The Shelves · Lyric (melic) poetry

Poems (in nine books)

Μέλη

Known · Attestedin Alexandria?Conjecturedvery likely class

◇ Doubted: its provenance is disputed.

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I · The entry, in his form

In the table of Lyric (melic) poetry: “melic”

Conjecturedvery likely class

Sappho of Lesbos

c. 630–570 BCE. The poet of Lesbos, whose songs the Alexandrians arranged in nine books, mostly by metre. Only one complete poem survives in the medieval tradition; papyri from Egypt keep adding fragments.

Poems

Μέλη

Opening words

Ποικιλόθρον᾽ ἀθανάτ᾽ Ἀφρόδιτα

Ornate-throned immortal Aphrodite

Length: not counted

◇ Doubted: its provenance is disputed.

Above, his entry form, filled from what we know. Below, ours.

II · Does it survive? Where to read it

Survives in fragments

One complete poem and many fragments. A papyrus end-title counts 1,320 lines for Book 1 alone (P.Oxy. XV 1231).

Was it in Alexandria?

Known · Attested

Edited in Alexandria.

In the cupboard: edited, classified or commented on by the Library's scholars.

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III · In the show

The show has not yet spoken of this work.

IV · Sources and the living entry

Ancient references (2)
  • P.Oxy. XV 1231
  • Hephaestion, Handbook on Metres
Modern scholarship (2)
  • D. A. Campbell, Greek Lyric, 5 vols (Loeb Classical Library; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1982-1993).
  • C. M. Sampson, 'Deconstructing the Provenances of P.Sapph.Obbink', Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists 57 (2020): 143-169.

Entry checked 31 Oct 2026 · no corrections · Suggest a correction ›

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Beside it in the cupboard