  Sappho was a Greek lyric poet born somewhere between 630 and 612 BC on the Island of Lesbos.  Sappho was called a lyrist because she wrote her poems to be performed with the accompaniment of a lyre.  Sappho's poetry centres on passion and love for various people and both sexes. Evidence of poetry: Lyric - Sappho

  Plato elevated her from the status of great lyric poet to one of the muses.  She was one of the first poets to write from the first person, describing love and loss as it affected her personally.  It is unknown if the poems are autobiographical, although elements of other parts of Sappho's life do make appearances in her work. Sappho

  Archilochus was a Greek poet whose works flourished around 650 BC.  A considerable amount of information about the life of Archilochus has come down to the modern age via his surviving work, the testimony of other authors and inscriptions on monuments Archilochus

  He was the first European author to make personal experiences and feelings the main subject of his poems.  The controlled use of the personal voice in his verse marks a distinct departure from other surviving Greek verse.  His range exceeded the narrow criteria for lyric poetry  However they include one of the most famous of all lyric utterances, a hymn to Heracles with which victors were hailed at the Olympic Games. Archilochus - Poetry

  "Keep some measure in the joy you take in luck, and the degree you give way to sorrow.".  "I know the art of loving him that loves me, and hating my hater".  "The fox knows many things; the hedgehog one big thing."  "Thasos is like the spine of a donkey, wreathed in unkempt forest" Quotes

  Hesiod is likely the first working man whose writings can still be read – he was a farmer in Boeotia between 725 BC – 700 BC when he left to travel and become a poet.  Hesiod wrote his brother Perses a long poem full of advice on how to be a successful farmer called ‘Works and Days’. Social Structure - Hesiod

  First of all get a house, a slave woman and a ploughing ox.  Slave woman would work in the house and assist with the cattle.  Later, one should look around for a wife.  The best age for slave would be nineteen and she should be of good family and character.  Oxen should be males, steers nine years old because the vigour of such is good. Examples – Life in Greece

  Practical advice is given on certain farm jobs like making and looking after ploughs.  Hesiod advises Perses to look out for a ploughman and choose a ‘lusty man of forty years, having made a meal on a loaf’.  There is also work for boys – ‘and let the servant boy follow behind carrying an iron rake’ Examples – Life in Greece

  Hesiod is concerned that his brother should have a good attitude and tells him that ‘with labour, men become herdful and rich’.  work should not be ‘put off till tomorrow or the day after’. Examples – Life in Greece

  Perses is told when he should give offerings to the gods, particularly Demeter – Goddess of the Havest.  Reminds Perses to pray and wash his hands every time he crosses a river. What does this tell us about Archaic Greek society/social structure Examples – Religious Advice

  Works and Days contained about 800 verses focusing on two ideas: 1.Labour is the universal lot of man 2.He who is willing to work will get by.  Background of this wok can be dated back to the agricultural land crisis in Greece which led colonies in search of new land.  Works and days is filled with morals, myths and fables making it a didactic poem. Works and Days summary

  Little is known of Herodotus's life beyond what can be deduced from his writings.  He was born in 484 B.C in Halicarnassus, a small Greek city on the coast of Asia Minor.  About 450 B.C. Herodotus went to live for a time in Athens.  He was called the Father of History Social Structure - Herodotus

  The Histories is Herodotus’ only work written between the 450s to the 420s BC.  The Histories serves as a record of the ancient traditions, politics, geography, and clashes of various cultures.  It stands as one of the first, and surviving, accounts of the Persian Wars. The Histories

  The Asiatics, when the Greeks ran off with their women, never troubled themselves about the matter; but the Greeks, for the sake of a single Lacedaemonian girl, collected a vast armament, invaded Asia, and destroyed the kingdom of Priam.  There was a certain king of Sardis, Candaules by name, whom the Greeks called Myrsilus. He was a descendant of Alcaeus, son of Hercules. Examples

  Gyges was afterwards confirmed in the possession of the throne by an answer of the Delphic oracle. Enraged at the murder of their king, the people flew to arms, but after a while the partisans of Gyges came to terms with them, and it was agreed that if the Delphic oracle declared him king of the Lydians, he should reign. Examples

  Ardys took Priene and made war upon Miletus. In his reign the Cimmerians, driven from their homes by the nomads of Scythia, entered Asia and captured Sardis, all but the citadel. He reigned forty-nine years, and was succeeded by his son, Sadyattes, who reigned twelve years. At his death his son Alyattes mounted the throne. Examples

  The existence of Tyrants was common during the archaic age, one that Herodotus focuses on is Pesistratos.  Tyrants are "unrightful rulers", who to set up dictatorships within the polis, raised armies, and attack other polis to expand their influence. Tyrants

  Herodotus, in his Histories, wrote that Peisistratos, "not having disturbed the existing magistrates nor changed the ancient laws… administered the State under that constitution of things which was already established, ordering it fairly and well“  As opposed to the contemporary definition of a tyrant, which is a single ruler, often violent and oppressive, Peisistratos was the ideal classical tyrant, which was a position that a person took purely by personal ability often in violation of tradition or constitutional norms. Pesistratos