Poetry of Sappho


Sappho was an ancient Greek lyric poet from the island of Lesbos. She wrote around 10,000 lines of poetry, only a small fraction of which survives today.

Textual history

Sappho probably wrote around 10,000 lines of poetry; today, 650 survive. Around the second century BC, these were edited into a critical edition by scholars in Alexandria. The Alexandrian edition of Sappho's poetry was divided up into a number of books: the exact number is uncertain, though there seem to have been at least eight. These books were probably divided up by metre, as ancient sources tell us that each of the first three books contained poems in a single specific metre.
In addition to the Alexandrian edition, at least some of Sappho's poetry was in circulation in the ancient world in other collections. The Cologne Papyrus on which the Tithonus poem is preserved was part of a Hellenistic anthology of poetry.
Today, most of Sappho's poetry is lost. The two major sources of surviving fragments of Sappho are quotations in other ancient works, from a whole poem to as little as a single word, and fragments of papyrus, many of which were discovered at Oxyrhynchus in Egypt. Other fragments survive on other materials, including parchment and potsherds. The oldest surviving fragment of Sappho currently known is the Cologne papyrus which contains the Tithonus poem; it dates back to the third century BC.

Poems

Fragment NumberSourcesMeterlines
Fragment 1P. Oxy. 2288; D.H. Comp. 23Sapphic stanza28
Fragment 2PSI 1300Sapphic stanza17
Fragment 3P. Berol. 5006; P. Oxy. 424Sapphic stanza18
Fragment 4P. Berol. 5006Sapphic stanza10
Fragment 5P. Oxy. 7; P. Oxy. 2289; P. GCSapphic stanza20
Fragment 6P. Oxy. 2289perhaps Sapphic stanza15
Fragment 7P. Oxy. 2289Sapphic stanza7
Fragment 8P. Oxy. 22895
Fragment 9P. Oxy. 2289; P. GCSapphic stanza20
Brothers PoemP. Oxy. 2289; P. Sapph. ObbinkSapphic stanza24
Fragment 12P. Oxy. 2289Sapphic stanza9
Fragment 15P. Oxy. 1231Sapphic stanza12
Fragment 16P. Oxy. 1231; PSI 123; P. GCSapphic stanza20
Fragment 16AP. Oxy. 1231; PSI 123; P. GCSapphic stanza12
Fragment 17PSI 123; P. Oxy. 1231; P. Oxy. 2166; P. Oxy. 2289; P. GCSapphic stanza20
Fragment 18P. Oxy. 1231; P. GC15
Fragment 18AP. GC9
Fragment 19P. Oxy. 1231Sapphic stanza12
Fragment 20P. Oxy. 1231Sapphic stanza24
Fragment 21P. Oxy. 1231; Apollonius DyscolusSapphic stanza15
Fragment 22P. Oxy. 1231Sapphic stanza19
Fragment 23P. Oxy. 1231Sapphic stanza14
Fragment 24aP. Oxy. 1231Sapphic stanza8
Fragment 24bP. Oxy. 2166Sapphic stanza5
Fragment 24cP. Oxy. 1231Sapphic stanza9
Fragment 24dP. Oxy. 1231Sapphic stanza7
Fragment 25P. Oxy. 1231Sapphic stanza7
Fragment 26P. Oxy. 1231, P. Sapph. ObbinkSapphic stanza16
Fragment 27P. Oxy. 1231Sapphic stanza13
Fragment 28aP. Oxy. 12314
Fragment 28bP. Oxy. 12315
Fragment 28cP. Oxy. 12315
Fragment 29aP. Oxy. 12314
Fragment 29bP. Oxy. 12315
Fragment 29cP. Oxy. 1231; P. Oxy. 216611
Fragment 29dP. Oxy. 12314
Fragment 29eP. Oxy. 12313
Fragment 29fP. Oxy. 12317
Fragment 29gP. Oxy. 20814
Fragment 29hP. Oxy. 21668
Fragment 29iP. Oxy. 21665
Fragment 30P. Oxy. 1231Sapphic stanza9
Fragment 31LonginusSapphic stanza17
Fragment 32Apollonius DyscolusSapphic stanza2
Fragment 33Apollonius DyscolusSapphic stanza2
Fragment 34EustathiusSapphic stanza5
Fragment 35StraboSapphic stanza1
Fragment 36Etymologicum GenuinumSapphic stanza?1
Fragment 37Etymologicum GenuinumSapphic stanza3
Fragment 38Apollonius DyscolusSapphic stanza1
Fragment 39Scholiast on Aristophanes PeaceSapphic stanza3
Fragment 40Apollonius DyscolusSapphic stanza2
Fragment 41Apollonius DyscolusSapphic stanza2
Fragment 42Scholiast on PindarSapphic stanza2
Fragment 43P. Oxy. 1232]-uu-ux, possibly Glyconic with 2x dactylic expansion9
Fragment 44P. Oxy. 1232Glyconic with 2x dactylic expansion34
Fragment 44AaP. Fouad. 239]-uu-uu-ux, possibly Glyconic with 2x dactylic expansion12
Fragment 44AbP. Fouad. 239xx-uu-10
Fragment 45Apollonius DyscolusGlyconic with 2x dactylic expansion1
Fragment [46HerodianGlyconic with 2x dactylic expansion2
Fragment 47Maximus of TyreGlyconic with 2x dactylic expansion2
Fragment 48JulianGlyconic with 2x dactylic expansion2
Fragment 49Hephaestion; PlutarchGlyconic with 2x dactylic expansion2
Fragment 50GalenGlyconic with 2x dactylic expansion2
Fragment 51ChrysippusGlyconic with 2x dactylic expansion1
Fragment 52HerodianGlyconic with 2x dactylic expansion?1
Fragment 53Scholiast on TheocritusGlyconic with 2x choriambic expansion1
Fragment 54Julius PolluxGlyconic with 2x choriambic expansion1
Fragment 55StobaeusGlyconic with 2x choriambic expansion4
Fragment 56ChrysippusGlyconic with 2x choriambic expansion3
Fragment 57Athenaeusll.1-2 uncertain; l.3 Glyconic with 2x choriambic expansion3
Pre-58 P. Oxy. 1787Acephalous Hipponacteans with internal double-choriambic expansion10
Pre-58 P. Köln inv.21351+21376Acephalous Hipponacteans with internal double-choriambic expansion

