Sappho

Sappho (Attic Greek ????? Sapph?, Aeolic Greek ????? Psappha) was an Ancient Greek lyric poet from the city of Eressos on the island of Lesbos, which was a cultural centre in the 7th century BC. She was born sometime between 630 BC and 612 BC. The bulk of her poetry is now lost, but her reputation in her time was immense, and she was reputedly considered by Plato as the tenth Muse.

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Sappho, daughter of Scamander and Cle?s, was married (Attic comedy says to a wealthy merchant, but that is apocryphal) and had a daughter also named Cle?s. She became very famous in her day for her poetry ? so much so that the city of Syracuse built a statue to honor her when she visited. Her family was politically active, which caused Sappho to travel a great deal. She was also noted during her life as the headmistress of a sort of Greek finishing school for girls. Most likely the objects of her poetry were her students. Sappho had three brothers, married and had at least one daughter, was exiled to Syracuse for political reasons, returned in 581 BC, and died in old age.

Attic Greek: Attic Greek is the ancient dialect of the Greek language that was spoken in Attica, which includes Athens. Of the ancient dialects, it is the most similar to later Greek. It differs from most Greek dialects, including Doric, by frequently changing long ā to ē; from Ionic in not changin...

Aeolic Greek: Aeolic Greek is a linguistic term used to describe a set of rather archaic Greek sub-dialects, spoken mainly in Boeotia (a region in Central Greece), in Lesbos (an island close to Asia Minor) and in other Greek colonies....

Ancient Greek: Ancient Greek refers to the stage in the history of the Greek language corresponding to Classical Antiquity, which normally applies on two ancient periods of Greek history: Archaic and Classic Greece. The Ancient era of Greek history normally includes also the Hellenistic (post-Classic) age, however...

Sappho related Images and Photos (experimental)

Sappho Greek Poet	Sappho 1852	Portrait of Sappho	Portrait of Sappho
The Poetess Sappho Throwing Herself into the Sea	Alcaeus Greek Poet with Sappho