Explore Sappho through 10+ example sentences from English, with an explanation of the meaning and related words like poetess or lesbian. Ideal for language learners, writers and word enthusiasts.
Sappho in a sentence
Sappho meaning
- An Ancient Greek female name, particularly borne by a poetess from Lesbos who lived between 630 and 570 BC (exact dates unknown).
- 80 Sappho, a main belt asteroid.
- A female given name from Ancient Greek.
Using Sappho
- The main meaning on this page is: An Ancient Greek female name, particularly borne by a poetess from Lesbos who lived between 630 and 570 BC (exact dates unknown). | 80 Sappho, a main belt asteroid. | A female given name from Ancient Greek.
- Useful related words include: poetess, lesbian.
- In the example corpus, sappho often appears in combinations such as: of sappho, from sappho, that sappho.
Context around Sappho
- Average sentence length in these examples: 27.3 words
- Position in the sentence: 7 start, 10 middle, 3 end
- Sentence types: 20 statements, 0 questions, 0 exclamations
Corpus analysis for Sappho
- In this selection, "sappho" usually appears in the middle of the sentence. The average example has 27.3 words, and this corpus slice is mostly made up of statements.
- Around the word, follows, homer, athenaeus, deliberately, discloses and stream stand out and add context to how "sappho" is used.
- Recognizable usage signals include 51 follows sappho 31 so and amorously about sappho as indicated. That gives this page its own corpus information beyond isolated example sentences.
- By corpus frequency, "sappho" sits close to words such as abstention, acadiana and actuarial, which helps place it inside the broader word index.
Example types with sappho
The same corpus examples are grouped by length and sentence type, making it easier to see the contexts in which the word appears:
Fragments of Sappho continue to be rediscovered. (7 words)
As oratory poets, both Homer and Sappho used their work to celebrate and memorialise events for posterity. (17 words)
In 2002, classicist and poet Anne Carson produced If Not, Winter, an exhaustive translation of Sappho's fragments. (18 words)
Catullus 51 follows Sappho 31 so closely that some believe the later poem to be, in part, a direct translation of the earlier poem, and 61 and 62 are certainly inspired by and perhaps translated directly from lost works of Sappho. (41 words)
Ovid's Heroides 15 is written as a letter from Sappho to her supposed love Phaon, and when it was first re-discovered in the 15th century was thought to be a translation of an authentic letter of Sappho's. (40 words)
Little is known about Sappho's life for certain – so little that Monique Wittig and Sande Zeig 's Lesbian Peoples: Material for a Dictionary contains an entire page for the entry on Sappho, deliberately left blank. (36 words)
Example sentences (20)
Catullus 51 follows Sappho 31 so closely that some believe the later poem to be, in part, a direct translation of the earlier poem, and 61 and 62 are certainly inspired by and perhaps translated directly from lost works of Sappho.
Little is known about Sappho's life for certain – so little that Monique Wittig and Sande Zeig 's Lesbian Peoples: Material for a Dictionary contains an entire page for the entry on Sappho, deliberately left blank.
Ovid's Heroides 15 is written as a letter from Sappho to her supposed love Phaon, and when it was first re-discovered in the 15th century was thought to be a translation of an authentic letter of Sappho's.
Before the credits roll, a quotation from Sappho discloses the origin of the film’s title "instantly a delicate fire runs beneath my skin".
Taking to Instagram, Kalki posted a video in which she is seen strumming the ukulele and singing a Portuguese lullaby to Sappho, who lies in a cradle.
The Attica Regional Authority had denounced the municipality for its “indifference,” as it had allegedly done nothing to deal with the problem of illegal construction in the dried-up Sappho Stream in Maroussi.
Yet music was ubiquitous in classical Greece, with most of the poetry from around 750BC to 350BC – the songs of Homer, Sappho, and others – composed and performed as sung music, sometimes accompanied by dance.
According to Athenaeus, Sappho often praised Larichus for pouring wine in the town hall of Mytilene, an office held by boys of the best families.
As oratory poets, both Homer and Sappho used their work to celebrate and memorialise events for posterity.
Catullus twice used a meter that Sappho developed, called the Sapphic strophe in poems 11 and 51. In fact, Catullus may have brought about a substantial revival of that form in Rome.
Foster, p. 18. Little of Sappho's poetry survives, but her remaining poetry reflects the topics she wrote about: women's daily lives, their relationships, and rituals.
Fragments of Sappho continue to be rediscovered.
From various ancient writings, historians gathered that a group of young women were left in Sappho's charge for their instruction or cultural edification.
Gregory's poem On Human Nature copies from Sappho the quasi-sacred grove (alsos), the wind-shaken branches, and the striking word for "deep sleep" (kōma).
Herodotus, the oldest source of the story, reports that Charaxus ransomed Rhodopis for a large sum and that Sappho wrote a poem rebuking him for this.
In 2002, classicist and poet Anne Carson produced If Not, Winter, an exhaustive translation of Sappho's fragments.
In 2014, two more poems of Sappho – one, the " Brothers poem ", previously unknown; the other, the "Kypris poem", perhaps overlapping with an already-known fragment – were published.
It is possible that Alcaeus wrote amorously about Sappho, as indicated in an earlier quote. fr. 384 * Miscellaneous: Alcaeus wrote on such a wide variety of subjects and themes that contradictions in his character emerge.
It is raised to a supreme excellence by his younger contemporary, Sappho, whose melody is unsurpassed, perhaps unequalled, among all the relics of Greek verse.
Judith Hallett argues, however, that the language used in fragment 132 suggests that Sappho was referring to Cleïs as her daughter.
Common combinations with sappho
These word pairs occur most frequently in English texts:
- of sappho 7×
- from sappho 4×
- that sappho 4×
- sappho was 2×