An early and very short biography found on a papyrus from the 3rd century was one of the earliest surviving sources to mention her as a 'woman-lover', although the writer claimed that this was only an 'accusation'. Sappho wrote several love poems apparently about other women. Some have suggested this can be attributed to Sappho’s sexuality. There has been much speculation as to why a fraction of Sappho's poetry survives. But what was the cause of this devastating loss?įragment of a poem by Sappho concerning her brother Charaxus, 3rd century CE, Papyrus 739 Only a couple of fragments and some other lines survive one of those precious fragments is preserved at the British Library (Papyrus 739), and is available to view on our Digitised Manuscripts site. Despite this long-standing fame, most of Sappho's poems are lost. This extraordinary legacy meant she was very highly esteemed in Antiquity: some even regarded her as the 'tenth muse'. She is believed to have composed over 10,000 lines of lyrical poetry and to have invented a special type of musical verse that still bears her name. Here at the British Library we have a real connection to Sappho. The earliest extant records describe her as a woman from the island of Lesbos, who lived and worked in the 7th century BCE.

Very few fragments of her work survive, and it has sometimes been suggested that they were suppressed on account of her sexuality: but to what extent is that really true?

This weekend is part of the Pride Festival in London, which made us reflect on Sappho. Sappho was one of the first known female poets, and the first woman known to write poems in Greek.

Sappho poems and fragments