Acheron, one of the rivers of the lower world of the dead.
Achilles, son of Peleus and Thetis, one of the commanders of the Greek forces at Troy and the hero of the lliad.
Actaeon, a keen huntsman, he spied on the goddess Artemis while she was bathing naked in a pool and was turned by her into a stag and torn to pieces by his own hounds.
Adonis, a beautiful youth loved by Aphrodite. He was killed, while hunting, by a boar. Aphrodite persuaded Zeus, the king of the gods, to restore him to life but Persephone, the queen of the lower world, who was also in love with him, refused to let him go. Zeus decreed that he should spend half the year in the lower world and the other half on earth. A fertility cult, popular with women, was associated with his death and rebirth, first in the East and then in Greece.
Aegean sea, between Greece and Asia Minor.
Alyattes, king of Lydia c.610-560 B.C., founder of the Lydian Empire.
Amorgos, small island in the Aegean, home of the poet Semonides.
Andromache, daughter of Eëtion, king of Thebe (Cilicia) and wife of Hector, prince of Troy.
Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty, she sprang from the foam of the sea near Paphos in Cyprus or on the shore of Cythera, an Aegean island, hence her names, Cypris, Cytherea and Cyprogeneia (Cyprus-born).
Apollo, son of Leto and Zeus, sister of Artemis, god of music, archery, prophecy, medicine and youth. He was also associated with the sun and in Greek art was portrayed as the epitome of youthful male beauty. See note on No.97.
Ares, god of war.
Artemis, daughter of Leto and Zeus, sister of Apollo, a virgin moon goddess who had many aspects but was particularly associated with animals and wild places. See note on No. 97.
Asia Minor, modern Turkey.
Atridae, the brothers, Menelaus and Agamemnon, sons of Atreus, king of Mycenae. Menelaus married Helen and became king of Sparta, while Agamemnon married her sister, Clytemnestra. When Helen was abducted by Paris, Prince of Troy, they raised a Greek army to besiege the city with Agamemnon as its commander-in-chief. See notes on No.91 and No.127.
Charaxus, according to some ancient biographers, Sappho’s brother and a wine-merchant. See notes on Nos. 80, 81 and 121.
Chiron, a centaur (half-man, half-horse), tutor to Achilles.
Cleanactidae, aristocratic family faction in Mytilene during Sappho’s lifetime, of which the tyrant Myrsilus was a member.
Cleis, Sappho’s daughter and, according to some sources, also the name of her mother.
Crete, island in the south Aegean, associated with the worship of Aphrodite.
Cypris, see Aphrodite.
Cyprus, the island in the eastern Mediterranean, the birthplace and haunt of Aphrodite.
Cytherea, see Aphrodite.
Dionysus, son of Semele, or Thyone, and Zeus and the god of the vine, fertility and poetry.
Eös, the dawn, lover of Tithonus. See notes on Nos. 91 and 128.
Eros, god of sexual desire, the attendant of Aphrodite.
Graces, companions of Aphrodite, three goddesses of beauty and charm.
Hades, god of death, king of the lower world.
Hector, prince of Troy, son of Priam and husband of Andromache.
Helen of Troy, queen of Sparta, wife of Menelaus and famous for her great beauty. In the Iliad, her abduction by Paris, prince of Troy, starts the war between Greece and Troy. After a ten-year siege of the city, she is recaptured by the victorious Greeks and returns to Sparta.
Hera, queen of the gods and Zeus’ consort, she represents women, their lives, sexuality and occupations and was particularly worshipped on Lesbos. See note on Nos. 91, 123 and 127.
Hermes, messenger of the gods who conducts the souls of the dead to the lower world.
Hermione, daughter of Menelaus and Helen.
Hesperus, the evening star, depicted in Greek art as a young boy carrying a torch.
Idaeus, a stock name for Trojans in classical literature. In No.72, Idaeus is the name of the messenger who announces the arrival of Hector and Andromache at Troy.
Iliad, epic poem, attributed to Homer and probably composed in the eighth century B.C., which relates incidents of the Trojan War.
Ilus, the founder of Troy or Ilium. Trojans are sometimes referred to in literature as the sons or daughters of Ilus. See note on No.72.
Larichus, the younger brother of Sappho. See note on No. 121.
Leda, mother of Helen. See note on No.96.
Lesbos, island in the eastern Aegean, off the coast of Asia Minor, home of Sappho.
Leto, mother of Apollo and Artemis. See note on No.97.
Lydia, a rich and powerful kingdom of Asia Minor.
Menelaus, king of Sparta and husband of Helen. See notes on Nos. 91 and 127.
Muses, nine goddesses of literature, music and dance, connected with poetic inspiration.
Myrsilus, member of the Cleanactidae, one of the feuding aristocratic factions in Mytilene during Sappho’s lifetime. He became tyrant of Mytilene in the early sixth century B.C.
Naucratis, port of the Nile delta, centre of contact between Greece and Egypt. See note on No.81.
Nereids, sea-nymphs, daughters of Nereus, the sea-god.
Niobe, turned to stone after her children were killed by Apollo and Artemis. See note on No.97.
Odysseus, king of Ithaca, a small island off the west coast of Greece and one of the Greek leaders at Troy, famous for his cunning.
Odyssey, epic poem attributed to Homer, probably composed in the eighth century B.C. It relates the ten-year adventures of Odysseus as he journeys home from Troy to Ithaca.
Paean, a hymn addressed to Apollo. In No.72 Sappho refers to Apollo himself as Paean.
Pandora, in Hesiod’s poetry, the first woman on earth, created by Zeus as a punishment for the theft of fire by the demi-god, Prometheus. Pandora brought with her a box which she was forbidden to open but, overcome by curiosity, she did so and released all the evils of the world, trapping Hope inside when she quickly replaced the lid. According to Hesiod, Pandora and all other members of her sex are responsible for man’s sufferings.
