Sappho lived in the late seventh century BC. She was the daughter of Scamandronymus and Cleis on the island of Lesbos. Her brothers were Larychus, Charaxus, and Eurygius. Her husband was an Andrian merchant named Cercolas. She had a daughter, Cleis. She was exiled by Pittacus, one of the Seven Sages of Greece, and lived for a time in Sicily. She wrote short lyrical poems, a lament for Adonis, hymns to Aphrodite and Hera, and marriage hymns. Her poem on the marriage of Hector and Andromache is similar to epic poetry. These were collected into nine books in the canonical Alexandrian editition. Many authors, such as Aristotle, and others have admired her work.
Sources:
Mary Ellen Snodgrass, Cliffs Notes on Greek Classics, New York: Wiley Publishing Inc., 1998.
Whos's Who in the Classical World, ed. Simon Hornblower and Tony Spawforth, New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.
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