mer place, and
became one of the two great leaders of the AEolian school of lyric
poetry. From the fragments of her poetry, and those of her great rival,
Alcaeus, it is evident that the two were not envious of each other's
fame, but lived in the most friendly intercourse. Of the events of her
life, we have only two. One, referred to in the Parian marble and by
Ovid, is her flight from Mytilene to Sicily, between 604 and 592, to
escape from some unknown danger. The other is the well-known story that,
being in love with Phaon, and finding her love unrequited, she cast
herself from the Leucadian rock. This rock is a promontory on the
island of Leucas, upon which was a temple to Apollo. At the annual
festival of the god, it was the custom to cast down a criminal from this
rock into the sea. To break his fall, birds of all kinds were attached
to him, and, if he reached the sea uninjured, boats were ready to pick
him up. This apparently was a rite of expiation, and as such gave rise
to the well-known story that unfortunate lovers leaped from this rock to
seek relief from their distress. The story of Sappho and Phaon is one of
these, but it has been claimed that its authenticity vanishes at the
first breath of criticism.

It is fair to class Sappho as a musician, for in ancient Greece poetry
and music were inseparable. Of her poems, which filled nine books, only
a few fragments remain, of which the most important is a splendid ode to
Aphrodite. At Mytilene she appears to have gathered about her a large
and elegant circle of young women, who were her pupils in poetry, music,
and personal cultivation. Her influence must have been widespread, for
the list of her disciples includes names from all parts of Greece. Her
work of teaching, in the midst of her fair followers, has been compared
with that of Socrates surrounded by the flower of the Athenian youth.
The power of her poetry is shown by the story of its effect on the
rugged character of Solon, the lawmaker. Hearing for the first time one
of her pieces, sung to him by his nephew, he expressed in the most
impassioned terms the wish that he might not die before having learned
such a beautiful song.

The career of Sappho is made more wonderful by the fact that woman's
work in ancient Greece was supposed to consist only of family duties.
She taught her sons in childhood until they were sent to their regular
masters, and she guided her daughters and set them an example in doing
h