Sappho

Sappho lived most of her life on her home island. She came from an aristocratic family and married herself to a wealthy merchant, with whom she had a daughter, Kleis. On the island, she led a girls' club that worshipped the goddess of love, Aphrodite, and the nine Muses through music. Sappho was known to express a sincere and tender affection for the members of this society. Since then, the name of her birthplace (Lesbos) is still used as a term for female homosexuality. Although Sappho was probably fond of both women and men, as evidenced by her marriage and daughter. It was not until the power struggles of 604 BC that forced her to leave her native island for Sicily. From there she returned home until shortly before her death.

Sappho was a representative of the so-called solo lyric. However, only fragments of her work survive, mostly love and wedding songs. Her influence on other Greek love lyrics was quite great. She composed her works in the Aeolic dialect of Greek.

Many legends are told about Sappho's life, most of which will not be true. For example, she was supposed to jump off a Lefkadian cliff into the sea out of unhappy love for the beautiful Phaon. Although many tourists visit this place, the truth of this act is doubtful.