SAPPHO
Lire

Stobaeus Anthology: Aelian:—One evening over
the wine, Execestides the nephew of Solon the
Athenian sang a song of Sappho’s which his uncle
liked so much that he bade the boy teach it him,
and when one of the company asked in surprise

‘What for?’ he replied ‘I want to learn it and
die.’

Herodotus, /Histories: Rhodopis was brought to
ply her trade in Egypt by Xanthes of Samos, from
whom she was bought at a great price and given her
freedom by a Mytilenaean named Charaxus, the
son of Scamandronymus and brother of the poetess
Sappho. .. . It seems that the courtesans of Nau-
eratis are particularly attractive. At any rate the

one of whom we are speaking became so famous
as to be a household word throughout the Greek
world... . When Charaxus returned to Mytilene
atter setting Rhodopis free, Sappho soundly rated
him in a poem.

The Same: Khodopis flourished in the reign of
King Amasis.

Strabo Geography {the Pyramids]: There is a
Story that this one was built by her lovers as the
tomb of the courtesan who is sometimes called
Rhodopis but is known as Doricha to the lyric
pwetess Sappho, whose brother Charaxus made her

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