Reportedly called the “Tenth Muse” by Plato, Sappho remains one of history’s most well-respected poets. Her poems, which are mostly preserved on fragmentary pieces of papyrus, were written on the island of Lesbos in the Aeolic dialect in the late 7th century BCE. Her touching poems of love and loss have become standard fare in textbooks on Greek history, culture, and language, making them an excellent starting point for students beginning to translate longer passages of Greek.
(Bio by Robert Carpenter.)