Sappho was an ancient Greek poet born on the island of Lesbos in the seventh century BCE. Her poetry has been beloved for thousands of years due to its rich sensuality and gripping, stripped-down poetic style. Sappho is also well known for her depiction of love and sensuality between women, and the word lesbian comes from her birthplace, Lesbos. Along with her centrality for feminists and queer women, Sappho influenced numerous male poets, including Alfred Lord Tennyson and Ezra Pound.
Despite her fame, it's difficult to write a biography of Sappho. We know few facts about her life, and her person is instead surrounded by hundreds of years of rumor and conjecture—even the dates of her...
