Alcaeus

Home > ... > Literature and the Arts > Classical Literature, Mythology, and Folklore > Classical Literature: Biographies > ...

Alcaeus

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | 2008 | The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright 2008 Columbia University Press. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Alcaeus , c.620-c.580 BC, Greek lyric poet of Lesbos. An aristocrat, he was often embroiled in political battles with the ruling tyrants. He wrote drinking songs, hymns, love songs, and political odes. He was, according to tradition, a close associate of Sappho . The Alcaic strophe (a four-line stanza) said to be his invention was much used by Greek lyrists and greatly admired by Horace who employed it with slight modification.

Bibliography: See D. Page, Sappho and Alcaeus (1955); H. Martin, Alcaeus (1972); A. P. Burnett, Three Archaic Poets (1983).

Hide all research tools
Print this article Print all entries for this topic Cite this article Link to this article
Link to this article

CloseClose

Create a link to this page

Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:

<a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/.aspx#1E1-Alcaeus" title="Facts and information about Alcaeus">Alcaeus</a>

Add this article to Del.icio.usBookmark this article on DiigoShare this article on FacebookSubmit this article to RedditGive this article a thumbs-up on StumbleUpon
Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

"Alcaeus." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 4 Dec. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Alcaeus." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (December 4, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Alcaeus.html

"Alcaeus." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Retrieved December 04, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Alcaeus.html

Learn more about citation styles

Lesbian

The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable | 2006 | | © The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable 2006, originally published by Oxford University Press 2006. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Lesbian from or relating to Lesbos, a Greek island in the eastern Aegean, off the coast of NW Turkey; its artistic golden age of the late 7th and early 6th centuries bc produced the poets Alcaeus and Sappho, and the sense of lesbian to mean a homosexual woman derives from the association with Sappho, who expressed affection for women in her poetry.

Hide all research tools
Print this article Print all entries for this topic Cite this article Link to this article
Link to this article

CloseClose

Create a link to this page

Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:

<a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/.aspx#1O214-Lesbian" title="Facts and information about Alcaeus">Alcaeus</a>

Add this article to Del.icio.usBookmark this article on DiigoShare this article on FacebookSubmit this article to RedditGive this article a thumbs-up on StumbleUpon
Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Lesbian." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Oxford University Press. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 4 Dec. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Lesbian." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Oxford University Press. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (December 4, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-Lesbian.html

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Lesbian." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Oxford University Press. 2006. Retrieved December 04, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-Lesbian.html

Learn more about citation styles

Free newspaper and magazine articles

Free Article Letters to the editor.(Letter to the Editor)
Magazine article from: Poetry; 11/1/2005
Free Article Storm Season.(Poem)
Magazine article from: Poetry; 11/1/2003
Free Article Dog Star.(Poem)
Magazine article from: Poetry; 11/1/2003

Facts and information from other sites

Related topics

  Edit this list

Related articles from newspapers, magazines, and more

JONG PENS LUSTY GREEK TALE.(Entertainment/Weekend/Spotlight)(Review)
Newspaper article from: Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO); 5/2/2003; ; 700+ words ; ...suspense. Sappho's first real love is Alcaeus, who unwittingly attracts Sappho with his beauty and singing talent. Alcaeus is the enemy of Sappho's stepfather...Pittacus, the dictator of Lesbos. Though Alcaeus says he prefers boys, they share sex...
Sappho's Journal--a voice from the past.(Excerpt)
Magazine article from: Ancient Narrative; 1/1/2008; ; 700+ words ; ...that sound I heard the rasp of death. If Alcaeus is dead, I will take poison--and I...assuring us that these were not phantoms. Alcaeus? Ten years ago, almost ten--ten years...back. And then I saw someone helping Alcaeus ashore--wounded or ill--and old...
Sappho, betrayal in Vilnius, Madame X.(BOOKS)(FICTION)
Newspaper article from: The Washington Times; 6/22/2003; 700+ words ; ...and Aphrodite makes the warrior-singer Alcaeus irresistible. What fun; what a joyful...fell madly in love with golden-haired Alcaeus (almost everyone except for Sappho herself...adventures in search of her lost love, Alcaeus, take her to Delphi (where she becomes...
Jong Redefines 'Sapphic' Along Omnisexual Lines.(Arts&Entertainment)(Review)
Newspaper article from: The New York Observer (New York, NY); 5/12/2003; 700+ words ; ...begins and ends with a great love: Alcaeus, the golden-haired, honey-voiced, muscle-bound warrior poet. Alcaeus and Sappho are separated early on...Lesbos. After Sappho gives birth to Alcaeus' love child, the baby is kidnapped...
Jong's new novel showcases her talent both as poet and novelist
News Wire article from: AP Worldstream; 7/18/2003; ; 672 words ; ...Sappho falls in love with a rebel poet, Alcaeus, plots with him to overthrow the island's dictator, and is caught. Alcaeus is exiled, and Sappho married off...artistic career, Sappho gives birth to Alcaeus' baby, Cleis. She adores the child...
FICTION; SIREN SONGS; In "Sappho's Leap," Erica Jong pens a lusty tale about the legendary Greek poet.(ENTERTAINMENT)
Newspaper article from: Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN); 5/11/2003; ; 700+ words ; ...in love with the roving warrior-poet Alcaeus. Her scandalized parents rush her into...and Sappho subsequently gives birth to Alcaeus' daughter. When her mother kidnaps the...sets off to find her and reunite with Alcaeus, stopping off at the Delphic oracle and...
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Magazine article from: Poetry; 11/1/2005; ; 700+ words ; ...should also say that I have translated a few poems by Sappho, Alcaeus, and Alcman myself, working closely from the Greek, so I...Santos has made living poems in English? Look at his version of Alcaeus's ship in the storm: I can't make sense of these offshore...
Siren Songs
Newspaper article from: The Washington Post; 5/4/2003; ; 700+ words ; ...initially gets her into trouble, as does her love for the poet Alcaeus, and the two go into exile. After a heroic bout of sex...Sappho of Lesbos." Her adventures, informed by a search for Alcaeus and her child, include a lyrical dream encounter with Helen...
A Bow to The Victorians; Series of Staged Photographs Marries Washington Scenes and Period Characters
Newspaper article from: The Washington Post; 3/13/1997; ; 700+ words ; ...hero, the painter Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema. "Sappho and Alcaeus," one of Alma-Tadema's faux Greco-Roman tableaux from...It is Heffner himself, imitating the pose of the Greek poet Alcaeus in Alma-Tadema's painting. Unapologetically sentimental...
Sexy Sappho of Lesbos, brought to life by Erica Jong
Newspaper article from: Chicago Sun-Times; 5/25/2003; ; 700+ words ; ...initially gets her into trouble, as does her love for the poet Alcaeus, and the two go into exile. After a heroic bout of sex...Sappho of Lesbos." Her adventures, informed by a search for Alcaeus and her child, include a lyrical dream encounter with Helen...

Pictures from Google Image Search

Click to see an enlarged picture
Click to see an enlarged picture
Click to see an enlarged picture

For students and teachers!

Encyclopedia.com provides students and teachers facts, information, and biographies from verified, citable sources, including:

Encyclopedia.com provides students and teachers facts, information, and biographies from verified, citable sources, including:

Popular on Newser: