Demodocus of Leros (Δημόδοκος ὁ Λέριος) was a Greek iambic and elegiac poet from the island of Leros, traditionally dated to the 6th century BCE. He is mentioned by the biographer Diogenes Laertius and recorded as an iambic poet in the Suda, a 10th-century Byzantine encyclopedia [1][2]. His placement links him to the Archaic iambic tradition of poets like Archilochus.

Two works are attributed to him from surviving fragments. Against the Lacedaemonians (Πρὸς Λακεδαιμονίους) is a political poem, a few lines of which are cited by the orator Aeschines [1]. He is also noted for composing fables in iambic verse; a two-line fragment is preserved in the Palatine Anthology (Anth. Pal. 10.43) [1][2].

Demodocus represents a minor but attested figure in the early iambic tradition, indicating the geographical spread of the genre. His fragments show engagement with both political themes and the popular genre of fable, adapted into poetic meter.

Sources 1. Perseus Digital Library, "Demodocus (1)," from Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0258:book=1:chapter=12&highlight=Demodocus 2. ToposText, "Demodokos Leros (lyric poet)," from the Suda, delta 451: https://topostext.org/people/1350