Sappho

In Eressos lived Sappho, one of the most important poets of antiquity and Theophrastus, who was a competent philosopher and scientist.
Sappho lived around the 6th century BC. He was born and raised as mentioned earlier in Eressos, Lesvos. Her father was called Skamandromonimos and her mother Kleidas. He also had three brothers. From sources we know that her family had prestige in her time. Without being sure we mention that she married a fairly wealthy Andriotis, Kerkylas, with whom she had a daughter who gave her the name of her grandmother (Kleida). On the occasion of the political disturbances that prevailed on the island, Sappho left Mytilene and settled in Sicily.
After things calmed down in Mytilene, a widow, she turned back and dealt with the education of young girls. It is heard that she had special relationships with her students and we understand this from the content of some of her poems in which she expresses her sadness when they left her to get married or her joy for the beautiful moments they spent together.

Sappho had the appreciation and admiration of all the ancient Greeks who were art lovers. Plato and not only calls it <δέκατη μούσα="">>, Socrates <σοφή>>, Horace argues that it is worthy of sacred admiration and Odysseus Elytis dedicates an excerpt from his work to her poetry.</σοφή> </δέκατη> Even Herodotus makes references to her family. After her death, compatriots depicted her figure on coins as a token of honor. In Sicily they built a cenotaph in memory of it and it was praised by all over the ancient world.

Sappho wrote love poems, hymns to the gods and epithalami. The main element of her poems is love, which is why most of them are very private. She makes very simple descriptions and expressions, from which one can understand her feelings and impressions. She often refers to her students and her school. She used the simple Aeolian dialect of Lesvos to write her poems.

One last thing about Sappho. From her work has survived very little material, which has been translated into the main European languages and is taught in universities.

Theophrastus

Theophrastus lived in the 4th century BC. She was born and raised in Eressos, as was Sappho. His father, who was a wealthy merchant, was called Melantas. After some years he left Eressos and went to Athens, where he dealt with philosophy and science.

After Plato's death, he followed Aristotle and became one of his best disciples. The normal name of Theophrastus was Tirtamos, but as Aristotle saw his philomatheia and intelligence, he gave him the name Theophrastus. Aristotle had a great appreciation for Theophrastus, so he left him the walking school (323 BC). Theophrastus was very successful when he took over the school as more than 2000 students were studying there, at that time. In addition, he taught and left many writings. The money he earned from the school made him quite rich and allowed him to live with special luxury.

The work of Theophrastus consists of 240 books, the subjects of which are: Ethics, Logic, Rhetoric, the History of Sciences or Metaphysics and mainly Botany and Zoology. His most famous surviving work is the Characters. This book talks about the different characters of people , who are described with simplicity and precision. In addition, his other famous works are: the history of plants and the causes of plants, which apparently refer to the phytology.

Probably some of the works of Theophrastus as <οι χαρακτήρες="">> were played in the ancient theater.</οι>

And finally, as Theophrastus was a very important and studious teacher, the school of Eressos was named Theofrastio for his sake!