īambic poetry, that poetry in which the iambic metre prevails (see METRE, GREEK 2). It is the metre in which the dialogue parts of Greek tragedy and comedy are written. Aristotle thought that it was nearest in rhythm to ordinary speech and for that reason was used in satirical and abusive verse. The poet Archilochus was apparently the first to use the term, and applied it to his own satiric verse written in the iambic metre. Semonidēs and Hipponax who also wrote iambic poetry were, like Archilochus, Ionian Greeks. Solon the Athenian may have imitated them in writing his political poems in iambics, the metre suiting the controversial and prosaic nature of the subject-matter, although the poems were not abusive. The Iambi (a book of iambic poems) of Callimachus are miscellaneous in character, though many are satirical. Iambics were not much used in Latin for personal invective. The iambic trimeter occurs in only three poems of Catullus, though its variant, the scazon (see METRE, LATIN 3 (i)), is used in eight poems. Not all of these poems are abusive. When Catullus refers to his ‘iambi’ he is probably referring to the satirical nature of his poetry, not to the metre. Horace's claim to have been the first to introduce ‘Parian (i.e. Archilochian) iambics’ into Latin is probably justified, for his largely iambic Epodes contain the elements of Archilochus' poetry—abuse, satire, moralizing, and themes of friendship.
