Capital city of the island of Lesbos, and birthplace of Sappho. Simeon Solomon's "Sappho and Erinna in a Garden at Mitylene" (1864) would have been of particular interest for a young Oscar Wilde. Solomon, born in London, was arrested in 1873 and 1874 for the 'crime' of being gay in Victorian England. His paintings focused on depictions of Jewish life and same-sex relationships. It is possible that Oscar Wilde's reference to Sappho in Mitylene in Ravenna came as a result of his tutor, Walter Pater's friendship with Solomon.