Greek poets
Greek poets to know and love.
Archilochus
c, 680 - c. 640 BCEAn early poet who based his work on experience of warfare and personal life.
Archilochus 7
κήδεα μὲν στονόεντα, Περίκλεες, οὔτε τις ἀστῶν
Tough love from Archilochus on loss and mourning
Callimachus
c 310 - 240 BCECallimachus, a great poet in his own right, was also a scholar at the Library of Alexandria, the most important of the ancient classical world.
Callimachus Epigram 2
Callimachus remembers his poet-friend
εἶπέ τις Ἡράκλειτε τεὸν μόρον
The poet Callimachus remembers his poet-friend Heraclitus
Homer
Eighth or seventh century BCE?Author of the Iliad and the Odyssey and accepted in the ancient world as the greatest writer of epic.
Odyssey Book 1, lines 1-10
ἄνδρα μοι ἔννεπε, μοῦσα, πολύτροπον,
Tell me, Muse, of the resourceful Odysseus
Iliad Book 1, lines 1-21
μῆνιν ἄειδε θεὰ Πηληϊάδεω Ἀχιλῆος
Sing O Muse of the wrath of Achilles