# Poetry of Sappho

Sappho was an ancient Greek lyric poet from the island of Lesbos. She wrote around 10,000 lines of poetry, only a small fraction of which survives. Only one poem is known to be complete; in some cases as little as a single word survives. Modern editions of Sappho's poetry are the product of centuries of scholarship, first compiling quotations from surviving ancient works, and from the late 19th century rediscovering her works preserved on fragments of ancient papyri and parchment. Along with the poems which can be attributed with confidence to Sappho, a small number of surviving fragments in her Aeolic dialect may be by either her or her contemporary Alcaeus. Modern editions of Sappho also collect ancient "testimonia" which discuss Sappho's life and works.

## Textual history
### Ancient editions

Sappho probably wrote around 10,000 lines of poetry; today, only 650 survive. They were originally composed for performance, and it is unclear precisely when they were first written down. Some scholars argue that books of Sappho's poetry were produced in or shortly after her own lifetime; others believe that if they were written down in that time, it was only as an aid to reperformance rather than as a literary work in their own right.
In the third or second century BC, Sappho's poems were edited into a critical edition by scholars in Alexandria. This may have been based on an Athenian text of her poems, or one from her native island of Lesbos. It is uncertain which of the Alexandrian scholars was responsible for the edition of Sappho; both Aristophanes of Byzantium and Aristarchus of Samothrace are reported to have produced editions of Alcaeus, and one or both of these may have been responsible for the Alexandrian edition of Sappho. Alexander Dale argues that Aristophanes was more likely responsible.
The Alexandrian edition of Sappho's poetry was divided into eight or nine books: the exact number is uncertain. Ancient testimonia mention an eighth book of the Alexandrian edition of Sappho; an epigram by Tullius Laurea [it] mentions nine books of Sappho, though it is not certain that he is referring to the Alexandrian edition. These books were probably divided up by metre, arranged based on the syllable count of the metre. Ancient sources record that each of the first three books contained poems in a single specific metre. Information about the contents of the later books is less certain: the fourth book appears to have contained many poems in acephalous hipponacteans with double choriambic expansion, and possibly in other metres; the fifth book was metrically heterogeneous, with ancient sources mentioning the use of Phaelecian hendecasyllables and lesser asclepiads; of the sixth, nothing is known; a single couplet from the seventh book is preserved in Hephaestion but it is unclear whether this was an entire stanza or part of a three- or four-line stanza. Fragment 103 preserves 10 incipits of poems by Sappho, possibly from book 8, of which the first is in a different metre from the remaining nine; those nine may or may not all be in the same meter. A ninth book may have been made up of epithalamia in various meters, though many scholars are skeptical of the evidence for this, and consider that the book of epithalamia mentioned in ancient sources might have been the eighth book of the Alexandrian edition.
In addition to the Alexandrian edition, at least some of Sappho's poetry was in circulation in the ancient world in other collections. The Cologne papyrus on which the Tithonus poem is preserved was part of a Hellenistic anthology of poetry, and predates the Alexandrian edition. Two fragments list opening lines of poems: Fr. 103 contains openings to ten of Sappho's poems, and Fr. 213C Campbell quotes openings to poems by Sappho, Alcaeus, and Anacreon; both might be related to anthological collections.

### Loss and recovery

Today, most of Sappho's poetry is lost. The two major sources of surviving fragments of Sappho are quotations in other ancient works, from a whole poem to as little as a single word; and fragments of papyrus, many of which were discovered at Oxyrhynchus in Egypt. A few fragments survive on other materials, including parchment and potsherds. The oldest surviving fragment of Sappho currently known is the Cologne papyrus which contains the Tithonus poem; it dates to the third century BC.
Though the Alexandrian edition of Sappho's poetry made the transition from papyrus rolls to the codex, while less popular authors were not reproduced in this new format, and a significant amount of her poetry survived until the seventh century, her work appears to have disappeared around the ninth century, and did not make the transition to minuscule handwriting. Sappho's poetry continued to be accessible only in quotations from other ancient authors, which, until printed editions of Greek texts began to appear in the Renaissance, would only have been accessible in manuscript form in monastic libraries. In 1508, a collection of Greek rhetorical works edited by Demetrios Doukas and published by Aldus Manutius made a poem by Sappho (the Ode to Aphrodite) available in print for the first time; in 1554, Henri Estienne was the first to collect her poetry when he printed the Ode to Aphrodite and the Midnight poem after a collection of fragments of Anacreon. The first modern edition devoted solely to Sappho's work was published in 1733 by Johann Christian Wolf [de], including fourteen fragments not previously included in collections of her poetry. The work of collecting quotations from Sappho from ancient sources culminated in Theodor Bergk's edition of the Greek lyric poets, whose second edition contained 120 fragments of Sappho and 50 testimonia.
The last quarter of the nineteenth century began a new period in the rediscovery of Sappho's poetry, with the discovery of a parchment fragment at Crocodilopolis (modern Faiyum) published by Friedrich Blass in 1880. From then until the publication of the "newest Sappho" in 2014, 24 papyri preserving texts of Sappho, and eight preserving related materials such as commentaries on her work, have been published. The most recent major editions of Sappho, by Edgar Lobel and Denys Page in 1955, and Eva-Maria Voigt in 1971, in conjunction with Lobel and Page's Supplementa Lyra Graeca, collect all of the material published by 1974; despite the publication of further papyrus fragments in 1997, 2004, 2005 and 2014, Voigt's remains the standard modern edition.