Panormus, a city mentioned in No.82 as a haunt of Aphrodite; its location is unknown for certain but is probably modern Palermo in Sicily.
Paphos, a town near the coast of southern Cyprus, reputed to be the place where Aphrodite emerged from the foam of the sea and famous as a centre for her worship.
Paris, prince of Troy, brother of Hector, son of Priam. In the Iliad, his abduction of Helen from Sparta to Troy causes the war between Greece and Troy.
Peleus, husband of the sea-nymph, Thetis, and the father of the Greek hero, Achilles.
Penelope, queen of Ithaca and wife of Odysseus. In the Odyssey, she rules Ithaca in his absence at Troy and is wooed by several suitors but remains faithful to Odysseus and waits patiently for his return.
Penthilidae, one of the rival families in Mytilene during Sappho’s time, who claimed that they were the descendants of the mythical hero, Penthilus. In No.46, Sappho mentions them with disapproval.
Phaon, a legendary boatman of Lesbos, said by some ancient sources to be the subject of Sappho’s unrequited love.
Pieria, a district of northern Greece, birthplace of the Muses.
Pittacus, of Mytilene c.650-570 B.C. He commanded the army in the war against Athenian colonists at Sigeum and killed the enemy leader in mortal combat. With Alcaeus, he was involved in a plot to overthrow the tyrant, Myrsilus, but changed sides, betrayed his companions and later became a tyrant himself.
Placia, river near Thebe in Cilicia, a district of southern Asia Minor.
Polyanactidae, aristocratic faction in Mytilene. See note on No.45.
Priam, father of Hector and king of Troy during the Trojan War. See note on No.72.
Rhodopis, courtesan of Naucratis, loved by Sappho’s brother, Charaxus, and associated by Strabo with Doricha. See note on No.81.
Sardis, chief city of Lydia.
Sicyon, Greek city in the Peloponnese, home of the woman poet Praxilla.
Sigeum, promontory near Troy, colonised by Athenians c.600 B.C. and the subject of a war between Athens and Lesbos who both claimed territorial rights.
Socrates, Greek philosopher who lived in Athens 469-399 B.C. He taught philosophy to a group of young men, including Plato whose dialogues feature Socrates and his teachings. He was executed in 399 B.C. after being found guilty of two charges – religious unorthodoxy and corrupting the youth of the city.
Sparta, Greek city in the Peloponnese, in mythology ruled by Menelaus and Helen.
Thebe, city in Cilicia, a district of southern Asia Minor.
Thera, Greek island in the southern Aegean.
Thetis, sea-nymph, daughter of Nereus the god of the sea. She was married to Peleus and had a son, Achilles, the Greek hero of the Trojan War.
Thyone, or Semele, mother of the god Dionysus.
Tithonus, the mortal lover of Eös, the dawn. See notes on Nos. 31 and 128.
Troy, city in northern Asia Minor. In the Iliad, it is besieged by a Greek army for ten years and then destroyed by them in revenge for the abduction of Helen from Sparta by Paris.
Aelian, rhetorician and writer. c. A.D. 170-235.
Alcaeus, lyric poet of Mytilene, contemporary of Sappho, c. 620-580 B.C.
Anacreon, lyric poet, c. 575-490 B.C.
Aristophanes, comic playwright, c. 450-385 B.C.
Aristotle, philosopher, 384-322 B.C.
Athenaeus, writer and anthologist, fl. c. A.D. 200.
Corinna, woman lyric poet, possibly fifth century B.C.
Dioscorides, epigrammatist, fl. 230 B.C.
Eusebius, Christian historian, c. A.D. 260-340.
Herodotus, historian, fifth century B.C.
Hesiod, epic poet, c. 700 B.C.
Homer, name given by the Greeks to the author of the epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey, although it is not even known whether they have a joint authorship. They were probably composed in the eighth century B.C. and reached their final form c. 700 B.C.
Horace, Roman poet, 65-08 B.C.
Maximus of Tyre, philosopher and rhetorician, c. A.D. 125-185.
Myrtis, woman lyric poet, fifth century B.C.
Ovid, Roman poet, 43 B.C.-A.D.17.
Palatine Anthology, compiled c. A.D. 980 of ealier Greek epigrams.
Parian Marble, a stone slab inscribed with a summary of Greek history up to 264/3 B.C.
Pausanias, traveller and geographer, fl. c. A.D. 150.
Philostratus, philosopher and writer, c. A.D. 170-247.
Pindar, choral lyric poet, 518-438 B.C.
Plato, philosopher, c. 429-347 B.C.
Plutarch, biographer, moralist and essayist, first century A.D.
Pollux, lexicographer and rhetorician, second century A.D.
Porphyrion, commentator on Horace, third century A.D.
Praxilla, lyric woman poet, fl. 451 B.C.
Semonides, iambic and elegiac poet, mid-seventh century B.C.
Solon, Athenian poet and statesman, c. 600 B.C.
Stobaeus, anthologist, early fifth century A.D.
Suda, an encyclopaedia, compiled in the tenth century A.D.
Zenobius, rhetorician, second century A.D.
| Anactoria: | No. | 21 |
| Andromeda: | 34, 42 | |
| Archeanassa: | 47 | |
| Atthis: | 18, 33, 34, 35 | |
| Dicca: | 16 | |
| Doricha: | 81 | |
| Gongyla: | 22, 30 | |
| Gorgo: | 44, 45, 47 | |
| Gyrinno: | 17 | |
| Irana: | 43 | |
| Micca: | 46 | |
| Mnasidica: | 17 |