LUCIA AUERBACH

These images represent the scene in Genesis where Adam and Eve enter the Garden ofEden. In this interpretation, Adam and Eve are both queer women. Adam and Eve are consideredthe first man and woman to ever walk this earth, and that all people come from their lineage.Having two queer women directly contradicts this concept. These two women cannot procreatetogether, but does their love still have meaning in the eyes of God? The woman on the rightrepresents Adam. Adam in both of these photos does not directly look into Eve’s eyes. Thisrepresents the repressed sexuality forced upon Adam from God. “‘You may freely eat of everytree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in theday that you eat of it you shall die.’” (Genesis 2.16-17). The man does not become a sinner untilhe eats from the apple of knowledge. Therefore, she does not look her in the eyes because shedoes not acknowledge the sensuality. In reality, Eve eats the apple before Adam. These imagesare positioned in the time after Eve is convinced to eat the apple and before Adam takes his bite.Eve here is represented on the left side of the photo. In both images, she is looking at Adam. Shelooks upon her with lustful eyes because she is tempted by the love and passion that is heldwithin Adam. Both of them are wearing red lipstick. This is a foreshadowing of their eventualrelationship with sin once they eat the red apple of wisdom. But because they are both women,how does their relationship differ from Adam and Eve’s? Neither of them possesses power overthe other. There is no physical representation of a power dynamic, as there would be if the photowas taken with a man and a woman. In queer relationships, there are no gender roles that need tobe filled. This opens space for comfort and passion in a space with no guidelines, like thosewritten in the Bible. 

These images represent the scene in Ruth where Ruth lays at Boaz's feet while he issleeping because Naomi convinced her to do so for Ruth to become engaged to Boaz. I switchedthe genders of the characters in this rendition of the scene to analyze the role that gender playedin how Ruth was perceived. Women waiting out their lives for men are often seen as desperate. But when men are desperate, are they shown doing the same? The tone of desperation disappears when a mantakes the role. Instead, he looks patient and empowered. The woman, conversely, now looksunbothered and possesses more power in the relationship. In this photo, these roles are shown bythe man staring with solemn eyes at the woman's feet and the woman laying above him with herarms in a power pose. In the Bible, feet are often symbols of genitals. “At midnight the man wasstartled, and turned over, and there, lying at his feet, was a woman!” (Ruth 3.8). Therefore,having a man stare with patience at a woman’s feet brings a different tone of lust into theequation. Her feet are pointed away from him, which represents her lack of knowledge of hispresence. Her feet are uncovered while he is not. This shows that the woman is traditionallyavailable while the man keeps his guard up in many relationships. This element of tradition waskept to show that not every relationship is entirely traditional or progressive, but there areelements of both in modern situations. In this rendition, the man is shown as more desperate andlustful than his stereotypical self while the woman is shown with more power and indifferencethan her desperate stereotypical counterpart. The lighting in these photographs shows a darkertheme about religion. The shadows show how excerpts from the Bible can be manipulated tosupply oppressive themes, such as The Curse of Ham to support slavery and Sodom and Angelsto support homophobia. The man in the photograph is shown covering himself as if he is cold torepresent how long he is waiting for the woman to wake and for her to propose. Thelight-colored shawl around his shoulder is also another test of femininity and reconstructing

gender roles. Light colors are often associated with delicacy and elegance, which are typicallyconsidered feminine. By having a man wear these colors, it is reinforcing Ruth’s strength. He canwear light colors in a degrading position and still be seen as powerful. Is this due to his gender?Is this due to Ruth’s ferocious personality? 

This image represents a direct change of the gender canon in multiple excerpts fromSappho’s If Not, Winter translated by Anne Carson. Sappho’s work possesses a major theme ofunrequited love, which can be seen here in multiple places. In the first photo of the pair, our newSappho looks down at his cigarette with eyes full of longing. Sappho is used to her love leavingher and her being left alone to fend for her own heart. He has a solemn, yet daring face in bothimages. But that's not all, he is shown holding "fire" which in nature symbolizes somethingdangerous, and in Sappho's case, the fire is love. Love is an intoxicating substance, such asnicotine has the potential to be intoxicating as well. So here, Sappho is being drawn in by thelure of nicotine instead of love to cure her fixation. He is playing with fire on his off time aswell. Love is enticing but also menacing to Sappho. The crown on his head in both photosrepresents Sappho’s motifs of crowns that she carries in her fragments of poetry. “I used toweave crowns” (Sappho, 255). But not only that, but the crown also represents the royalty oflove, a common theme in her works. To Sappho, love isn’t just a passé feeling that occupies herbrain sometimes. It is an everlasting feeling that runs as deep as the capillaries in her blood.Sappho now is displaying that extreme devotion to the concept of love outwardly to the world bywearing the crown on his head, like how she did by publishing her poetry. The second photoshows Sappho applying lipstick while looking in a mirror. Lipstick is also a motif repeated in herpoetry. The interpretation of lipstick gives the photo a more modern tone, as do the variousobjects in the background. The Beastie Boys poster, the bottle of 19 Crimes red wine, and theLED light mirror are all modern objects in comparison to Sappho’s era. This represents a changein the way that gender and sexuality are perceived in this upcoming epoch. Previously, men inrelationships were supposed to stray away from makeup and other feminine adjustments. Now,men are more daring with their appearance. Sappho was also daring in her life due to her

sexuality. Gay women were not nearly as accepted in ancient times as gay men were. There are aplethora of rumors that try to convince readers that her words are from a heterosexual loverelationship, but from more close reading, it is evident that Sappho was in multiple homosexualrelationships. The fragmentations of these photos also represent the fragmentations of Sappho’spoetry. Readers have to work with what they have left, so do the viewers of these photos. 

These images represent the scene in the Iliad where Achilles is returning to battle with hisshield after he hears of Patroclus’s death. Achilles and Patroclus were in a beautiful pederasticrelationship. Some modern-day analysts may argue that their relationship was more thanplatonic, however. But the love they had for each other was inarguable and easily demonstratedthrough Achilles’ passion for revenge, or kleos, for his fallen friend. This image in particularshows a female Achilles fighting with the same passion for her respective fallen Patroclus. Shelooks onto the other side of the battle with a fierce look of intent. Achilles has faced great painfrom losing her friend, and now her eyes show determination to make them feel the same pain.She is searching for blood to spill. This concept of blood spilling is exaggerated with theincreased saturation of the red umbrella, the red tights, and the red lights. “...Achilleus swepteverywhere with his spear like something more than a mortal harrying them as they died, and theblack earth ran blood.” (Iliad, 20.492-494). The red umbrella also represents the Shield ofAchilles that is given by his mother, Thetis, from Hephaestus, the goddess of welding. Thisshield is ornate, containing constellations and a sheep farm (among other images), and is inhonor of Patroclus who died while wearing Achilles’s armor. The umbrella also has an ornatepattern that is not of similar complexity. It represents how modern times are less complex withdecorations and how people do less to revenge the ones they love now. This image has Achillesstanding in the middle of a modern-day street while her shield protecting herself is pointed atnameless cars. The nameless cars represent the nameless soldiers that Achilles fought against.But even though this Achilles is a woman, the soldiers still lack names. But now, does Achilleslack a name of honor? Women in Homer’s texts are often depicted as purely divine or sexualcreatures. Having a woman as a powerful soldier seeking justice may make the soldier seem less

strong. But in this face, her power is stronger than any vengeful soldier shown on screens. Or on5th avenue.