## Poems

The fragments of Sappho's poems are arranged in the editions of Lobel and Page, and Voigt, by the book from the Alexandrian edition of her works in which they are believed to have been found. Fragments 1–42 are from Book 1, 43–52 from Book 2, 53–57 from Book 3, 58–91 from Book 4; 92–101 from Book 5, 102 from Book 7, 103 from Book 8, and 104–117B from the Epithalamia. Fragments 118–168 are those which Lobel and Page did not assign to any particular book, and are arranged alphabetically. Fragment numbers with capital letters (such as 16A) were assigned by later editors to fit into Lobel and Page's numeration; lowercase letters indicate different parts of the same fragment.
| Fragment Number | Sources | Meter | No. of lines |
| Fragment 1 | P. Oxy. 2288; Dionysius of Halicarnassus | Sapphic stanza | 28 |
| Fragment 2 | PSI 1300 | Sapphic stanza | 17 |
| Fragment 3 | P. Berol. 5006; P. Oxy. 424 | Sapphic stanza | 18 |
| Fragment 4 | P. Berol. 5006 | Sapphic stanza | 10 |
| Fragment 5 | P. Oxy. 7; P. Oxy. 2289; P. GC | Sapphic stanza | 20 |
| Fragment 6 | P. Oxy. 2289 | perhaps Sapphic stanza | 15 |
| Fragment 7 | P. Oxy. 2289 | Sapphic stanza | 7 |
| Fragment 8 | P. Oxy. 2289 | [Sapphic stanza] | 5 |
| Fragment 9 | P. Oxy. 2289; P. GC | Sapphic stanza | 20 |
| Brothers Poem | P. Oxy. 2289; P. Sapph. Obbink | Sapphic stanza | 24 |
| Fragment 12 | P. Oxy. 2289 | Sapphic stanza | 9 |
| Fragment 15 | P. Oxy. 1231 | Sapphic stanza | 12 |
| Fragment 16 | P. Oxy. 1231; PSI 123; P. GC | Sapphic stanza | 20 |
| Fragment 16A | P. Oxy. 1231; PSI 123; P. GC | Sapphic stanza | 12 |
| Fragment 17 | PSI 123; P. Oxy. 1231; P. Oxy. 2166(a); P. Oxy. 2289; P. GC | Sapphic stanza | 20 |
| Fragment 18 | P. Oxy. 1231; P. GC | [Sapphic stanza] | 15 |
| Fragment 18A | P. GC | [Sapphic stanza] | 9 |
| Fragment 19 | P. Oxy. 1231 | Sapphic stanza | 12 |
| Fragment 20 | P. Oxy. 1231 | Sapphic stanza | 24 |
| Fragment 21 | P. Oxy. 1231; Apollonius Dyscolus | Sapphic stanza | 15 |
| Fragment 22 | P. Oxy. 1231 | Sapphic stanza | 19 |
| Fragment 23 | P. Oxy. 1231 | Sapphic stanza | 14 |
| Fragment 24a | P. Oxy. 1231 | Sapphic stanza | 8 |
| Fragment 24b | P. Oxy. 2166 | Sapphic stanza | 5 |
| Fragment 24c | P. Oxy. 1231 | Sapphic stanza | 9 |
| Fragment 24d | P. Oxy. 1231 | Sapphic stanza | 7 |
| Fragment 25 | P. Oxy. 1231 | Sapphic stanza | 7 |
| Fragment 26 | P. Oxy. 1231, P. Sapph. Obbink | Sapphic stanza | 16 |
| Fragment 27 | P. Oxy. 1231 | Sapphic stanza | 13 |
| Fragment 28a | P. Oxy. 1231 | [Sapphic stanza] | 4 |
| Fragment 28b | P. Oxy. 1231 | [Sapphic stanza] | 5 |
| Fragment 28c | P. Oxy. 1231 | [Sapphic stanza] | 5 |
| Fragment 29a | P. Oxy. 1231 | [Sapphic stanza] | 4 |
| Fragment 29b | P. Oxy. 1231 | [Sapphic stanza] | 5 |
| Fragment 29c | P. Oxy. 1231; P. Oxy. 2166 | [Sapphic stanza] | 11 |
| Fragment 29d | P. Oxy. 1231 | [Sapphic stanza] | 4 |
| Fragment 29e | P. Oxy. 1231 | [Sapphic stanza] | 3 |
| Fragment 29f | P. Oxy. 1231 | [Sapphic stanza] | 7 |
| Fragment 29g | P. Oxy. 2081 | [Sapphic stanza] | 4 |
| Fragment 29h | P. Oxy. 2166 | [Sapphic stanza] | 8 |
| Fragment 29i | P. Oxy. 2166 | [Sapphic stanza] | 5 |
| Fragment 30 | P. Oxy. 1231 | Sapphic stanza | 9 |
| Fragment 31 | Longinus | Sapphic stanza | 17 |
| Fragment 32 | Apollonius Dyscolus | Sapphic stanza | 2 |
| Fragment 33 | Apollonius Dyscolus | Sapphic stanza | 2 |
| Fragment 34 | Eustathius | Sapphic stanza | 5 |
| Fragment 35 | Strabo | Sapphic stanza | 1 |
| Fragment 36 | Etymologicum Genuinum | Sapphic stanza? | 1 |
| Fragment 37 | Etymologicum Genuinum | Sapphic stanza | 3 |
| Fragment 38 | Apollonius Dyscolus | Sapphic stanza | 1 |
| Fragment 39 | Scholiast on Aristophanes' Peace | Sapphic stanza | 3 |
| Fragment 40 | Apollonius Dyscolus | Sapphic stanza | 2 |
| Fragment 41 | Apollonius Dyscolus | Sapphic stanza | 2 |
| Fragment 42 | Scholiast on Pindar | Sapphic stanza | 2 |
| Fragment 43 | P. Oxy. 1232 | ]-uu-ux, possibly Glyconic with 2x dactylic expansion | 9 |
| Fragment 44 | P. Oxy. 1232 | Glyconic with 2x dactylic expansion | 34 |
| Fragment 44Aa | P. Fouad. 239 | ]-uu-uu-ux, possibly Glyconic with 2x dactylic expansion | 12 |
| Fragment 44Ab | P. Fouad. 239 | xx-uu-[ | 10 |
| Fragment 45 | Apollonius Dyscolus | Glyconic with 2x dactylic expansion | 1 |
| Fragment 46 | Herodian | Glyconic with 2x dactylic expansion | 2 |
