SOURCE: Mulroy, David. “Alcaeus of Lesbos (7th/6th cent. B.C.).” In Early Greek Lyric Poetry, pp. 77-85. Ann Arbor, Mich.: The University of Michigan Press, 1992.

In the following essay, Mulroy discusses Alcaeus's poems, as well as references to him in works by Heraclitus and Athenaeus.

The poetry of Alcaeus gives us a different perspective on the politics of Archaic Greece. The scene is Mytilene, the main city of the island of Lesbos and one of the original Aeolic settlements.

For centuries Mytilene had been ruled by the Penthilid clan, supposed descendants of Orestes. The head of the clan was the king of the city. The last Penthilid king was killed and the clan's power broken in the second half of the seventh century. Thereafter, other aristocrats competed for power. The struggle led to the emergence of three successive tyrants. The first, Melanchrus, was overthrown between 612 and 609 by...