House of the Muses #4

Winner of the 2008 Prism Comics Queer Press Grant for outstanding writing and storytelling

Dika’s transition into Sappho’s school runs smoothly at first, but the bookish Spartan girl doesn’t manage very well at Gymnasium. She is teamed up with the athletic Hero of Gyaros. It soon becomes known that Hero has much more than a passing interest in Dika. When Dika’s nightmares worsen, Sappho and Isthia plan a day trip to Ephesus where they beg a consultation with the Priestesses of Kybele. A gifted priestess at the temple takes Dika to herself for the day and helps the Spartan girl come to terms with her abilities and who she really is. Author’s note: Many, many thanks to Laura Seabrook, whose intensive research on the Priestesses of Kybele greatly enriched this issue of House of the Muses.

Pam Harrison

Standard Comic
Full Color
Page Count: 52

Scholars have for centuries set aside one perplexing poem inexplicably written in Spartan dialect from the Ennead, the nine books authored by Sappho. Why Sappho kept this poem in her collection has never been explained. Sappho had among her students a girl named Mnasidika, a Spartan name that means, ‘In Remembrance of Justice’. Another translated restoration of a little-known poem of Sappho”s, shredded by the early Church and left in fragments because of its ‘offensive” subject matter revealed a haunting tale of ‘immortal lovers”. The details of this novel are derived primarily from the works of Alkaios, not Sappho, in his recounting of their early youth during the Civil War in Mytilene, the War with Athens, and the activities of the House of Penthilos. Many are unaware–or their understanding uncertain–about the part the Poetess of Mytilene played in the court intrigues, political upheavals and assassination plots of the time. Recipient of the 2009 Prism Comics Queer Press Grant for Outstanding New Series!

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