| Fragment 47 | Maximus of Tyre | Glyconic with 2x dactylic expansion | 2 |
| Fragment 48 | Julian | Glyconic with 2x dactylic expansion | 2 |
| Fragment 49 | Hephaestion; Plutarch | Glyconic with 2x dactylic expansion | 2 |
| Fragment 50 | Galen | Glyconic with 2x dactylic expansion | 2 |
| Fragment 51 | Chrysippus | Glyconic with 2x dactylic expansion | 1 |
| Fragment 52 | Herodian | Glyconic with 2x dactylic expansion? | 1 |
| Fragment 53 | Scholiast on Theocritus | Glyconic with 2x choriambic expansion | 1 |
| Fragment 54 | Julius Pollux | Glyconic with 2x choriambic expansion | 1 |
| Fragment 55 | Stobaeus | Glyconic with 2x choriambic expansion | 4 |
| Fragment 56 | Chrysippus | Glyconic with 2x choriambic expansion | 3 |
| Fragment 57 | Athenaeus | ll.1–2 uncertain; l.3 Glyconic with 2x choriambic expansion | 3 |
| Pre-58 (Oxyrhynchus) | P. Oxy. 1787 | Acephalous Hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion | 10 |
| Pre-58 (Cologne) | P. Köln inv.21351+21376 | Acephalous Hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion | 8 |
| Fragment 58 | P. Oxy. 1787; P. Köln inv.21351+21376 | Acephalous Hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion | 12 |
| Post-58 (Oxyrhynchus) | P. Oxy. 1787 | Acephalous Hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion | 4 |
| Fragment 59 | P. Oxy. 1787 | [acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion] | 3 |
| Fragment 60 | P. Halle. 3 | ]-uu-u-x, possibly acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion | 11 |
| Fragment 61 | P. Oxy. 1787 | [acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion] | 2 |
| Fragment 62 | P. Oxy. 1787 | x-uu--uu-[, possibly acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion | 12 |
| Fragment 63 | P. Oxy. 1787 | x-uu--uu-[, possibly acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion | 10 |
| Fragment 64a | P. Oxy. 1787 | [acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion, possibly three line strophes based on acephalous hipponacteans with a shorter third line] | 15 |
| Fragment 64b | P. Oxy. 1787 | [acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion] | 4 |
| Fragment 65 | P. Oxy. 1787 | x-uu-[, possibly acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion, possibly three line strophes based on acephalous hipponacteans with a shorter third line | 11 |
| Fragment 66a | P. Oxy. 1787 | [acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion] | 3 |
| Fragment 66b | P. Oxy. 1787 | [acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion] | 4 |
| Fragment 66c | P. Oxy. 1787 | [acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion] | 3 |
| Fragment 67a | P. Oxy. 1787 | x-uu-[, possibly acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion | 8 |
| Fragment 67b | P. Oxy. 1787 | [acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion] | 7 |
| Fragment 68a | P. Oxy. 1787 | ]uu--uu-u-x, possibly acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion | 12 |
| Fragment 68b | P. Oxy. 1787 | [acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion] | 6 |
| Fragment 69 | P. Oxy. 1787 | [acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion] | 3 |
| Fragment 70 | P. Oxy. 1787 | ]--uu-[ | 14 |
| Fragment 71 | P. Oxy. 1787 | ]uu--uu-u-x, possibly acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion | 8 |
| Fragment 72 | P. Oxy. 1787 | [acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion] | 8 |
| Fragment 73a | P. Oxy. 1787 | -]uu-u-x, possibly acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion, possibly three line strophes based on acephalous hipponacteans with a shorter third line | 9 |
| Fragment 73b | P. Oxy. 1787 | -]uu-u-x, possibly acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion, possibly three line strophes based on acephalous hipponacteans with a shorter third line | 3 |
| Fragment 74a | P. Oxy. 1787 | [acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion] | 6 |
| Fragment 74b | P. Oxy. 1787 | [acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion] | 3 |
| Fragment 74c | P. Oxy. 1787 | [acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion] | 4 |
| Fragment 74d | P. Oxy. 1787 | [acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion] | 3 |
| Fragment 75a | P. Oxy. 1787 | [acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion] | 8 |
| Fragment 75b | P. Oxy. 1787 | [acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion] | 5 |
