Storiascopio · Era 5 of 12 · primary year 5
Sappho, the poet of Lesbos
about 600 BC · Mytilene, island of Lesbos (Greece)
In short
Sappho lived in Mytilene, on the island of Lesbos, and wrote poems to be sung with the lyre. She wrote about love, friendship, jealousy and the beauty of things, in simple, powerful words. People in ancient times admired her so much that they called her ‘the tenth Muse’. Mostly fragments of her poems survive, passed down through quotations by other writers and ancient Egyptian papyri.
Why it matters She is the first great woman poet in European literature whose name we know.
Source: Treccani, entry “Saffo”
Where we are in the era “Ancient Greece”
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about 800 BCEvent 5 of 25about 100 BC
Your turn
Name ______________________ Class ______ Date __________
When did it happen? Find the date at the top and write it here:
Tell it in your own words: what happened?
Draw the scene below.
storiascopio.com/en/event/sappho-the-poet-of-lesbos/ · free worksheet, you may photocopy it for your class