Greek Poets

Homer

750 BCE

Homer, presumed author of the Iliad and Odyssey was one of the great poets despite of his blindness

Hesiod

700 BCE

Hesiod, was known to be the “father of Greek didactic poetry.” Two of his complete epics have survived, the Theogony, relating the myths of the gods, and the Works and Days, describing peasant life.

Archilochus

650 BCE

Archilochus, poet and soldier, the earliest Greek who wrote iambic, elegiac, and personal lyric poetry was one of the poets who writes about physical ability.

Solon

630 BCE

Solon, Athenian statesman, known as one of the Seven Wise Men of Greece. He was also a noted poet. He also laid the foundation of democracy in Athens.

Alcaeus

620 BCE

Alcaeus is a Greek lyric poet whose work was highly esteemed in the ancient world. He lived at the same time and in the same city as the poet Sappho.

Sappho

610 BCE

Sappho is a Greek lyric poet greatly admired in all ages for the beauty of her writing style. She ranks with Archilochus and Alcaeus, for her ability to impress readers with a lively sense of her personality.

Anacreon

582 BCE

Anacreon is an ancient Greek lyric poet who wrote in the Ionic dialect. Only fragments of his verse have survived. Some of his works are Old Age and The Wiser Part.

Xenophanes

560 BCE

Xenophanes, Greek poet and rhapsode, religious thinker, and reputed precursor of the Eleatic school of philosophy, provides philosophical basis for the development of monotheism.