| Fragment 75c | P. Oxy. 1787 | [acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion] | 5 |
| Fragment 76 | P. Oxy. 1787 | [acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion] | 7 |
| Fragment 77a | P. Oxy. 1787 | [acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion] | 9 |
| Fragment 77b | P. Oxy. 1787 | [acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion] | 6 |
| Fragment 77c | P. Oxy. 1787 | [acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion] | 4 |
| Fragment 78 | P. Oxy. 1787 | [acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion] | 7 |
| Fragment 79 | P. Oxy. 1787 | [acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion] | 6 |
| Fragment 80 | P. Oxy. 1787 | [acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion] | 6 |
| Fragment 81 | P. Oxy. 1787; Athenaeus | acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion | 7 |
| Fragment 82a | Hephaestion | acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion | 1 |
| Fragment 82b | P. Oxy. 1787 | acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion | 5 |
| Fragment 83 | P. Oxy. 1787 | [acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion] | 7 |
| Fragment 84 | P. Oxy. 1787 | [acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion] | 7 |
| Fragment 85a | P. Oxy. 1787 | [acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion] | 4 |
| Fragment 85b | P. Oxy. 1787 | [acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion] | 3 |
| Fragment 86 | P. Oxy. 1787 | ]-uu--uu-u-x, possibly acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion, possibly three line strophes based on acephalous hipponacteans with a shorter third line | 8 |
| Fragment 87a | P. Oxy. 1787 | [acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion] | 9 |
| Fragment 87b | P. Oxy. 1787 | [acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion] | 4 |
| Fragment 87c | P. Oxy. 1787 | [acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion] | 2 |
| Fragment 87d | P. Oxy. 2166 | [acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion] | 10 |
| Fragment 87e | P. Oxy. 2166 | [acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion] | 4 |
| Fragment 87f | P. Oxy. 2166 | [acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion] | 8 |
| Fragment 88a | P. Oxy. 2290 | -[ ]u--uu-u[-x|| x-[ ]--uu-[u-x|| -[ ]uu-u-x||| | 28 |
| Fragment 88b | P. Oxy. 2290 | -[ ]u--uu-u[-x|| x-[ ]--uu-[u-x|| -[ ]uu-u-x||| | 10 |
| Fragment 90a | P. Oxy. 2293 | [commentary] | 47 |
| Fragment 90b | P. Oxy. 2293 | [commentary] | 15 |
| Fragment 90c | P. Oxy. 2293 | [commentary] | 7 |
| Fragment 90d | P. Oxy. 2293 | [commentary] | 18 |
| Fragment 90e | P. Oxy. 2293 | [commentary] | 4 |
| Fragment 91 | Hephaestion | acephalous hipponacteans with 2x choriambic expansion | 1 |
| Fragment 92 | P. Berol. 9722 | xx-u[ | 16 |
| Fragment 93 | P. Berol. 9722 | ]uu-u- | 5 |
| Fragment 94 | P. Berol. 9722 | glyconic || glyconic || glyconic with dactylic expansion||| | 29 |
| Fragment 95 | P. Berol. 9722 | -u-xx-[ xx-uu-[ xx-uu-u[ (possibly the same as fr.96) | 16 |
| Fragment 96 | P. Berol. 9722 | creticus; 3x glyconics; baccheus||| | 36 |
| Fragment 97 | P. Berol. 9722 | uncertain | 27 |
| Fragment 98a | Pap. Haun. 301 | glyconic||glyconic||creticus glyconic||| | 12 |
| Fragment 98b | Pap. Mediol. 32 | glyconic||glyconic||creticus glyconic||| | 9 |
| Fragment 100 | Julius Pollux | uncertain | 1 |
| Fragment 101 | Athenaeus | perhaps: glyconic||glyconic||glyconic with dactylic expansion||| | 4 |
| Fragment 101A | Demetrius, On Style | uncertain; perhaps glyconic||hipponactean|| | 4 |
| Fragment 102 | Hephaestion | iambus glyconic bacchius | 2 |
| Fragment 103 | P. Oxy. 2294 | ]-uu-uu-u[ $_^$hipp$^{2ch}$ or 3cho ba. | 10 |
| Fragment 103Aa | P. Cair. Mediol. 7 | [Alcaic stanza] | 9 |
| Fragment 103Ab | P. Cair. Mediol. 7 | [Alcaic stanza] | 4 |
| Fragment 103B | P. Oxy. 2308 | ]--uu--[ | 5 |
| Fragment 103Ca | P. Oxy. 2357 | uncertain | 8 |
| Fragment 103Cb | P. Oxy. 2357 | uncertain | 6 |
| Fragment 104a | Demetrius, On Style | l.1: 6 dactyls catalectic, l.2 iamb|pherecratean with 2x dactylic expansion | 2 |
| Fragment 104b | Himerius | uncertain | 1 |
| Fragment 105a | Syrianus on Hermogenes | dactylic hexameter | 3 |
| Fragment 105b | Demetrius, On Style | 6 dactyls catalectic | 2 |
