SAPPHO
The Voice of Lyric Poetry
Sappho of Lesbos stands as one of the most celebrated and enigmatic figures in ancient Greel literature. Revered as the "Tenth Muse" by her contemporaries, she transformed the landscape of lyric poetry, weaving themes of love, passion, and human emotion into her verses. Though much of her work survives only in fragments, her profound influence on poetry, language, and culture endures to this day.
Sappho
Artist: Miguel Carbonell Selva (Spanish, 1854-1896
Date: 1881
Medium: Oil on canvas
Collection: Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, Spain
Little is known of Sappho's life. She was from a wealthy family from Lesbos, though her parents' names are uncertain. Ancient sources say that she had three brothers: Charaxos, Larichos and Eurygios. Two of them, Charaxos and Larichos, are mentioned in the Brothers Poem discovered in 2014. She also appears to have had a daughter, traditionally identified with Cleïs, who is mentioned in two of Sappho's fragments, 98 and 132. Sappho was exiled to Sicily around 600 BC, and may have continued to work until around 570 BC. According to legend, she killed herself by leaping from the Leucadian cliffs due to her unrequited love for the ferryman Phaon.