Editing Archilochus (section)

==Biography==
[[File:Silver stater obverse Thasos Met L.1999.19.71.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Coin from ancient [[Thasos]] showing [[Satyr]] and [[nymph]], late 5th century BC. Archilochus was involved in the Parian colonization of Thasos about two centuries before the coin was minted. His poetry includes vivid accounts of life as a warrior, seafarer and lover.]]
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,{{Sfn|Campbell|1982|p=136}} yet it all needs to be viewed with caution – the biographical tradition is generally unreliable and the fragmentary nature of the poems does not really support inferences about his personal history.{{Sfn|Brown|1997|p=43}} The vivid language and intimate details of the poems often look autobiographical{{Sfn|Barron|Easterling|1985|p=118}}<ref>Van Sickle (October–November 1975), "Archilochus: A New Fragment of an Epode" ''The Classical Journal'' '''71'''.1:1–15, p. 14.</ref> yet it is known, on the authority of [[Aristotle]], that Archilochus sometimes role-played. The philosopher quoted two fragments as examples of an author speaking in somebody else's voice: in one, an unnamed father commenting on a recent eclipse of the sun and, in the other, a carpenter named Charon, expressing his indifference to the wealth of [[Gyges of Lydia|Gyges]], the king of [[Lydia]].<ref>Aristotle ''Rhetoric'' 3.17.1418b28, cited by {{harvnb|Gerber|1999|pp=93–95}}</ref> There is nothing in those two fragments to suggest that Archilochus is speaking in those roles  (we rely entirely on Aristotle for the context) and possibly many of his other verses involved role-playing too. It has even been suggested by one modern scholar that imaginary characters and situations might have been a feature of the poetic tradition within which Archilochus composed, known by the ancients as [[Iambus (genre)|iambus]].{{Sfn|West|1974|pp=22–39}}

The two poems quoted by Aristotle help to date the poet's life (assuming of course that Charon and the unnamed father are speaking about events that Archilochus had experienced himself). Gyges reigned 687–652&nbsp;BC and the date of the eclipse must have been either 6 April 648&nbsp;BC or 27 June 660&nbsp;BC (another date, 14 March 711&nbsp;BC, is generally considered too early).{{Sfn|Campbell|1982|p=136}}  These dates are consistent with other evidence of the poet's chronology and reported history, such as the discovery at [[Thasos]] of a cenotaph, dated around the end of the seventh century and dedicated to a friend named in several fragments: Glaucus, son of Leptines.{{Sfn|Brown|1997|pp=43–44}} The chronology for Archilochus is complex but modern scholars generally settle for c. 680 – c. 640 BC.{{Sfn|Campbell|1982|p=136}}

Whether or not their lives had been virtuous, authors of genius were revered by their fellow Greeks. Thus a sanctuary to Archilochus (the ''Archilocheion'') was established on his home island Paros sometime in the third century BC, where his admirers offered him sacrifices, as well as to gods such as Apollo, Dionysus, and the Muses.{{Sfn|Barron|Easterling|1985|p=118}} Inscriptions found on [[orthostat]]s from the sanctuary include quoted verses and historical records. In one, we are told that his father Telesicles once sent Archilochus to fetch a cow from the fields, but that the boy chanced to meet a group of women who soon vanished with the animal and left him a lyre in its place – they were the Muses and they had thus earmarked him as their protégé. According to the same inscription, the omen was later confirmed by the oracle at [[Delphi]]. Not all the inscriptions are as fanciful as that. Some are records by a local historian of the time, set out in chronological order according to custom, under the names of [[archons]]. Unfortunately, these are very fragmentary.<ref>{{harvnb|Gerber|1999|pp=16–33}}</ref>

