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I was always intrigued when Oghren called either Branka or Hespith a poetess (can't remember which one he was referring to off the top of my head), presumably in reference to their sexuality, because I'd just assumed this was maybe an archaic term for lesbian rather than something the writers made up for the DA world.

So, when I got this dialogue from Leliana, I Googled it and could find no mention of 'poetess' being used as a term for lesbian. The closest link seemed to be because Sappho was a poet.

It seems odd, then, that the writers would extend this to the DA world. I've always been interested in fantasy world-building, and particularly the parallels that writers often create between fictional worlds and our world. Logically, I can understand the leap from Sappho=poet > Sappho=lesbian > poetess=lesbian(our world) > poetess=lesbian(Thedas), but it seems like a vital step is missing, if you cut out the third part of that equation.

Now I'm imagining dwarven culture to have a Sappho-equivalent historical figure.