Daughter of Simon (or Eumenus or Eerigytius or Ecyrtus or Semus): Sappho, Suda S.107

The Suda’s Account of Sappho

Name:    The Suda Date:      10th century CE      Region:    Unknown   Citation:     S.107

Sappho: The daughter of Simon [1] (or, as others assert: the daughter of Eunominus, or Eertius, or Semus, or Camon, or Etarchus, or Scamandronymus). Her mother’s name was Cleis. She was from the island of Lesbos, born in Eressus, and was a lyric poet. She lived during the 42nd Olympiad, and was a contemporary of Alcaeus, Stesichorus, and Pittacus. She had three brothers: Larychus, Charaxus, and Eurygius. She married a man named Cercylas, a very wealthy man from the island of Andros; together they had a daughter named Cleis. She had three “companions”: Atthis, Telesippa, and Megara. It is said that she had an affair with them. Anagora of Miletis, Gongyla of Colophon, and Eunica of Salamis were her students. She wrote nine books of lyric poetry, and invented the plectrum [2] . She also wrote epigrams, elegies, iambic poetry, and monodies. 

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[1]  It is important to note how the author of the Suda defines Sappho by the men she is connected to (her father, her brothers, her husband, and her peers); her achievements are added as an afterthought. 

[2] The plectrum is similar to a modern guitar pick.

Σαπφώ, Σίμωνος, οἱ δὲ Εὐμήνου, οἱ δὲ Ἠεριγύου, οἱ δὲ Ἐκρύτου, οἱ δὲ Σήμου, οἱ δὲ Κάμωνος, οἱ δὲ Ἐτάρχου, οἱ δὲ Σκαμανδρωνύμου: μητρὸς δὲ Κλειδός: Λεσβία ἐξ Ἐρεσσοῦ, λυρική, γεγονυῖα κατὰ τὴν μβ# Ὀλυμπιάδα, ὅτε καὶ Ἀλκαῖος ἦν καὶ Στησίχορος καὶ Πιττακός. ἦσαν δὲ αὐτῇ καὶ ἀδελφοὶ τρεῖς, Λάριχος, Χάραξος, Εὐρύγιος. ἐγαμήθη δὲ ἀνδρὶ Κερκύλᾳ πλουσιωτάτῳ, ὁρμωμένῳ ἀπὸ Ἄνδρου, καὶ θυγατέρα ἐποιήσατο ἐξ αὐτοῦ, ἣ Κλεὶς ὠνομάσθη. ntipἑταῖραι δὲ αὐτῆς καὶ φίλαι γεγόνασι τρεῖς, Ἀτθίς, Τελεσίππα, Μεγάρα: πρὸς ἃς καὶ διαβολὴν ἔσχεν αἰσχρᾶς φιλίας. μαθήτριαι δὲ αὐτῆς Ἀναγόρα Μιλησία, Γογγύλα Κολοφωνία, Εὐνείκα Σαλαμινία. ἔγραψε δὲ μελῶν λυρικῶν βιβλία θ#. καὶ πρώτη πλῆκτρον εὗρεν. ἔγραψε δὲ καὶ ἐπιγράμματα καὶ ἐλεγεῖα καὶ ἰάμβους καὶ μονῳδίας.

Sappho: Simonis filia: vel ut alii, Eunomini: ut alii Eerigyi: ut alii Ecryti: ut alii Semi: ut alii Camonis: ut alii Etarchi: ut alii Scamandronymi. Matrem habuit Clidem: fuitque Lesbia, Eresso oriunda & Lyrica. Vixit Olympiade XLII quo tempore & Alcaeus & Stesichorus & Pittacus floruerunt. Fratres eius tres fuerunt, Larychus, Charaxus, Eurygius. Nupsit cuidam Cercolae, viro ditissimo, Andrio; ex quo suscepit filiam, quae Clis vocabatur. Sodales eius & amicae fuerunt tres, Atthis, Telesippa, Megara: cum quibus etiam turpem consuetudinem habuisse dicebatur. Discipulae eius fuerunt Anagora Milesia, Gongyla Colophonia, Eunica Salaminia. Scripsit carminum Lyricorum libros IX & prima plectrum invenit. Scripsit etiam Epigrammata & Elegias & Iambos & Monodias. Translated into Latin by Christian Wolff

The Suda is a literary encyclopedia created in the 10th century CE by an anonymous Byzantine scholar.