Archilochus of Paros (Ἀρχίλοχος ὁ Πάριος) was a Greek lyric poet of the 7th century BCE. He was the son of Telesicles, a colonist, and a slave woman named Enipo [1]. Archilochus himself participated in the colonization of Thasos and served as a soldier, experiences central to his poetry [1][2]. Later tradition recounts his broken engagement to Neobule, daughter of Lycambes, and his subsequent poetic invectives which were said to have driven the family to suicide [1][2].

His work survives only in fragments, primarily categorized as iambic poetry, which includes his famous attacks on Lycambes; elegiac poetry on themes of war and personal experience; and trochaic verses [1][2].

Archilochus is foundational for moving Greek poetry away from the heroic ethos of epic towards personal, cynical, and emotionally direct expression [1][2]. He perfected the iambic trimeter and elegiac couplet, influencing later poets from Hipponax to Roman satirists [1][2]. The story of his feud with Lycambes became proverbial for the power of invective poetry [1].

Sources 1. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Archilochus: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/archilochus/ 2. Encyclopædia Britannica: Archilochus: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Archilochus