The first known woman poet, the tenth Muse, respected girl-school teacher, lovesick loony and an inventor of ‘Lesbian love’ – these are just a few titles given to a certain remarkable lady from the Greek island of Lesbos in the 6th century BC. Sappho is a part historical, part mythological human being. One example of the confusing nature of her life and legacy is the popular Ovidian story that depicts her falling hopelessly in love with a ferryman Phaon, a man that actually appears in a mythological tale featuring Aphrodite. What was the real Sappho like and how can we know it?
Born in the 7th century BC, Sappho was, and still is, one of the most praised lyricists of the ancient times. The story of the discovery of the bits and pieces of information about her is almost as interesting as the information itself. While Sappho was very much appreciated by Greek and later Roman scholars, the triumph of Christianity and decline of the importance of Greek language made Sappho’s glory fade during the Middle Ages. The strict Church Fathers would not approve of Sappho’s suggestive and pagan themes – and when Sappho again became fashionable in early modern times, only short fragments and quotes of her poems had survived. The Victorian people tried to interpret the poems so that the traits of ‘wrong kind of love’ were erased. The most remarkable finding regarding Sappho was the papyri found in a dumpster in Egyptian village of Oxyrhynchus from 1897 onwards. Almost as wonderful was a discovery of Sappho’s poem about growing older: the University of Cologne purchased mysterious papyrus fragments from a European antiquities dealer in 2002, and a couple of years later some of the lines were published as a genuine, almost complete Sappho poem. In 2014, an extract named The Brothers Poem was published after the papyrus fragments had traveled – the fascinating contents still undiscovered – a long journey around the world including 30 years lying in the stock of the University of Mississippi before finally being identified by Dr. Dirk Obbink of Oxford University.
Sappho on the side of a red-figure vase. She is holding a lyre made out of tortoise shell. By Brygos painter circa 470 BC.
What can we tell about Sappho’s life?
We have an extract from a Byzantine encyclopedia named Suda from 10th century, mentions in surviving books of later Greek and Roman scholars, and, of course, the fragments of her poems. The Suda encyclopedia lists her family members and close friends, even though it gives eight possible names for Sappho’s father. Interestingly enough, it mentions Sappho’s husband, going by the name of Cercylas. This name was likely never commonly used since it has a mocking tone and derives from the Greek word for the male reproductive organ. It is now widely argued that Sappho’s marriage to ‘Cercylas’ is a false claim based on bawdy comedies written about late Sappho. It is also noted that she was the inventor of the plectrum for lyre.
Since most of her poems have been completely destroyed or lie somewhere undiscovered (a fascinating thought indeed), it is risky to evaluate her life via judging what she does not mention in her surviving poetry. However, there are a couple of facts we can gather from the things she does mention. It is very likely that she lived between the late 7th and early 6th centuries, and spent most of her life in Mytilene, the main city on Lesbos. She was of a wealthy descent. Her mother was called Cleis, and she definitely had a daughter named Cleis. Thus, taking into account the customs of the day, she must have been married too – even though her husband is never mentioned in her surviving poetry. The politics in Lesbos were stormy at the time, and Sappho spent some years in exile in Sicily during her life. Even though she – being a she – could not take part in the political life and struggles between competing cities and families on her home island, Sappho wrote some piercing political critique in the form of poems.
Sappho on the Rocks by Gustave Moreau painted ca. 1869-1872. According to a popular (most likely false) legend, Sappho jumped to her death off of the Leucadian cliff.
Sappho had three brothers: Larichus, Charaxus and Erygius. Larichus was a favorite, he served as a cupbearer in the town hall for the Mytilenaeans. Even though the humble sound of it, the position of a cupbearer was a great honor given to handsome and trusted young men. Charaxus, on the other hand, caused some great anguish to his family by falling for an Egyptian harlot. Sappho wrote about Charaxus:
And grant that he atone for all his past mistakes.
Make him a joy to his friends and a grief
to his enemies. And may no one bring us sorrow
ever again.
The women in Sappho’s life
Did Sappho love women? For some time it has been claimed that Sappho was some kind of school teacher in a girl-school. This is likely a result of efforts to give an appropriate frame of reference to her sensual poems about young women, but is not based on any reliable sources. She had some followers though, and her lyrical style has influenced many later Greek and even Roman female poets.
Sappho and Erinna in a Garden at Mytilene by Simeon Solomon in 1864. Erinna is another famous Greek poet, but she most likely lived a couple hundred years after Sappho.
Sappho had some very important women in her life – we know these ladies by the names of Atthis, Telesippa and Megara. Especially Atthis has inspired some very passionate and real verses by (what seems like) leaving Sappho for another woman, Andromeda.
But Atthis, it’s become hateful to you to think
of me, and you’ve flown to Andromeda.
The only poem that has survived fully and completely, is a very personal prayer to the goddess of love, Aphrodite, and features Sappho herself asking for help in pursuing the love of a woman she has fallen for. And if someone doubts this, it should be mentioned that Greek grammar makes it very clear whether the object of speech is male or female. A verse from one of her poems, though imperfect, tells a lot:
And on a soft bed
delicate . . .
you let loose your desire.
As a mother, Sappho was very loving. It is quite heart-warming indeed, since she only had a daughter – situation that was usually seen as unfortunate. For a poor woman it would have been unthinkable to not have any sons to take care of aging parents, but for relatively wealthy Sappho it was bearable and most likely made her relationship with her sole offspring even warmer.
I have a beautiful child who is like golden flowers
in form, my beloved Cleis, for whom
I would not take all of Lydia or lovely [Lesbos?]
A word about legacy
Sappho sings for Homer by Charles Nicolas Rafael Lafond, painted in 1824. Homer lived possibly about a century before Sappho.
For the famous Greek philosopher Plato, Sappho was the tenth Muse. Her ancient admirers also included great poets Catullus, Ovid and Pindar. Sappho has been mentioned in several rhetoric books as one of the greatest (if not the greatest) capturer of the sensibilities that accompany falling in love or growing old. Even though the plays that are based on Ovid’s fables are quite profane and not very praising towards Sappho, she is as least portrayed as an independent character that makes her own decisions.
Apart from the obvious homage payed to Sappho that has concretized in the word ‘lesbian’ or ‘lesbian love’, Sappho has also inspired the minds of many later European authors and painters. Older artwork typically depicts her with famous male poet from Lesbos, Alcaeus, while some later art may also explore her less conventional sexual preferences.
A great part of the fascination of Sappho maybe lies in the fact that we do not have much information about her. Most of her poems have been badly damaged or disappeared and we can only hope that more is about to be discovered. And that the truth about her turns out to be just as fascinating (or even more so) than the speculations.
The article is mostly based on Philip Freeman’s book Searching for Sappho (W. W. Norton & Company, 2016). The translations of the poem are also credited for Philip Freeman, whose translations are based on Sappho et Alcaeus: Fragmenta edited by Eva_Maria Voigt (Amsterdam: Athenaeum, 1971). The pictures are from Wikimedia Commons and in the public domain in the United States and in their country of origin.