Archilochus

Douglas Gerber (University of Western Ontario)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.1.1: Greek Writing and Culture: Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic and Imperial, -800--100.
Vol. editors: Jonathan Burgess (University of Toronto), Giacomo Fedeli (University of Exeter), Emily Kneebone (University of Nottingham), Vaios Liapis (Open University of Cyprus), Elodie Paillard (University of Sydney), Mali Skotheim (Ashoka University), Laura Swift (The Open University)

Dates

Born c. -700
Died c. -600
Activity c. -680-c. -600

Places

Born in Ancient Greece
Active in Ancient Greece

Activities

Primary

Poet

Other

Soldier

Resources

Archilochus' Works

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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 remains can be assigned to a date earlier than Archilochus,

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760 words

Citation: Gerber, Douglas. "Archilochus". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 05 April 2006 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=11706, accessed 23 April 2024.]

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