 是關於同性的情慾。

In one song, as her female companion departs tearfully, Sappho says,

有一首歌描述她與女性伴侶 依依不捨地告別，沙芙說：

“let me remind you / ... the lovely times we shared.”

「讓我幫你換醒…… 我們曾共度的美好回憶。」

She describes flower garlands, perfumes, “and,” she says,

她形容了花環、香水，「還有，

“on soft beds / ... you quenched your desire.”

在柔軟的床上……滿足了你的慾望。」

In another, she describes a friend in a distant city,

在另一首歌中，她描述了 一位居住在遠方城市的朋友：

“Pacing far away, her gentle heart devoured by powerful desire,

「在遠地踱着步，溫柔的心 被強烈的慾望吞噬，

she remembers slender Atthis.”

當她想起纖細的阿提絲。」

The word “Lesbian” means someone from Lesbos,

「Lesbian」這個字最初是指 勒斯博島上的居民，

but, because of Sappho, it now also describes a woman who’s gay.

卻因為莎芙的緣故， 也有「女同性戀者」的意思。

In ancient Greece, the norm was for everyone to marry and have children.

在古希臘結婚生小孩是傳統，

While men were usually permitted to have homosexual relationships

雖說男性視社會地位而容許 有同性的關係，

based on their status, women weren’t.

女性卻不受允許。

But it appears that, on Lesbos at this time,

但在這段時間的勒斯博島上，

aristocratic women generally had more freedom.

女性貴族似乎擁有更多自由。

Yet the details of Sappho’s life remain mysterious,

她的人生依舊是個謎，

partially because only fragments of her poetry survive.

部分歸咎於沙芙的作品 只有斷簡殘篇留存下來，

In ancient times, however, so much of it persisted

但在古時候，流傳的作品

that it seemed it would last forever.

多到似乎可以永保至今。

Admirers performed Sappho cover songs and committed her poetry

沙芙的愛慕者會表演她的歌曲，

以及把她的詩寫在 莎草紙、羊皮紙和陶瓷上。

to papyrus, parchment, and pottery.

Three centuries after Sappho’s death,

沙芙去世三世紀後的一位希臘作家說：

a Greek author declared that her words would endure

「只要尼羅河上尚見行船，

“as long as ships sail from the Nile.”

她的作品就能夠戰勝時間。」

Another century later,

又一個世紀後，

the Library of Alexandria housed nine scrolls of her work,

亞歷山大圖書館 收藏了沙芙的九卷作品，

numbering over 10,000 lines.

算起來總共超過一萬行詩。

But natural forces eroded the collection.

可是那些收藏受到大自然的侵蝕，

And monks, tasked with preserving ancient writing,

加上負責看管古文的修道士

likely neglected or destroyed her work.

很可能j未好好看管， 甚或摧毀她的作品。

One 2nd century Christian leader called Sappho

某位二世紀的基督教領袖說她只是個

“a whore who sang about her own licentiousness.”

「到處歌頌自己放蕩行為的淫婦。」

Later, a Pope and Archbishop ordered her poetry burned.

之後，有位教皇兼大主教 下令燒毀莎芙的詩。

Almost all of it had vanished by the Middle Ages.

到中世紀時，她的詩幾乎已全數消失。

Then, about a century ago,

可就在一個世紀前，

people began rediscovering Sappho’s poetry—

人們在古埃及的垃圾場

in locations like an ancient Egyptian garbage dump.

重新發現了沙芙的詩。

Now, we have around 700 lines,

現在我們有將近 700 行詩，

representing less than 10% of Sappho’s total known work.

只佔已知的所有沙芙作品的 10%。

We only have one complete poem of hers.

如今她完整的詩只有一首。

About a dozen others are substantial, but most are mere fragments.

有十幾首保留了一大段， 但大多數只是零碎的字句。

New pieces of Sappho’s songs probably will be found.

未來可能會陸陸續續發現沙芙的詩，

Some may already be sitting in museum archives,

有些或許早已被收藏到博物館，

to be revealed when technology allows scholars

只等待哪天科技能更進步，

to read through scrolls too fragile to unroll.

讓學者能夠將太脆弱、 易碎的捲軸攤開。

What we are currently left with is an incomplete record—

現在我們有的是不完整的紀錄

and many historical rumors.

和許多歷史的謠言。

Ovid insisted that Sappho fell in love with a ferryman

奧維德稱沙芙愛上一位船夫，

and, upon being rejected, leapt from a cliff to her death.

又因爲被拒絕而跳涯自盡。

Another tale asserts that she ran a girls’ school

另一個謠言說她開了一間女學院，

and those mentioned in her poems were merely students

而出現在她詩中的

只是她柏拉圖式愛慕的學生們。

for whom she felt platonic affection.

Current consensus is that these stories,

目前學者的共識是，

嘲諷沙芙或否定她作品中 同性情色素材的古代遺物

which ridicule Sappho or deny her work’s homoeroticism,

are probably all untrue artifacts of misogyny and homophobia.

大概都是仇女和仇同性戀者所作。

Despite the distortions of the intervening millennia,

雖然經過幾千年的扭曲，

Sappho’s words reach across time and resonate today.

沙芙的詩跨越了時間， 於今日的社會引起共鳴。

More than 2,000 years ago, she wrote:

兩千多千年前她寫到：

“I say someone in another time will remember us”

「我認為總有一天在某個時代 ㄧ定會有人會記得我們。」

And, thankfully, we do.

而謝天謝地，我們記得。