Lesbos is a Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea, with Mytilene serving as its capital. Known to the Hittites as Lazpa (meaning "forested"), the island was colonized by Thessalians during the late Bronze Age. In 546 BC, Lesbos was conquered by Cyrus the Great following his defeat of King Croesus of Lydia, and it came under Athenian control in 480 BC and became part of the Delian League. However, it broke away from Athens during the Mytilenean revolt of 428 BC. During the 1090s, the island was briefly captured from the Byzantines by the Seljuk Turks, and the island was ruled by the Latin Empire from 1204 to 1224, the Byzantines from 1224 to 1354, the Genoese from 1354 to 1462, and the Ottomans from 1462 to 1912, when Greece reconquered the island following the First Balkan War. In 2021, Lesbos had a population of 83,068 people. The term "lesbian", referring to women sexually attracted to other women, comes from the island's most famous resident, the Ancient Greek poet Sappho, who expressed same-sex romantic desires in her poetry.
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