The most famous lesbian in history is without doubt Sappho of Lesbos, born in the seventh century B.C. Praised by the Greeks for her sublime poetry she was variously depicted "the tenth Muse", "the marvel among women", etc.

There is still debate as to whether she was truly an exclusive homosexual or really bisexual, enjoying passionate relationships with both men and women. The life and poetry of Sappho - or Psappha, as she called herself in a local dialect - are filled with the love of women. She gathered a circle of girls around her; and with them she explored poetry, music and love. Inevitably the early Christians thought her highly mmoral.

Thus Saint Gregory of Nazianzus, Bishop of Constantinople, ordered her books to be burned wherever they were found, and he termed her "gynaeon pornikon erotomanes" ("lewd nymphomaniac"). In 1072 Pope Gregory destroyed more of her surviving works. The poems of Sappho that are still known today are said to represent about 5 per cent of her total output, the rest having been destroyed by the bigots.