Lesbos

Lesbos, an island in the AEgean now known as Mytilene. It lies to the N. of the Gulf of Smyrna. and is included in Asiatic Turkey. Its area is estimated at 676 square miles. In the ancient world it had a high name for its wines, oil, and grain; and it was the home of Alcaeus and Sappho the poets, of Pittacus the sage and statesman and Theophrastus the philosopher. The island is mountainous, and suffers from frequent earthquakes, but enjoys notwithstanding a beautiful climate. Lesbos passed from the Byzantine Empire to the Venetians, and from them to the Turks but its inhabitants are still Greeks.