Person

Alcaeus

c. 625–c. 580 BCE · 6th century BCE · Also known as Alcaeus of Mytilene

Alcaeus was a Greek lyric poet of Mytilene on Lesbos and a contemporary of Sappho. An aristocrat, he took part in the city's factional struggles against the tyrants Melanchrus, Myrsilus and Pittacus and spent years in exile. His poems on politics, war and drinking survive in fragments, and the Alcaic stanza is named after him.

Alcaeus
Image: ArchaiOptix · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 1 profile

Ancient GreekGrammar, Literature

Mentioned in 1 state history

Mytilene

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Alcaeus. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/alcaeus
MLA
“Alcaeus.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/alcaeus. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Alcaeus.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/alcaeus.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Alcaeus’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/alcaeus (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