Alcaeus

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1. Greek lyric poet (b. before 620 BC) from Mytilene, chief city of Lesbos. Until recent years his poetry survived only in quotations made by later authors, but since the decipherment in the twentieth century of certain Egyptian papyri (see PAPYROLOGY) much more of his poetry has come to light, though the tattered fragments have yielded very few complete poems. Many of the poems concern the politics of the time, in which Alcaeus was closely involved. After the overthrow of the ruling family, the Penthelidae, Mytilene was governed by a series of tyrants, Melanchrus (612–609), Myrsilus, and Pittacus (590–580), all of whom were generally opposed by Alcaeus' family or party. There was a closing of ranks when the Lesbians, Alcaeus among them, fought under Pittacus against the Athenians, c.606 BC, for the possession of Sigeum, a key stronghold on the Hellespont. Athens held Sigeum and Alcaeus describes himself as abandoning his shield in the retreat, as the poet Archilochus did before him. At some stage when Pittacus was ruling, Alcaeus went away to Egypt and his brother Antimenidas became a mercenary of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. He was eventually reconciled with Pittacus before the latter laid down the tyranny in 580, and returned home. The date of his death is unknown.

His poetry consists of lyrical songs, mostly monodies (see LYRIC POETRY) in two- or four-lined stanzas, in a great variety of metres. Many of these were later adapted to Latin poetry by Horace (see METRE, LATIN 3 (iii)), who imitated and wrote variations upon Alcaic themes throughout the Odes. As well as writing of politics and personalities with passion and gusto, Alcaeus composed love-songs (not always in his own person), now almost totally lost, drinking-songs, and hymns to the gods, all with simple directness, economy, and little imagery. (In some of his political poems he writes allegorically, using the image of the ship of state tossed by storm to describe political strife.) His language was the Aeolic vernacular spoken in Lesbos at that time, with a few Homeric forms (see DIALECTS, GREEK 2).

2. Greek comic poet, writer of Old Comedy, known to be active at the beginning of the fourth century BC.

3. An epigrammatist of the third to second century BC who has some fifteen epigrams in the Greek Anthology.

4. In Greek myth, a son of Perseus and father of Amphitryon; see also ALCIDES.

Alcaeus (ălsē'əs), c.620-c.580 B.C., Greek lyric poet of Lesbos. An aristocrat, he was often embroiled in political battles with the ruling tyrants. He wrote drinking songs, hymns, love songs, and political odes. He was, according to tradition, a close associate of Sappho. The Alcaic strophe (a four-line stanza) said to be his invention was much used by Greek lyrists and greatly admired by Horace who employed it with slight modification.

Bibliography

See D. Page, Sappho and Alcaeus (1955); H. Martin, Alcaeus (1972); A. P. Burnett, Three Archaic Poets (1983).

(ăl-sē'əs) , fl. 611?-580 B.C.

Greek poet who reputedly invented Alcaic verse.

See words rhyming with "Alcaeus."

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