Sappho, the Poetess of Love

One of the great Greek lyrists and few known female poets of the ancient world, Sappho was born some time between 630 and 612 BC.

She was an aristocrat who married a prosperous merchant, and she had a daughter named Cleis. Her wealth afforded her with the opportunity to live her life as she chose, and she chose to spend it studying the arts on the isle of Lesbos.

Sappho was called a lyrist because, as was the custom of the time, she wrote her poems to be performed with the accompaniment of a lyre. Sappho composed her own music and refined the prevailing lyric meter to a point that it is now known as sapphic meter. She innovated lyric poetry both in technique and style, becoming part of a new wave of Greek lyrists who moved from writing poetry from the point of view of gods and muses to the personal vantage point of the individual. She was one of the first poets to write from the first person, describing love and loss as it affected her personally.

From ancient times to today, Sappho has remained an important literary and cultural figure. Her works continued to be studied and translated and new poets are inspired by her constantly.

Made of bonded marble and coated with a special bronze patina.