Sappho Poems

Sappho was an archaic Greek poet from the island of Lesbos. She is known for her lyric poetry, much of which alludes to her sexuality. Little is known about her life, but she was a prolific poet, writing around 10,000 lines of verse during her lifetime. Read more of Sappho’s Biography.

Hymn to Aphrodite

by Sappho

The ‘Hymn to Aphrodite’ by Sappho is an ancient lyric in which Sappho begs for Aphrodite’s help in managing her turbulent love life.

'Hymn to Aphrodite' is objectively the most famous poem by Sappho, as it is her only complete poem left. It is also an excellent example of the themes that Sappho often wrote about, including gender, love, heartbreak, and the gods. 'Hymn to Aphrodite' is also one of the earliest known examples of lyric poetry left to us.

Beautiful-throned, immortal Aphrodite,

Daughter of Zeus, beguiler, I implore thee,

Weigh me not down with weariness and anguish

O thou most holy!

The Anactoria Poem

by Sappho

‘The Anactoria Poem’ is a widely read love poem in which Sappho uses the story of Helen of Troy to speak on the nature of beauty. 

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