Glosses

These fragments are isolated words quoted by other ancient authors, arranged alphabetically.
Fragment NumberSources
Fragment 169Scholiast on the Iliad
Fragment 169AHesychius, Lexicon
Fragment 170Strabo, Geography
Fragment 171Photius, Lexicon
Fragment 172Maximus of Tyre, Orations
Fragment 173Choeroboscus on Theodosius
Fragment 174Orion, Lexicon
Fragment 175Apollonius Dyscolus, Adverbs
Fragment 176Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae
Fragment 177Julius Pollux
Fragment 179Phrynichus
Fragment 180Hesychius
Fragment 181Scholiast on Dionysius of Thrace
Fragment 182Scholiast on the Iliad
Fragment 183Porphyry on the Iliad
Fragment 184Choeroboscus on Theodosius
Fragment 185Philostratus, Images
Fragment 186John of Alexandria
Fragment 187Homeric Parsings
Fragment 188Maximus of Tyre
Fragment 189Phrynichus
Fragment 190Scholiast on the Iliad
Fragment 191Julius Pollux
Fragment 192Julius Pollux

Testimonia

Uncertain authorship

Fragments which may be by either Sappho or Alcaeus of Mytilene.
Fragment NumberSourcesLines
Fragment 1Scholiast to Odyssey1
Fragment 2Etymologicum Genuinum1
Fragment 3Apollonius Dyscolus1
Fragment 4Homeric Parsings1
Fragment 5aHerodian1
Fragment 5bHerodian1
Fragment 5cHerodian1
Fragment 6Anonymous grammarian1
Fragment 10Herodian2
Fragment 11Herodian1
Fragment 12Homeric Parsings1
Fragment 14Homeric Parsings1
Fragment 15aZenobius1
Fragment 15bScholiast on Aelius Aristides1
Fragment 16Hephaestion3
Fragment 18Anonymous2
Fragment 19Apollonius Dyscolus1
Fragment 20Zonaras1
Fragment 21Hephaestion2
Fragment 22Hephaestion1
Fragment 23Philodemus1
Fragment 25Scholiast on Theocritus1
Fragment 25AEtymologicum Genuinum1
Fragment 25BEtymologicum Magnum1
Fragment 25CEustathius2
Fragment 27P.Vind. 297773
Fragment 28P. Oxy. 22998
Fragment 29P. Oxy. 22992
Fragment 30P. Oxy. 22998
Fragment 31aP. Oxy. 229915
Fragment 31bP. Oxy. 22994
Fragment 32P. Oxy. 229911
Fragment 33P. Oxy. 22993
Fragment 34aP. Oxy. 229917
Fragment 34bP. Oxy. 22995
Fragment 35P. Oxy. 22998
Fragment 36aP. Oxy. 22996
Fragment 36bP. Oxy. 22994
Fragment 37P. Oxy. 229913
Fragment 38P. Oxy. 22993
Fragment 39P. Oxy. 22993
Fragment 40P. Oxy. 22994
Fragment 41P. Oxy. 22997
Fragment 42P. Oxy. 237816

Works cited


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