| Fragment 106 | Demetrius, On Style | 6 dactyls catalectic | 1 |
| Fragment 107 | Apollonius Dyscolus | Possibly dactylic hexameter | 1 |
| Fragment 108 | Himerius | Possibly dactylic hexameter | 1 |
| Fragment 109 | Homeric Parsings | Possibly dactylic hexameter | 1 |
| Fragment 110 | Hephaestion | pherecratean with dactylic expansion | 3 |
| Fragment 111 | Hephaestion | uncertain, perhaps pherecratean||iamb||acephalous pherecratean with dactylic expansion||iamb||| | 8 |
| Fragment 112 | Hephaestion | choriambus bacchius choriambus bacchius|| | 5 |
| Fragment 113 | Dionysius of Halicarnassus | 3x ionics? | 2 |
| Fragment 114 | Demetrius, On Style | l.1 3 choriambus bacchius; l.2 uncertain | 2 |
| Fragment 115 | Hephaestion | pherecratean with 2x dactylic expansion | 2 |
| Fragment 116 | Servius | uncertain | 1 |
| Fragment 117 | Hephaestion | 3 iambs catalectic? | 1 |
| Fragment 117A | Hesychius of Alexandria | -uu-uu | 1 |
| Fragment 117Ba | Marius Plotius Sacerdos | -uu-uu | 1 |
| Fragment 117Bb | Marius Plotius Sacerdos | -uu-uu | 1 |
| Fragment 118 | Hermogenes | uncertain | 2 |
| Fragment 119 | Scholiast on Aristophanes' Plutus | uncertain | 1 |
| Fragment 120 | Etymologicum Magnum | glyconic with choriambic expansion | 2 |
| Fragment 121 | Stobaeus | uncertain | 2 |
| Fragment 122 | Athenaeus | uncertain | 1 |
| Fragment 123 | Ammonius Grammaticus | creticus hipponactean? | 1 |
| Fragment 124 | Hephaestion | --uu-uu-(x-u-u--) | 1 |
| Fragment 125 | Scholiast on Aristophanes' Thesmophoriazusae | uncertain | 1 |
| Fragment 126 | Etymologicum Genuinum | uncertain | 1 |
| Fragment 127 | Hephaestion | ithyphallicus|ithyphallicus|| | 1 |
| Fragment 128 | Hephaestion | 3 choriambs bacchius | 1 |
| Fragment 129a | Apollonius Dyscolus | uncertain | 1 |
| Fragment 129b | Apollonius Dyscolus | uncertain | 1 |
| Fragment 130 | Hephaestion | glyconic with dactylic expansion | 4 |
| Fragment 132 | Hephaestion | uncertain | 3 |
| Fragment 133 | Hephaestion | ia 2io anacl | 2 |
| Fragment 134 | Hephaestion | 3 io anacl | 1 |
| Fragment 135 | Hephaestion | 3 ionics | 1 |
| Fragment 136 | Scholiast on Sophocles' Electra | pherecratean with 2x dactylic expansion | 1 |
| Fragment 137 | Aristotle | Alcaic stanza | 7 |
| Fragment 138 | Athenaeus | ia $_^$gl or ia $_^$gl ia | 2 |
| Fragment 139 | Philo | uncertain | 2 |
| Fragment 140 | Hephaestion | pherecratean with 2x choriambic expansion | 2 |
| Fragment 141 | Athenaeus | ll.1 and 4 acephalous pherecratean? ll.2-3 and 5-6 uncertain | 6 |
| Fragment 142 | Athenaeus | dactylic hexameter (or pherecratean with 3x dactylic expansion) | 1 |
| Fragment 143 | Athenaeus | dactylic hexameter (or pherecratean with 3x dactylic expansion) | 1 |
| Fragment 144 | Herodian | gl$^{xd}$ | 2 |
| Fragment 145 | Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius | xx-uu-? | 1 |
| Fragment 146 | Tryphon | pherecratean with dactylic expansion | 1 |
| Fragment 147 | Dio Chrysostom | uncertain | 1 |
| Fragment 148 | Scholiast on Pindar | uncertain | 2 |
| Fragment 149 | Apollonius Dyscolus | pher$^{xd}$? | 1 |
| Fragment 150 | Maximus of Tyre | glyconic with 2x choriambic expansion? | 2 |
| Fragment 151 | Etymologicum Genuinum | pherecratean with choriambic expansion | 1 |
| Fragment 152 | Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius | gl$^{xd}$? | 2 |
| Fragment 153 | Atilius Fortunatianus | uncertain | 1 |
| Fragment 154 | Hephaestion | $_^$gl ba|| | 2 |
| Fragment 155 | Maximus of Tyre | cr| $_^$hipp$^d$ or cr $_^$gl | 1 |
| Fragment 156 | Demetrius, On Style | possibly glyconic with 2x dactylic expansion | 2 |
| Fragment 157 | Etymologicum Genuinum | Sapphics? | 1 |
| Fragment 158 | Plutarch | 2 ad? | 2 |
| Fragment 159 | Maximus of Tyre | uncertain | 1 |
| Fragment 160 | Athenaeus | Sapphics? | 2 |
| Fragment 161 | P. Bouriant | uncertain, perhaps $_^$ia pher$^{2d}$ | 1 |
| Fragment 162 | Choeroboscus | [u-u---u] | 1 |
| Fragment 163 | Julian | [uu-u-u] | 1 |
| Fragment 164 | Apollonius Dyscolus | [---uu-] | 1 |
| Fragment 165 | Apollonius Dyscolus | [Sapphic stanza] | 1 |
| Fragment 166 | Athenaeus | gl$^c$ | 2 |
| Fragment 167 | Athenaeus | gl$^{xd}$ | 1 |
| Fragment 168 | Marius Plotius Sacerdos | Sapphic stanza? | 1 |
| Fragment 168A | Etymologicum Genuinum | glyconic? | 1 |
| Fragment 168B | Hephaestion | Acephalous hipponacteans | 4 |
| Fragment 168C | Demetrius, On Style | Alcaic stanza? | 1 |

