Drawn by the cachet of Europe and pushed by Prohibition in the United States, the young Americans of the Lost Generation are flocking to Paris and other points in the old world. It's the era of jazz, modernism, the Charleston, and flappers in daring clothing. It's the period when the contemporary world is starting to develop. It is against this backdrop that a young American couple, Phil and the interestingly-named Sappho, arrive on the Greek island of Lesbos for a honeymoon.(Lesbos, of course, was the home of the original Sappho, the ancient Greek poetess whose sapphic erotic poems put the lesbian in Lesbos.) Sappho - the modern one - is the young and beautiful daughter of a millionaire, and a free spirit in all ways. Phil's an artist looking for inspiration. On the island they meet Helena, daughter of a Russian emigrant archaeologist. She's smart, beautiful, and uninhibited and - surprise! - she ends up in bed with Sappho, who has meanwhile become impressed by the erotic verse of her ancient poetess namesake. Needless to say, a love triangle develops. Sappho wants to live in a menage a trois with Helena and her husband. Then Phil and Helena fall in love, and eventually decide they can do without Sappho. Apparently the situation mirrors one described in the original Sappho's famous poem about thwarted sexual desire. As our three lovers come to grips with their passions the present and the past merge together, and our modern Sappho commits an act which recalls the passionate death of the ancient poetess.
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