The poem does not maintain a discernible setting, as it is an epistolary lyric poem dedicated largely to the speaker expressing her emotions toward her subject. However, Sappho herself is closely associated with her home on the Island of Lesbos, also called Lesvos or Myteline. Lesbos is a Greek island in the northeastern Aegean Sea. It is now one of five islands that make up the North Aegean region, along with Chios, Ikaria, Lemnos, and Samos. Notably, the island of Samos is said to have been the home of a Philaenis of Samos, the writer of a famous ancient sex manual. While many scholars agree that this Philaenis likely never actually existed, there is a geographical precedent for the relationship between Sappho of Lesbos and a young woman from another Aegean island.