Many existing Sappho works were gained from arabic versions of her writing. The arab scholarly world was immune to the purges of the Christian community, so many works lost in the original greek came from them.
She was also noted during her life as the headmistress of a sort of Greek finishing school for girls. Most likely the objects of her poetry were her students.
In ancient and mediaeveal times she was more famous for (according to legend) throwing herself off a cliff due to unrequited love for a male sailor. However, this legend has no substantiation in greek history, and it is generally believed that the legend was a fiction created by the Christian church to misdirect ettention from the overtones of her writing.