List of Ancient Greek poets

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This List of Ancient Greek poets covers poets writing in the Ancient Greek language, regardless of location or nationality of the poet.

Contents: Top - 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

[edit] A

Adaios (lived ca. 450 BCE)
Aeschylus (Greek: Αἰσχύλος, IPA: /ˈɛskələs/ or /ˈiskələs/, 525–456 BC)
Agathon (Greek Ἀγάθων) (c. 448–400 BCE)
Alcaeus (poet) (ca. 620 BCE-6th century BCE), lyric poet who supposedly invented the Alcaic verse
Alcman (also Alkman, Greek Ἀλκμάν, 7th century BC) choral lyric poet from Sparta; earliest representative of the Alexandrinian canon of the Nine lyric poets.
Alexander Aetolus of Pleuron in Aetolia, poet and man of letters, the only representative of Aetolian poetry, flourished about 280 BC
Alexandrian Pleiad is the name given to a group of seven Alexandrian poets and tragedians in the 3rd century B.C.
Alexis(ca. 375 BC-ca. 275 BC), comic poet of the Middle Comedy, born at Thurii and taken early to Athens, where he became a citizen
Amphis was an Athenian comic poet of uncertain origin from approximately the 4th century BC
Anacreon (Greek Ἀνακρέων, born ca. 570 BC), lyric poet, notable for drinking songs and hymns and included in the canonical list of Nine lyric poets
Antimachus , of Colophon or Claros, poet and grammarian, flourished about 400 BC
Antimachus of Teos epic poet said to have observed an eclipse of the sun in 753 BC
Antipater of Sidon (2nd century BC) writer and poet best known for his list of Seven Wonders of the World
Antipater of Thessalonica author of more than a hundred epigrams in the Greek Anthology; flourished around 15 BC
Anyte of Tegea (fl. early 3rd century BC) Arcadian poet, admired for her epigrams and epitaphs
Apollodorus (born c. 180 BC) grammarian, writer and historian most famous for a verse chronicle of Greek history from the fall of Troy in the 12th century BC to 144 BC
Apollonius of Rhodes also known as Apollonius Rhodius (Latin; Greek Ἀπολλώνιος Ῥόδιος Apollōnios Rhodios; born early 3rd century BCE — died after 246 BCE) was an epic poet, scholar, and director of the Library of Alexandria.
Aratus (Greek Aratos; ca. 315 BC/310 BC – 240 BC) Macedonian Greek didactic poet, known for his technical poetry
Archestratus (Greek Archestratos; fl. 330 BCE) poet of Gela or Syracuse
Archilochus (Greek: Ἀρχίλοχος; ca. 680 BC - ca. 645 BC) poet and mercenary
Arctinus of Miletus epic poet whose reputation is purely legendary, as none of his works survive; traditionally dated between 775 BC and 741 BC
Aristeas, semi-legendary poet and miracle-worker, a native of Proconnesus in Asia Minor, active ca. 7th century BCE
Asclepiades of Samos epigrammatist, lyric poet, and friend of Theocritus, who flourished about 270 B.C.
Aulus Licinius Archias (fl. ca. 120 BC-61 BC) poet born in Antioch in Syria (modern Antakya in Turkey)

[edit] B

Bacchylides lyric poet born at Iulis, on the island of Ceos; Eusebius says he flourished in 467 BC
Bion of Smyrna bucolic poet born at Phlossa near Smyrna; flourished 100 BC

[edit] C

Callimachus (Greek: Καλλίμαχος; ca. 305 BC- ca. 240 BC), poet and critic; native of Cyrene and scholar of the Library of Alexandria
Callinus (also known as Kallinus) of Ephesus in Asia Minor, flourished mid-7th century BC; the earliest known Greek elegiac poet
Chaeremon Athenian dramatist of the first half of the fourth century BCE generally considered a tragic poet
Choerilus (tragic poet) Athenian tragic poet, who exhibited plays as early as 524 BC
Choerilus of Iasus, epic poet of Iasus in Caria, who lived in the 4th century BC.
Choerilus of Samos, epic poet of Samos, who flourished at the end of the 5th century BC
Cinaethon of Sparta or Kinaithon of Lakedaimon, a legendary early Greek poet sometimes called the author of the lost epics Oedipodea, Little Iliad and Telegony; Eusebius says that he flourished in 764/3 BC
Cleophon (poet) (Greek: Kλεoφῶν, Kleophōn), Athenian tragic poet who flourished in the 4th century BC
Corinna (or Korinna) poet traditionally attributed to the 6th century BC
Creophylus of Samos (in Greek Kreophylos) legendary early Greek singer, native to Samos or Chios, said to have been a contemporary of Homer
Crinagoras of Mytilene
Cyclic poets
Cynaethus

[edit] D

Diagoras the Atheist of Melos, poet and sophist of the 5th century BC
Dionysius Chalcus (Greek: Διονύσιος ὁ Χαλκοῦς) an ancient Athenian poet and orator

