Sappho

Sappho (Attic Greek ????? Sapphô, 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.

References

• Poetarum Lesbiorum fragmenta, E. Lobel, D. L. Page (eds.), Oxford, Clarendon Press, (1955).
• Greek Lyric 1: Sappho and Alcaeus, D. A. Campbell (ed.), Cambridge, Mass., (1982): complete Greek text and English translation, including the references to Sappho in ancient authors. The best starting-point for those new to this poetry.