Sappho, c. 630-c. 570 BCE

Sappho, or Psappha in her native Aeolic dialect, was born sometime around 630 to 620 BCE, to an aristocratic family on the island of Lesbos, which is just off the coast of Anatolia, or modern-day Turkey. She had at least three brothers, Erigyius, Larichus and Charaxus, and a daughter named Cleis. Sappho was a lyric poet whose work was so loved for its beauty and passion that that statuary, coinage, and pottery were created in her honor for centuries after her death. While it is uncertain whether she was homosexual or not, Sappho’s poetry held a decided romantic interest in women through the poetic persona of her writing. Thus, she is the inspiration for the words “lesbian” and “sapphic” since the eighteenth century to describe homosexual women. Sappho wrote an estimated 10,000 lines of poetry, however only 650 of them have survived, to include the only complete poem extant: Ode to Aphrodite.