Greek fine arts: the honored female poet Sappho of the island of Lesvos

Sappho
Originally uploaded by Ian W Scott

Sappho (600 BC ) was an Ancient Greek poet, born on the island of Lesbos (Lesvos). Later Greeks included her in the list of nine lyric poets, says Wikipedia. Little is known about her life.

The bulk of her poetry, which was well-known and greatly admired throughout antiquity, has been lost, but her immense reputation has endured through surviving fragments.

Sappho's poetry centers on passion and love for various personages and all genders.

The word lesbian derives from the name of the island of her birth, Lesbos, while her name is also the origin of the word sapphic; neither word was applied to female homosexuality until the nineteenth century.[20][21]

The narrators of many of her poems speak of infatuations and love (sometimes requited, sometimes not) for various females, but descriptions of physical acts between women are few and subject to debate.[22][23]

Whether these poems are meant to be autobiographical is not known, although elements of other parts of Sappho's life do make appearances in her work, and it would be compatible with her style to have these intimate encounters expressed poetically, as well.