So, Pittacus, then. Not the first time he's been mentioned, but certainly the most attention he's been given so far. As with most historical figures mentioned in this comic, I feel as if I'm doing him a disservice. He's one of the Seven Sages of Greece (of whom, confusingly, there are more than seven) and the historical record seems to regard him as a pretty decent sort, so Sappho's arguably being a bit alarmist here. On the other hand, he would indeed seize power in Lesbos eventually, so she's certainly precognitive in that sense. His reign would ultimately lead to Sappho's exile from the island. I don't consider all of this to be a spoiler, because should this comic ever get as far as those events, you'll all be old and senile enough to have forgotten I ever mentioned this.

Incidentally, we've already met Solon, another of the Seven Sages. A third has been alluded to in an extremely vague manner...

As for the art on this page, it represents a recurring problem I have regarding nudity. Nudity, as we know, is an unforgivably bad thing that corrupts the innocent and should be avoided wherever possible, both in public and in private. Understandably, then, there can be no nudity in this comic. I've always been the kind to laugh at those movie scenes where, following what we assume to be a night of fun sexy times, the leading lady will wake up next to the leading man and scrupulously keep top half covered up with the sheets. It doesn't make any sense, and yet I'm forced to repeat this silliness myself here. It makes even less sense here, in a comic set in Ancient Greece and its environs, where nudity was even less of an issue than it is today. Strictly speaking, a lot of the characters should be naked a lot of the time, slaves especially. Alas, though, I still have pretensions towards PG-13-ness, and so the young ladies have to cover up.

Incidentally, for a comic that does the nudity-as-part-of-daily-life thing really well, see the very lovely Rogues of Clwyd-Rhan. It also features the sort of backgrounds I really wish I could do.