## Glosses

These fragments are isolated words quoted by other ancient authors, arranged alphabetically.
| Fragment Number | Sources |
| Fragment 169 | Scholiast on the Iliad |
| Fragment 169A | Hesychius, Lexicon |
| Fragment 170 | Strabo, Geography |
| Fragment 171 | Photius, Lexicon |
| Fragment 172 | Maximus of Tyre, Orations |
| Fragment 173 | Choeroboscus on Theodosius |
| Fragment 174 | Orion, Lexicon |
| Fragment 175 | Apollonius Dyscolus, Adverbs |
| Fragment 176 | Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae |
| Fragment 177 | Julius Pollux |
| Fragment 179 | Phrynichus |
| Fragment 180 | Hesychius |
| Fragment 181 | Scholiast on Dionysius of Thrace |
| Fragment 182 | Scholiast on the Iliad |
| Fragment 183 | Porphyry on the Iliad |
| Fragment 184 | Choeroboscus on Theodosius |
| Fragment 185 | Philostratus, Images |
| Fragment 186 | John of Alexandria |
| Fragment 187 | Homeric Parsings |
| Fragment 188 | Maximus of Tyre |
| Fragment 189 | Phrynichus |
| Fragment 190 | Scholiast on the Iliad |
| Fragment 191 | Julius Pollux |
| Fragment 192 | Julius Pollux |

