Archilochus Handbook

Archilochus was a Greek poet living in the 7th Century BC. He originated from the island of Paros but spent considerable time working on and fighting for Thasos, the Thracian colony of Paros. Archilochus' relationship with Thasos and the idea of Greek colonization is explored in his poetry. He is unique in being the first Greek author to compose almost entirely based on his own emotions and experiences. Previous poets, namely Homer and Hesiod, used Greek myth and legend as the basis of their poetry. Archilochus takes his listener to a different place with different concerns. Throughout his poetry, Archilochus explores what it means to be a person trying to make terms with the world and events surrounding him.

Archilochus held a special place in the canon of Greek authors. Alexandrian scholars included him in their canonic list of iambic poets, along with Semonides and Hipponax, yet ancient commentators also numbered him with Tyrtaeus and Callinus as the possible inventor of the elegy. However modern critics often characterize him simply as a lyric poet. Although his work now only survives in fragments, he was revered by the ancient Greeks as one of their most brilliant authors, able to be mentioned in the same breath as Homer and Hesiod, yet he was also censured by them as the archetypal poet of blame-his invectives were even said to have driven his former fiancee and her father to suicide. Archilochus was controversial and seen as reprehensible because of his viewpoints. Nevertheless, Archilochus was respected and revered by many Greeks. "