No authority is evident for the statement that Sappho was known at Lesbos under the name of “Psappha.” It seems likely, from Pierre Louÿs’ general attitude toward the “Poetess” and his description of her in XLVI, that at the time he wrote the Songs of Bilitis he was either indifferently acquainted with the known facts of Sappho’s life or deliberately chose, with some other modern writers, to disregard or misunderstand them. Dr. Horace Manchester Brown, in the Preface to his translation of the present work (Aldus Society. 1904) remarks that “the translator has felt that such a protest (in defense of Sappho by a professor of Göttingen) and such a defense were unnecessary and has believed that the beauty of the pictures presented by many of the songs is sufficient excuse for their existence....” A few words on the subject of Sappho seem desirable, however, since it cannot be assumed that all the readers of this volume are familiar with the facts of Sappho’s life. On the testimony of many writers of antiquity--who, at least, had more on which to base an opinion than we have--the description in XLVI of “ ... her hair cut like that of an athlete ... virile breast ... narrow hips,” and, as assumed, ready to prey lasciviously upon any passer-by, becomes ridiculous and defamatory. Sappho’s brother, Larichus, was public cup-bearer at Mytilene, an office held only by young men of noble birth. She herself, “violet-weaving, pure, soft-smiling” as Alcæus says, although “small and dark” according to Maximus Tyrius, was, according to her own words, “of a quiet temper” and in all probability was married and mother of a daughter named Cleis whom she mentions in an extant fragment (72), which, considering the personal tone of so many of her poems, may be taken as something more than a poetic fancy; “I have a fair daughter with a form like a golden flower, Cleis the beloved, above whom I prize nor all Lydia nor lovely Lesbos.” (Wharton.) Philoxemus describes her as “sweet-voiced.” Damocharis, in the Anthology (Plan. App. XVI-310) describes her picture in glowing terms: “Her eyes overflow with brilliance, showing a fancy rich in happy images. Her skin, smooth and not too reddened, shows simplicity; and the blended gaiety and gravity of her features proclaims the union, in her, of the Muse and Cypris.” That she gathered about her a society of maidens to whom she taught the art of poetry, is well known; the names of many of her pupils and friends have been preserved in fragments of her verse. How much farther her friendships were carried, as indicated in the poems, will always be a matter for speculation; but that she was a charming, lovely woman, sufficiently reserved, of perfect maturity and free from petty or promiscuous vice seems undeniable. Otherwise, we may be sure the writers of antiquity would have treated her with far less veneration and respect. * * * * * “A verse of Sappho.”