[edit] E

Elephantis, poetess apparently renowned in the classical world as the author of a notorious (lost) sex manual
Epicharmus of Kos flourished sometime between c. 540 and c. 450 BC; a dramatist and philosopher often credited with being one of the first comic writers
Epimenides, of Knossos (Crete) (Greek: Ἐπιμενίδης), a semi-mythical 6th century BC Greek seer and philosopher-poet
Erinna, female contemporary and friend of Sappho; a native of Rhodes, Telos or Tenos; flourished about 600 BC
Eubulus (poet), Athenian Middle Comedy poet, flourished 370s and 360s BC
Eugammon of Cyrene
Eumelus of Corinth
Euphorion of Chalcis
Eupolis
Euripides
Evenus of Paros

[edit] H

Hermesianax of Colophon, elegiac poet of the Alexandrian school, flourished about 330 BC
Hermippus the one-eyed, Athenian writer of the Old Comedy, flourished during the Peloponnesian War.
Herodas
Hesiod
Hipponax
Hoganos of Appolonios
Homer

[edit] I

Ibycus (Ἴβυκος), lyric poet of Rhegium in Italy, contemporary of Anacreon, flourished in the 6th century BC; one of the Nine lyric poets
Ion of Chios, dramatist, lyric poet and philosopher, contemporary of Euripides
Iophon (flourished 428 BC–405 BC), tragic poet, son of Sophocles
Isyllus poet whose name was rediscovered in the course of excavations on the site of the temple of Asclepius at Epidaurus, where an inscription was found engraved on stone, consisting of 72 lines of verse and preceded by two lines of prose giving this author's name

[edit] L

Lasus lyric poet of the 6th century BC
Lesches a semi-legendary poet and reputed author of the Little Iliad; traditionally a native of Pyrrha in Lesbos; flourished about 660 BC (according to others, about 50 years earlier)

[edit] M

Menippus of Gadara in Coele-Syria, cynic and satirist, flourished 3rd century BC
Mesomedes lyric poet and composer of the early 2nd century
Mimnermus of Colophon, elegiac poet, flourished about 630-600 BC.
Moschus bucolic poet and friend of Aristarchus of Samothrace, born at Syracuse, flourished about 150 BC.

[edit] N

[edit] O

Olen (poet), early poet from Lycia who went to Delos
Onomacritus, (c. 530 - 480 BCE), also known as Onomacritos or Onomakritos, a chresmologue, or compiler of oracles
Oppian or Oppianus (in Greek, Οππιανος) was the name of the authors of two (or three) didactic poems in Greek hexameters, formerly identified as one poet, but now generally regarded as two:
- Oppian of Corycus (or Anabarzus) in Cilicia, who flourished in the reign of Marcus Aurelius
- Oppian of Apamea (or Pella) in Syria. His extant poem on hunting (Cynegetica) is dedicated to the emperor Caracalla, so that it must have been written after 211

[edit] P

Palladas (flourished 4th century AD) of Alexandria; unknown except for his epigrams in the Greek Anthology
Panyassis of Halicarnassus (sometimes known as Panyasis), 5th century BC epic poet, wrote the Heracleia and the Ionica
Parthenius of Nicaea of Nicaea in Bithynia; grammarian and poet taken prisoner in the Mithridatic Wars and carried to Rome in 72 BC. He taught Virgil Greek.
Peisander of Camirus in Rhodes, epic poet who flourished about 640 B.C.
Phanocles elegiac poet who probably flourished about the time of Alexander the Great
Pherecrates Athenian Old Comedy poet and rough contemporary of Cratinus, Crates and Aristophanes.
Philemon (poet) (c. 362 BC – c. 262 BC) Athenian New Comedy poet and playwright born either at Soli in Cilicia or at Syracuse in Sicily but moved to Athens some time before 330 BC
Philetas of Cos, Alexandrian poet and critic, flourished in the second half of the 4th century BC
Philoxenus of Cythera (435 BC–380 BC) a dithyrambic poet
Phocylides gnomic poet of Miletus, contemporary of Theognis of Megara, born about 560 BC.
Phrynichus (comic poet), poet of the Old Attic comedy and contemporary of Aristophanes, flourished around 429 BC
Pindar
Plato (comic poet)
Polyeidos (poet)
Posidippus
Pratinas
Praxilla

[edit] R

Rhyanus poet and grammarian, native of Crete, friend and contemporary of Eratosthenes (275—195 BC)

[edit] S

Sappho (Attic Greek Σαπφώ, Aeolic Greek Ψάπφω) lyric poet, born on the island of Lesbos
Semonides iambic poet, flourished in the middle of the 7th century BC, native of Samos
Simonides of Ceos (ca. 556 BC-469 BC), lyric poet born at Ioulis on Kea; named one of the Nine lyric poets
Solon (Greek: Σόλων, ca. 638 BC–558 BC. Pronounced sŏ'lōn), famous Athenian lawmaker and lyric poet
Sositheus
Sotades
Stasinus
Stesichorus
Susarion
Syagrus (legendary poet)

[edit] T

Telecleides poet of comedy in the 5th century BC, and violent opponent of Pericles
Telesilla, poetess, native of Argos, named one of the nine lyric muses
Terpander of Antissa in Lesbos; poet and citharode who lived about the first half of the 7th century BC
Theocritus
Theodectes
Theognis of Megara
Thespis
Thestorides of Phocaea
Tyrtaeus