Sappho: The Ancient Poetess,Sappho: The Ancient Poetess

When writers and poets speak of ‘The Poetess’, it is Sappho, no question they are speaking about. We are able to possess beauty and emotion over the simplest of things like marble or the complexities of emotion such as love and revolt. She was a woman that was given credit for her works in many literary circles but there are many that still consider her a legend. She is rightly considered to be the first female modern poet. She flourished through ancient times but it is only in our time that she can be completely understood. Sappho is the only female voice and visionary of the ancient worlds that is usually seen only through the eyes of men.

“TO EROS: From all offspring of the earth and heaven, love being the most precious” Sappho,Sappho, the female Greek Poet, was born what is estimated to be around 630 BC. Not much was recorded about her personal history, but it is known that she was the daughter of aristocracy and had three brothers. Her parents, Skamadronymos and Klies, chose a life in the city of Mytilene on the island of Lesbos in the Aegean Sea. It was common that girls that lived on Lesbos in the seventh century received a solid education unlike other parts of Greece. Lesbos was known as an artistic community and drew many in their search for the training they wanted. Sappho was not only rewarded with an education but found her calling in the arts. Being so wonderfully educated, she decided to become an educator herself.

Sappho married a prosperous merchant, Kerhylas of Andros, and together they had a daughter named Cleis. She spent the majority of her time studying but always found time to journey throughout Greece. This was a significant source of inspiration.

Poetry became Sappho’s passion and her reputation began to spread. Her works made her known as a lyrist; one whose poems were performed accompanied by a Lyre. This was often the custom of the time. She not only wrote the poems but also composed the music. She wrote in Aeolic dialect in lyric meter that later became known to writers as the Sapphic Meter, named after Sappho. The lyrical poetry and technique made her a part of the wave of Greek lyrists who wrote from the point of view of the gods and muses instead of the

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