Greek poets
Greek poets to know and love.
Archilochus
c, 680 - c. 640 BCE
An early poet who based his work on experience of warfare and personal life.
Archilochus 7
Archilochus on endurance
κήδεα μὲν στονόεντα, Περίκλεες, οὔτε τις ἀστῶν
Tough love from Archilochus on loss and mourning
Archilochus fragments 2, 3 5A and 6
Archilochus, a soldier-poet
ἀλλ᾽ ἄγε, σὺν κώθωνι θοῆς διὰ σέλματα νηὸς
Archilochus on campaign
Callimachus
c 310 - 240 BCE
Callimachus, 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
The Odyssey begins
ἄνδρα μοι ἔννεπε, μοῦσα, πολύτροπον,
Tell me, Muse, of the resourceful Odysseus
Iliad Book 1, lines 1-21
The Iliad begins
μῆνιν ἄειδε θεὰ Πηληϊάδεω Ἀχιλῆος
Sing O Muse of the wrath of Achilles
Iliad Book 6, lines 441 - 473
Andromache and Hector
Ἀνδρομάχη δέ οἱ ἄγχι παρίστατο δάκρυ χέουσα
Don't take risks, begs Andromache
Odyssey, Book 9, lines 182 - 215
The Cave of the Cyclops
ἔνθα δ᾽ ἐπ᾽ ἐσχατιῇ σπέος εἴδομεν ἄγχι θαλάσσης
Odysseus and his companions find the cave of the Cyclops
Odyssey Book 9, lines 216-249
Enter the Cyclops
καρπαλίμως δ᾽ εἰς ἄντρον ἀφικόμεθ᾽, οὐδέ μιν ἔνδον
The wait for Polyphemus's arrival
Odyssey Book 9 , lines 250-335
The Ordeal in the Cave
αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ δὴ σπεῦσε πονησάμενος τὰ ἃ ἔργα
The Cyclops shows his true colours
Odyssey Book 9, lines 336-414
The Blinding
ἑσπέριος δ᾽ ἦλθεν καλλίτριχα μῆλα νομεύων
Odysseus and his men fight back
Odyssey Book 9, lines 415-463
The Escape from the Cave
Κύκλωψ δὲ στενάχων τε καὶ ὠδίνων ὀδύνῃσι
Odysseus has blinded the Cyclops, but remains trapped in the cave
Odyssey, Book 9, lines 464-535
Polyphemus’s prayer
καρπαλίμως δὲ τὰ μῆλα ταναύποδα, πίονα δημῷ
Odysseus's fateful mistake
Odyssey, Book 9, lines 536-564