## Testimonia

The testimonia are ancient accounts of Sappho, her life, and her poetry, which are conventionally included in critical editions of her work. The selection included in these editions varies considerably. Along with the seventy included in Voigt's edition, those given in Campbell's Loeb edition are listed here.
| Voigt Number | Campbell Number | Sources |
| Fragment 194 | | Himerius |
| Fragment 194A | | Michael Italikos |
| Fragment 195 | | Demetrius, On Style |
| Fragment 196 | | Aelius Aristides |
| Fragment 197 | | Libanius |
| Fragment 198a | | Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius |
| Fragment 198b | | Scholiast on Theocritus |
| Fragment 198c | | Pausanias |
| Fragment 199 | | Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius |
| Fragment 200 | | Scholiast on Hesiod |
| Fragment 201 | | Aristotle |
| Fragment 203a | | Athenaeus |
| Fragment 203b | | Eustathius of Thessalonica |
| Fragment 203c | | Scholiast on Iliad |
| Fragment 204a | | Scholiast on Pindar |
| Fragment 204b | | Pausanias |
| Fragment 205 | | Aulus Gellius |
| Fragment 206 | | Servius on Virgil |
| Fragment 207 | | Servius on Virgil |
| Fragment 208 | | Himerius |
| Fragment 209 | | Eustathius of Thessalonica |
| Fragment 210 | | Scholiast on Theocritus |
| Fragment 211a | T. 3, 23 | Pseudo-Palaephatus; Strabo; Alciphron; Plutarch; Scholiast on Libanius; Suda; Servius; Lucian; Scholiast on Lucian; Hesychius |
| Fragment 211b | | Pliny the Elder |
| Fragment 211c | | Aelian; Athenaeus; Comes Natalis |
| Fragment 212 | | Comes Natalis |
| Fragment 213 | | P. Oxy. 2292 |
| Fragment 213Aa | | P. Oxy. 2506 |
| Fragment 213Ab | | P. Oxy. 2506 |
| Fragment 213Ac | | P. Oxy. 2506 |
| Fragment 213Ad | | P. Oxy. 2506 |
| Fragment 213Ae | | P. Oxy. 2506 |
| Fragment 213Af | | P. Oxy. 2506 |
| Fragment 213Ag | | P. Oxy. 2506 |
| Fragment 213Ah | T. 14 | P. Oxy. 2506 |
| Fragment 213Ai | | P. Oxy. 2506 |
| Fragment 213Ak | | P. Oxy. 2506 |
| Fragment 213B | | PSI (Ommaggio all' XI congresso internationale di papirologia, Florence 1965, 16s.) |
| | Fragment 213C | P. Mich. inv. 3498 |
| Fragment 214 | | Pausanias |
| | Fragment 214A | P. Oxy. 2637 |
| | Fragment 214B | P. Colon. 5860 |
| | Fragment 214C | P. Colon. inv. 8 |
| Fragment 215 | T. 45 | Demetrius, On Style |
| Fragment 216 | | Philostratus |
| Fragment 217 | | Philostratus |
| Fragment 218 | | Himerius |
| Fragment 219 | T. 20 | Maximus of Tyre |
| Fragment 220 | | Himerius |
| Fragment 221 | T. 50 | Himerius |
| Fragment 222 | T. 47 | Menander |
| Fragment 223 | T. 21 | Philostratus |
| Fragment 224 | T. 18 | Horace |
| Fragment 225 | T. 51 | Horace |
| Fragment 226 | T. 29 | Scholiast on metre of Pindar |
| Fragment 227 | | Hephaestion |
| Fragment 228 | T. 30 | Hephaestion |
| Fragment 229 | | Hephaestion |
| Fragment 230 | T. 31 | Caesius Bassus |
| Fragment 231 | | Atilius Fortunatianus |
| Fragment 232 | | Hephaestion |
| Fragment 233 | T. 32 | Photius |
| Fragment 234 | | Servius on Virgil |
| Fragment 235 | | Suda |
| Fragment 236 | | Hephaestion |
| Fragment 237 | T. 36 | Dionysius of Halicarnassus |
| Fragment 238 | | Atilius Fortunatianus |
| Fragment 239 | | Marius Victorinus |
| Fragment 240 | | Scholiast on Hephaestion |
| Fragment 242 | | Marius Victorinus |
| Fragment 243 | | Servius |
| Fragment 244 | T. 22 | Seneca the Younger |
| Fragment 245 | T. 41 | Strabo |
| Fragment 246 | T. 37 | Aristoxenus |
| Fragment 247 | T. 38 | Menaechmus |
| Fragment 248 | T. 40 | Suda |
| Fragment 249 | T. 6 | Eusebius |
| Fragment 250 | T. 8 | Athenaeus |
| Fragment 251 | T. 5 | Parian Chronicle |
| Fragment 252 | T. 1 | P. Oxy. 1800 |
| Fragment 253 | T. 2 | Suda |
| Fragment 254a | | Herodotus |
| Fragment 254b | | Strabo |
| Fragment 254c | | Athenaeus |
| Fragment 254d | | Photius |
| Fragment 254e | | Suda |
| Fragment 254f | | Appendix Proverbiorum |
| Fragment 254g | | John Tzetzes |
| Fragment 255 | | Scholiast on Plato |
| Fragment 256 | T. 4 | Aelian |
| Fragment 257 | | Suda |
| Fragment 258 | | Maximus of Tyre |
| Fragment 259 | | Scholiast on Lucian |
| Fragment 260a | T. 34 | Horace |
| Fragment 260b | T. 17 | Porphyrio |
| Fragment 260c | T. 17 | Dionysius Latinus |
| Fragment 261 | | Ovid |
| Fragment 262 | | Tatian |
| Fragment 263 | T. 13, 16, 19, 44 | Heroides 15 |
| Fragment 264 | T. 7 | Strabo |

