Sappho (c. 610–c. 580 BC)

Greek lyric poet. A native of Lesbos and contemporary of the poet Alcaeus, she was famed for her female eroticism (hence lesbianism). The surviving fragments of her poems express a keen sense of loss, and delight in the worship of the goddess Aphrodite.

Sappho's subjects are mostly personal, written for her friends, though some poems are based on folksong. She wrote in the dialect of Lesbos, and used a variety of metres, including the Sapphic, named after her. Her lyrics originally consisted of nine books.

Sappho

Opera by Hugo Kaun (1863–1932) (libretto by composer, based on the play of the same name by Austrian poet and dramatist Franz Grillparzer). It was first produced in Leipzig on 27 October 1917. See also Saffo; Sapho.