Archilochus was born on the island of Paros in the central Aegean Sea. Neither the date of his birth nor of his death is known, but it is clear from archaeological and literary evidence that he lived in the 7th century. Paros had colonized the island of Thasos, close to the mainland at the northern end of the Aegean, and Archilochus was involved in the colonization. The mainland opposite Thasos was inhabited by Thracians, who frequently came into conflict with the Greek settlers. Such conflicts form the subject of a number of Archilochus’ poems. Paros was also on hostile terms with the neighbouring island of Naxos and a Naxian is said to have been responsible for Archilochus’ death.

There are only two Greek poets whose extant remai

This article in full comprises 760 words but only the first 150 or so words are available to non-members.

All our articles have been written recently by experts in their field, more than 95% of them university professors. To read about membership, please click here.

First published 05 April 2006

Citation: Gerber, Douglas. "Archilochus". The Literary Encyclopedia. 5 April 2006.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=11706, accessed 21 November 2009.]