## Uncertain authorship

Fragments where the authorship is uncertain. In most cases, this is because the dialect is identifiable as Aeolic, but the poem may be by either Sappho or Alcaeus of Mytilene.
| Fragment Number | Sources | Meter | Lines |
| Fragment 1 | Scholiast to Odyssey | gl$^{xc}$ | 1 |
| Fragment 2 | Etymologicum Genuinum | | 1 |
| Fragment 3 | Apollonius Dyscolus | | 1 |
| Fragment 4 | Homeric Parsings | aeol$^{xc}$ | 1 |
| Fragment 5a | Herodian | gl$^{2d}$? | 1 |
| Fragment 5b | Herodian | | 1 |
| Fragment 5c | Herodian | | 1 |
| Fragment 6 | Anonymous grammarian | uncertain | 1 |
| Fragment 10 | Herodian | Alcaic stanza | 2 |
| Fragment 11 | Herodian | uncertain | 1 |
| Fragment 12 | Homeric Parsings | uncertain (u--uuu) | 1 |
| Fragment 14 | Homeric Parsings | uncertain ((-)u---uu-) | 1 |
| Fragment 15a | Zenobius | | 1 |
| Fragment 15b | Scholiast on Aelius Aristides | | 1 |
| Fragment 16 | Hephaestion | $_^$hipp$^c$ | 3 |
| Fragment 18 | Anonymous | ]uu-u-u--, $_^$gl ba? | 2 |
| Fragment 19 | Apollonius Dyscolus | | 1 |
| Fragment 20 | Joannes Zonaras | | 1 |
| Fragment 21 | Hephaestion | ia $_^$gl ia | 2 |
| Fragment 22 | Hephaestion | uncertain | 1 |
| Fragment 23 | Philodemus | cho 2io anacl or hemiepes u-u-- | 1 |
| Fragment 25 | Scholiast on Theocritus | uncertain (5da^) | 1 |
| Fragment 25A | Etymologicum Genuinum | | 1 |
| Fragment 25B | Etymologicum Magnum | | 1 |
| Fragment 25C | Eustathius of Thessalonica | | 2 |
| Fragment 27 | P. Vind. 29777 | Sapphic stanza? | 3 |
| Fragment 28 | P. Oxy. 2299 | uncertain | 8 |
| Fragment 29 | P. Oxy. 2299 | | 2 |
| Fragment 30 | P. Oxy. 2299 | uncertain | 8 |
| Fragment 31a | P. Oxy. 2299 | ]u-u--uu-[ | 15 |
| Fragment 31b | P. Oxy. 2299 | ]u-u--uu-[ | 4 |
| Fragment 32 | P. Oxy. 2299 | uncertain | 11 |
| Fragment 33 | P. Oxy. 2299 | | 3 |
| Fragment 34a | P. Oxy. 2299 | xx-uu[ | 17 |
| Fragment 34b | P. Oxy. 2299 | xx-uu[ | 5 |
| Fragment 35 | P. Oxy. 2299 | ]u---uu-u--, $_^$hipp$^{xc}$ or 3cho ba | 8 |
| Fragment 36a | P. Oxy. 2299 | uncertain (-u- | 6 |
| Fragment 36b | P. Oxy. 2299 | uncertain (-u- | 4 |
| Fragment 37 | P. Oxy. 2299 | uncertain | 13 |
| Fragment 38 | P. Oxy. 2299 | uncertainu-- | 3 |
| Fragment 39 | P. Oxy. 2299 | uncertainuu- | 3 |
| Fragment 40 | P. Oxy. 2299 | uncertainu-- | 4 |
| Fragment 41 | P. Oxy. 2299 | | 7 |
| Fragment 42 | P. Oxy. 2378 | uncertain | 16 |
| Alcaeus 303Aa | P. Oxy. 2291 | $_^$gl || $_^$gl ia | 9 |
| Alcaeus 303Ab | P. Oxy. 2291 | 2 ia || ? || 2 ia ||| | 15 |
| Alcaeus 303Ac | P. Oxy. 2291 | uncertain (ia? gl?) | 25 |

## Spurious epigrams

According to the Suda, Sappho wrote epigrams and elegies. Three epigrams in the Greek Anthology are attributed to Sappho, though none of them are authentic. These are nonetheless included in Campbell's and Neri's editions.
| Poem number (Neri) | Poem number (Campbell) | Source | Meter | Lines |
| 307 | 157D | Greek Anthology 6.269 | elegiacs | 6 |
| 308 | 158D | Greek Anthology 7.489 | elegiacs | 4 |
| 309 | 159D | Greek Anthology 7.505 | elegiacs | 2 |