Masters of Iambic and Elegy in Ancient Greek Literature

Lyrical Iambic Poetry

The iambic genre possessed a popular, sharp, and mocking tone, with a critical pace. The metric used was close to that of spoken language.

Archilochus of Paros (7th Century BC)

Considered the foremost representative of this genre, we know the following about him:

• He was the bastard son of a noble from the island of Paros and made his living as a mercenary soldier.
• He composed poems that mock the heroic spirit of previous eras.
• He valued the "here and now" and also expressed his personal feelings, his loves, and his hates.
• He used language with Homeric influence, but without forcing the verse.

Semonides of Amorgos

Semonides' poetry expressed absolute pessimism. Key themes that appear in his work include:

• The impotence of men and the vanity of human hope.
• The conviction that evils surround us.
• His most extensively preserved work is the Iambus on Women.

Hipponax of Ephesus

Hipponax lived much of his life outside his homeland as an exile. In the surviving fragments, he is very critical and mocking of everything, including his own life as a cynical beggar, demonstrating a deep knowledge of the low-life places where he lived.

The Elegiac Tradition

The elegy was originally a song of mourning, perhaps performed at funeral banquets. This genre was influenced by the epic in its form and themes and was used to express all the needs and problems of the polis. Its meter is the elegiac distich.

Callinus of Ephesus (7th Century BC)

The history of the elegy begins with his poems, in which he encouraged his people to defend their city. The influence of Homeric language is observable in his work, placing him in the mid-7th century BC.

Tyrtaeus (7th Century BC)

He urged the Spartans to show their valor and excel at the forefront of the Messenian War. The Homeric influence is also important in his work. He wrote primarily in the Ionian dialect with few Doricisms, which has led to the belief that he was not a Spartan but an immigrant from Asia Minor.

Mimnermus of Colophon (7th Century BC)

Mimnermus complains about the passage of time and the ephemeral loss of youth. For him, the supreme joy is the "beloved Aphrodite." He was widely imitated by Latin love poets such as Ovid and Propertius.

Solon of Athens (7th-6th Century BC)

Solon lived in an era of great change in his city. He was asked to write a constitution to resolve the social tensions between the different social classes in Athens. He captured his political, moral, and social ideas in his elegies and iambs, making exhortations for good governance and moderation.

Theognis of Megara (6th Century BC)

Theognis reached his peak in the second half of the 6th century BC. His poems are short elegies, typical of a symposium or banquet, with diverse themes such as:

• Love and wine
• Longing for past times and nostalgia for the aristocratic ideal
• Resentment and thoughts on the limitations of man