Editing Alcaeus (section)

==Biography==
[[File:Alcaeus (poet) - Project Gutenberg eText 12369.png|thumb|right|Alcaeus<br /> "A probably authentic Lesbian coin has been preserved, bearing upon the obverse&nbsp;... a profile head of Alcaeus, and upon the reverse&nbsp;... a profile head of Pittacus. This coin is said to have belonged to Fulvius Ursinus. It passed through various hands and collections into the Royal Museum at Paris, and was engraved by the Chevalier Visconti." — J. Easby-Smith<ref>J. Easby-Smith, ''The Songs of Alcaeus'', W. H. Lowdermilk and Co. (1901)</ref>]]

The broad outlines of the poet's life are well known.<ref>David Mulroy, ''Early Greek Lyric Poetry'', University of Michigan Press, 1992, pp. 77–78</ref><ref>David. A. Campbell, ''Greek Lyric Poetry'', Bristol Classic Press, 1982, pp. 285–7</ref><ref name="archive1901">{{cite web|first=James S. |last=Easby-Smith|title=The Songs of Alcaeus|publisher=[[William Harrison Lowdermilk|W. H. Lowdermilk and Co.]]|location= Washington|year= 1901 |url=https://archive.org/stream/songsalcaeusmem00englgoog/songsalcaeusmem00englgoog_djvu.txt}}</ref> He was born into the aristocratic, warrior class that dominated Mytilene, the strongest city-state on the island of Lesbos and, by the end of the seventh century BC, the most influential of all the North Aegean Greek cities, with a strong navy and colonies securing its trade-routes in the Hellespont. The city had long been ruled by kings born to the Penthilid clan but, during the poet's life, the Penthilids were a spent force and rival aristocrats and their factions contended with each other for supreme power. Alcaeus and his older brothers were passionately involved in the struggle but experienced little success. Their political adventures can be understood in terms of three tyrants who came and went in succession:
* Melanchrus – he was overthrown sometime between 612&nbsp;BC and 609&nbsp;BC by a faction that, in addition to the brothers of Alcaeus, included [[Pittacus]] (later renowned as one of the [[Seven Sages of Greece]]); Alcaeus at that time was too young to be actively involved;
* Myrsilus – it is not known when he came to power but some verses by Alcaeus (frag. 129) indicate that the poet, his brothers and Pittacus made plans to overthrow him and that Pittacus subsequently betrayed them; Alcaeus and his brothers fled into exile where the poet later wrote a drinking song in celebration of the news of the tyrant's death (frag. 332);
* Pittacus – the dominant political figure of his time, he was voted supreme power by the political assembly of Mytilene and appears to have governed well (590–580&nbsp;BC), even allowing Alcaeus and his faction to return home in peace.

Sometime before 600&nbsp;BC, Mytilene fought Athens for control of [[Sigeion]] and Alcaeus was old enough to participate in the fighting. According to the historian [[Herodotus]],<ref>''Histories'' 5.95</ref> the poet threw away his shield to make good his escape from the victorious Athenians then celebrated the occasion in a poem that he later sent to his friend, Melanippus. It is thought that Alcaeus travelled widely during his years in exile, including at least one visit to Egypt. His older brother, Antimenidas, appears to have served as a mercenary in the army of [[Nebuchadnezzar II]] and probably took part in the conquest of Askelon. Alcaeus wrote verses in celebration of Antimenides's{{clarification needed|date=October 2024}} return, including mention of his valour in slaying the larger opponent (frag. 350), and he proudly describes the military hardware that adorned their family home (frag. 357).
{{Quotation|Alcaeus was in some respects not unlike a [[Royalist]] soldier of the age of the [[Stuarts]]. He had the high spirit and reckless gaiety, the love of country bound up with belief in a caste, the licence tempered by generosity and sometimes by tenderness, of a cavalier who has seen good and evil days. — [[Richard Claverhouse Jebb]]<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=DbLHNxS6heMC&pg=PA3 R. C. Jebb, ''Greek Literature'', MacMillan and Co. 1878, p. 59]</ref>}}

[[File:Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, RA, OM - Sappho and Alcaeus - Walters 37159.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.8|''[[Sappho and Alcaeus]]'' by 
[[Lawrence Alma-Tadema]]. [[The Walters Art Museum]].]]
Alcaeus was a contemporary and a countryman of [[Sappho]] and, since both poets composed for the entertainment of Mytilenean friends, they had many opportunities to associate with each other on a quite regular basis, such as at the ''Kallisteia'', an annual festival celebrating the island's federation under Mytilene, held at the 'Messon' (referred to as ''temenos'' in frs. 129 and 130), where Sappho performed publicly with female choirs. Alcaeus's reference to Sappho in terms more typical of a divinity, as ''holy/pure, honey-smiling Sappho'' (fr. 384), may owe its inspiration to her performances at the festival.<ref name="university19"/> The Lesbian or Aeolic school of poetry "reached in the songs of Sappho and Alcaeus that high point of brilliancy to which it never after-wards approached"<ref>James S. Easby-Smith, ''The Songs of Alcaeus'', W. H. Lowdermilk and Co., Washington, 1901</ref> and it was assumed by later Greek critics and during the early centuries of the Christian era that the two poets were in fact lovers, a theme which became a favourite subject in art (as in the urn pictured above).