"Those idols are real," she said. "Not real in the sense of being 2,500 years old. But real in the sense that they carry the truth of Lesbos—the truth of women loving women, of poets defying empires, of islanders who sing when they should weep. I carved them. I buried them. I dug them up. And in that act, I became an archaeologist of the soul."
But Sullivan embraced the title. She changed the nameplate on her Eressos home to "To Idolion" (The Little Idol). She began dressing in Grecian tunics, holding salons for exiled lesbian writers and artists, and signing her letters: "Margo Sullivan, Idol of Lesbos." idol of lesbos margo sullivan
Since its publication in Queer Classics Quarterly , “Idol of Lesbos” has been cited in a range of scholarly works, from gender studies curricula to museum exhibition catalogs. Critics have praised its methodological hybridity, noting how the essay “bridges the gap between philology and performance art” (M. Alvarez, Journal of Lesbian Studies , 2023). However, some reviewers have questioned the extent to which Sullivan’s lyrical interjections might obscure rigorous argumentation, arguing for a clearer demarcation between analysis and poetics. Sullivan’s subsequent response, published as a rebuttal in the same journal, reframed this critique as an affirmation of her project’s intentional blurring of boundaries. "Those idols are real," she said
: The narrative focuses on the intense, often tumultuous relationship between Clare and Margo, set against a backdrop of societal judgment and the risks of living an "unconventional" life at the time. Context of the Era I carved them