[[File:ArchilochusCapital.jpg|thumb|alt=Ionic capital from the grave of Archilochus.Paros Archaeological Museum|Ionic capital from the grave of Archilochus, with inscription "Here lies Archilochus, son of Telesicles", [[Archaeological Museum of Paros]]]]
Snippets of biographical information are provided by ancient authors as diverse as [[Tatian]], [[Proclus]], [[Clement of Alexandria]], [[Cicero]], [[Claudius Aelianus|Aelian]], [[Plutarch]], [[Galen]], [[Dio Chrysostom]], [[Aelius Aristides]] and several anonymous authors in the ''[[Palatine Anthology]]''. According to tradition, Archilochus was born to a notable family on Paros. His grandfather (or great-grandfather), Tellis, helped establish the cult of [[Demeter]] on [[Thasos]] near the end of the eighth century BC, a mission that was famously depicted in a painting at [[Delphi]] by the Thasian [[Polygnotus]].{{Sfn|Barron|Easterling|1985|p=117}} The painting, later described by [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], showed Tellis in [[Hades]], sharing [[Charon (mythology)|Charon]]'s boat with the priestess of Demeter.{{efn|"Tellis appears to be in his late teens, Cleoboea as still a girl and she has on her knees a chest of the sort that they are accustomed to make for Demeter. With regard to Tellis I heard only that he was the grandfather of Archilochus and they say that Cleoboea was the first to introduce the rites of Demeter to Thasos from Paros." – Pausanias 10.28.3<ref>translated by {{harvnb|Gerber|1999|p=75}}</ref>}} The poet's father, Telesicles, also distinguished himself in the history of Thasos, as the founder of a Parian colony there. The names 'Tellis' and 'Telesicles' can have religious connotations and some modern scholars infer that the poet was born into a priestly family devoted to Demeter. Inscriptions in the ''Archilocheion'' identify Archilochus as a key figure in the Parian cult of [[Dionysus]]{{Sfn|Brown|1997|pp=45–46}} There is no evidence to back isolated reports that his mother was a slave, named Enipo, that he left Paros to escape poverty, or that he became a mercenary soldier – the slave background is probably inferred from a misreading of his verses; archaeology indicates that life on Paros, which he associated with "figs and seafaring", was quite prosperous; and though he frequently refers to the rough life of a soldier, warfare was a function of the aristocracy in the archaic period and there is no indication that he fought for pay.{{Sfn|Campbell|1982|p=136}}{{efn|The name 'Enipo' has connotations of abuse (enipai), which is curiously apt for the mother of a famous iambographer.{{Sfn|West|1974|p=28}}}}

[[File:Cumulus23 - NOAA.jpg|thumb|right|"Look Glaucus! Already waves are disturbing the deep sea and a cloud stands straight round about the heights of Gyrae,{{efn|The ''heights of Gyrae'' is a promontory on [[Tenos]], or a mythological allusion to the rocks on which the Lesser Ajax met his death.<ref>{{harvnb|Gerber|1999|p=145|loc=n. 1}}</ref>}} a sign of storm; from the unexpected comes fear." The trochaic verse was quoted by the Homeric scholar [[Heraclitus (commentator)|Heraclitus]], who said that Archilochus used the image to describe war with the Thracians.{{Sfn|Campbell|1982|p=150}}]]
The life of Archilochus was marked by conflicts. The ancient tradition identified a Parian, Lycambes, and his daughters as the main target of his anger. The father is said to have betrothed his daughter, [[Neobule]], to Archilochus, but reneged on the agreement, and the poet retaliated with such eloquent abuse that Lycambes, Neobule and one or both of his other daughters committed suicide.{{sfn|Gerber|1999|p=75}}<ref>Gerber, Douglas E., 1997, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Zzlnqb_64SYC&pg=PA50 ''A Companion to the Greek Lyric Poets''], Brill. {{ISBN|90-04-09944-1}}. cf. p.50</ref> The story later became a popular theme for Alexandrian versifiers, who played upon its poignancy at the expense of Archilochus.{{efn|[[Elegy|Elegies]] include the following by a certain Dioscorides, in which the victims are imagined to speak from the grave: "We here, the daughters of Lycambes who gained a hateful reputation, swear by the reverence in which this tomb of the dead is held that we did not shame our virginity or our parents or Paros, pre-eminent among holy islands, but Archilochus spewed forth frightful reproach and a hateful report against our family. We swear by the gods and spirits that we did not set eyes on Archilochus either in the streets or in Hera's great precinct. If we had been lustful and wicked, he would have not wanted to beget legitimate children from us." – ''Palatine Anthology'' 7.351<ref>trans. {{harvnb|Gerber|1999|p=49}}</ref>}} Some modern scholars believe that Lycambes and his daughters were not actually the poet's contemporaries but fictional characters in a traditional entertainment.{{Sfn|West|1974|p=27}} According to another view, Lycambes as an oath-breaker had marked himself out as a menace to society and the poet's invective was not just personal revenge but a social obligation consistent with the practice of 'iambos'.{{Sfn|Brown|1997|p=59}}

The inscriptions in the ''Archilocheion'' imply that the poet had a controversial role in the introduction of the cult of Dionysus to Paros. It records that his songs were condemned by the Parians as "too iambic" (the issue may have concerned phallic worship) but they were the ones who ended up being punished by the gods for impiety, possibly with impotence. The oracle of Apollo then instructed them to atone for their error and rid themselves of their suffering by honouring the poet, which led to the shrine being dedicated to him.{{Sfn|Brown|1997|p=46}}{{Sfn|Campbell|1982|p=138}} His [[hero cult]] lasted on [[Paros]] over 800 years.<ref>Encyclopedia of ancient Greece By Nigel Guy Wilson Page 353 {{ISBN|978-0-415-97334-2}}</ref>

His combative spirit also expressed itself in warfare. He joined the Parian colony on Thasos and battled the indigenous Thracians, expressing himself in his poems as a cynical, hard-bitten soldier fighting for a country he doesn't love{{efn|"Thasos, thrice miserable city," Fragment 228.}} on behalf of a people he scorns{{efn|"The woes of all the Greeks have come together in Thasos," Fragment 102. {{Sfn|Barron|Easterling|1985|p=121}}}} yet he values his closest comrades and their stalwart, unglamorous commander.{{efn|"I have no liking for a general who is tall, walks with a swaggering gait, takes pride in his curls, and is partly shaven. Let mine be one who is short, has a bent look about the shins, stands firmly on his feet, and is full of courage." – Fragment 114<ref>Fragment 114, trans. {{harvnb|Gerber|1999|p=153}}</ref>}} Later he returned to Paros and joined the fight against the neighbouring island of [[Naxos (island)|Naxos]]. A Naxian warrior named Calondas won notoriety as the man that killed him. The Naxian's fate interested later authors such as Plutarch and Dio Chrysostom, since it had been a fair fight yet he was punished for it by the gods: He had gone to the temple of Apollo at Delphi to consult the oracle and was rebuked with the memorable words: "You killed the servant of the Muses; depart from the temple."<ref>Galen, ''Exhortation to learning'', trans. {{harvnb|Gerber|1999|p=41}}</ref>

=== The poet's character ===
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{{lang|grc|Εἰμὶ δ' ἐγὼ θεράπων μὲν Ἐνυαλίοιο ἄνακτος,<br/>
καὶ Μουσέων ἐρατὸν δῶρον ἐπιστάμενος.}}<br />
|
I am the servant of Lord [[Enyalius|Enyalios]] [Ares, god of war],<br/>
and skilled in the lovely gift of the Muses.<ref>Fragment 1, trans. {{harvnb|Gerber|1999|p=77}}</ref>
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This couplet testifies to a social revolution: Homer's poetry was a powerful influence on later poets and yet in Homer's day it had been unthinkable for a poet to be a warrior.<ref>Denis Page, 'Archilochus and the Oral Tradition', ''Entretiens Hardt'' 10: 117–163, Geneva</ref> Archilochus deliberately broke the traditional mould even while adapting himself to it. "Perhaps there is a special relevance to his times in the particular gestures he elects to make: The abandonment of grandly heroic attitudes in favour of a new unsentimental honesty, an iconoclastic and flippant tone of voice coupled with deep awareness of traditional truths."{{Sfn|Barron|Easterling|1985|p=119}}

Ancient authors and scholars often reacted to his poetry and to the biographical tradition angrily, condemning "fault-finding Archilochus" for "fattening himself on harsh words of hatred" (see Pindar's comment [[#and other poets|below]]) and for "the unseemly and lewd utterances directed towards women", whereby he made "a spectacle of himself"<ref>[[Plutarch]], ''de curiositate'' 10.520a-b, trans. {{harvnb|Gerber|1999|p=63}}</ref> He was considered "a noble poet in other respects if one were to take away his foul mouth and slanderous speech and wash them away like a stain" ([[Suda]]).<ref>[[Suda]] [https://www.cs.uky.edu/~raphael/sol/sol-cgi-bin/search.cgi?search_method=QUERY&searchstr=alpha,4112&field=adlerhw_gr α 4112] (vol. I, p. 376 Adler) = Aelian fr. 80 Hercher, trans. {{harvnb|Gerber|1999|p=39}}</ref> According to [[Valerius Maximus]], the [[Sparta]]ns banished the works of Archilochus from their state for the sake of their children "lest it harm their morals more than it benefited their talents."<ref>Valerius Maximus, 6.3, ext. 1, trans. {{harvnb|Gerber|1999|p=39}}</ref> Yet some ancient scholars interpreted his motives more sympathetically:
{{Quote|"For of the two poets who for all time deserve to be compared with no other, namely Homer and Archilochus, Homer praised nearly everything ... But Archilochus went to the opposite extreme, to censure; seeing, I suppose, that men are in greater need of this, and first of all he censures himself", thus winning for himself "the highest commendation from heaven." – [[Dio Chrysostom]]<ref>Dio Chrysostom 33.11–12, trans. {{harvnb|Gerber|1999|p=43}}</ref>}}